Kuwait Times-on the Sheesha

Monday 14th August

Sheesha 'growing pastime' for women
Published Date: August 12, 2007 By Nawara Fattahova, Staff Writer KUWAIT: Smoking a water pipe or 'sheesha' is a common pastime practiced by many people in the Arab world. A similar activity was the 'Gidu' that was smoked by men in traditional cafes. The pastime of smoking sheesha wasn't a very popular activity in Kuwait but then it spread and became more famous in the early 1990s.Before, there were only a few old cafes offering sheesha which were mostly visited by Saidi Egyptians. But now more cafes are offering sheesha and most of them are really crowded. This pastime is much more popular in Egypt and Lebanon and the expatriates from these countries brought this pastime with them when they came to Kuwait. Now, the pastime of smoking sheesha is being practiced by numerous female smokers in Kuwait.Although smoking sheesha is considered socially unacceptable for women, the number of women smoking sheesha is steadily increasing. A few years back, you could hardly see a woman smoking sheesha in a cafe but today when you enter any cafE, you won't be surprised to see dozens of women smoking sheesha. Also, as it was taboo for women to smoke sheesha before, it has now become more acceptable and you can see many women in Kuwait smoking sheesha without feeling ashamed.Most people in Kuwait see the pastime of smoking sheesha as a shameful activity for women and some even think it's disgusting. "I hate to see a woman smoking sheesha because it doesn't match their femininity. I can't imagine how their husband can stand them as their breath definitely smells bad. I don't smoke sheesha and my wife doesn't as well. Even if I did, I won't let her smoke in public," said Jamal, a 40-year-old employee.Women who smoke sheesha don't see this pastime as something shameful or disgusting. "I think it's normal, men can smoke sheesha so why can't we? I like to gather with my friends at a cafE and smoke sheesha and I don't think it's shameful. Also, I'm not doing anything illegal so why should I be ashamed?" said 28 year old Amani.Sheesha operates by water filtration and indirect heat and it can be used for smoking many substances such as herbal fruits and tobacco. Depending on where you are, sheesha is known under different names such as nargeela, argeela or ghelyoon to name a few.Many of these names are of Arab, Indian, Turkish, Uzbek, or Persian origin. Nargeela is the name most commonly used in Armenia, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Turkey, Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Israel, Bulgaria and Romania, though the initial "n" is often dropped in Arabic.Sheesha is more commonly seen in Egypt, Bahrain, Kuwait Morocco, Qatar, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Yemen. In Iran, it is called ghelyoon or ghalyan and in India and Pakistan it is referred to as huqqa.Many reports had been made about the bad effects of smoking sheesha in regards to one's health and many sheesha smokers end up in the hospital with serious diseases caused by this pastime. Dr Ahmad from Adan Hospital told the Kuwait Times that smoking sheesha is a bad pastime which can cause serious diseases starting from asthma to cancer.It damages the skin, which is very important for women as they like to look beautiful and young. By smoking sheesha, they make their skin age which in effect makes them look older than they really are," Dr Ahmad concluded.