Hookah
by Anya Vaverko

Walking through the small side streets around Kathmandu Valley, especially when evening is nearing, the sight of old men and women crouching in doorways and on steps puffing at hookahs is familiar. Hookah is a traditional Middle Eastern and Asian device for smoking tobacco that has been around for ages. The most common substance smoked from it is a mixture of tobacco and a sweet substance like molasses, honey, or semidried fruit. The mixture itself is not ignited, but heated to a high temperature using lit coals, which rest on a clay or metal bowl that contains the tobacco. The smoker inhales, through a pipe or sometimes directly from the hookah, heating the coals as well as the tobacco mixture, producing smoke. The smoke passes through the hookah, which contains water to filter and cool it before it reaches the smoker.

The traditional Nepali hookah is made from coconut, or nariwal. In fact, hookah is also called a nargila in Persia, where it got its name from the Sanskrit word for coconut: narikera. The coconut bottom is referred to as the hookah and the top part, where tobacco and coals are placed, is called the chillum. In Nepal, the rough tobacco, surti, generally comes from the Terai, where it is dried, bundles, cut, and mixed with chuna (white substance).  It is later mixed with a sweet substance, like chaku or sakhar.

While the nariwal hookah is the most common, other types are found in Nepal as well. The guru hookah is larger, more elaborate, and made of metal. There is also what the Newaris call the Nenkya hookah, which has an Indian origin.  The most simple is the clay hookah. And each has its own time for use. When smoking during quick work breaks, often the simple coconut and clay hookah is used. However, when smoking in free time for relaxation, the larger and more elaborate metal hookah is preferred. Hookah style also depends on class: the more elite the class, the larger and more ornate the hookah tends to be.

The status of hookah is Nepali society is a substantial and historical one. In fact, before there ever were cigarettes here in Nepal, hookah was the only way to smoke tobacco. One man I spoke with in Bhaktapur told me that old time smokers “can go without food, but not without smoke.” Hookah is smoked during work breaks, free time, daytime, nighttime, bhoj (feast) time, anytime.

The reasons for smoking hookah are vast. In Patan, one story I heard was that it is often smoked in evening time, and if a thief hears the gurgling sound of the water in the hookah, he will not enter the house  because he will know someone is in there. Another reason cited for smoking was that smoking helps you relive tension and also get to sleep. While their reasons for smoking are varied, most people who smoke hookah do not have any notion that smoking tobacco is bad for health. They are simply following age-old traditions and enjoying the practice.

Hookah smoking is not limited to anyone. It is not for males only: “Men, women, no problem” is what one Bhaktapur man said. However, there is a particular etiquette for smoking hookah in Nepal. When people of different castes are smoking together, only the top portion, the chillum, is passed because "fire is a holy thing." The bottom hookah portion is not shared between different castes.

Despite its long-standing position in Nepali culture, the fate of the hookah is uncertain. Nowadays perhaps the hookah is slowly disappearing from Nepal, as it is being replaced by cigarettes and only the older generations continue their traditional smoking method.