Hooked on hookahs….Ruhi Batra
Cherry or chocolate? As puffing away at hookahs becomes chic among the chattering classes, TOI-Crest looks at how safe are shishas.
Cherry or chocolate? As puffing away at hookahs becomes chic among the chattering classes, TOI-Crest looks at how safe are shishas.
Harshita Mehrotra and Priyanshi Dhir, like most 18-year-olds, land up at their neighbourhood coffee house nearly three times a week. It’s not over cups of coffee that they exchange notes about boys, clothes or movies but over an apple-flavoured hookah.
The sweet smelling smoke, which ranges from chocolate to grape, engulfs the room, done up in hues of red and purple. There are teenagers or college-goers on each table, blowing out smoke that would put habitual smokers to shame. The mood is light and playful.
The sweet smelling smoke, which ranges from chocolate to grape, engulfs the room, done up in hues of red and purple. There are teenagers or college-goers on each table, blowing out smoke that would put habitual smokers to shame. The mood is light and playful.
Little do they know that an hour-long hookah session, punctuated with long, deep inhalations, amounts to smoking 100 cigarettes or more, according to a 2005 WHO study.
Of course, Harshita and Priyanshi think that there’s no tobacco in their pipes. Hookah bars/parlours rely, quite conveniently, on exotically flavoured tobacco to market their ware to the college set.