How to smoke sheesha

THERE'S A REASON why the Caterpillar sitting on the mushroom in Alice in Wonderland was so "languid" and "sleepy": it was because all through his conversation with the confused Alice, he was smoking a hookah.

There is some question as to what Lewis Carroll intended would be in the hookah (something wildly illegal, no doubt), but there is no question at all about the hookahs that have finally caught up with us here in India.

The hookah (called sheesha in Egypt, and nargileh in Lebanon) has been around for centuries in the Middle East, and although a very primitive form originated from India, it was the Turks who turned it into what we know today.

They mixed the tobacco with fruit pulp and molasses (or sometimes honey) to make the smoke sweeter. Sheesha smoking in the Middle East is a very social activity; people gather together to discuss politics, religion, or simply gossip, and while doing so pass the water-pipe from person to person.

It is this association with leisure and meditation that has made sheesha so popular here in India. As with Arabic tradition, the sheeshas are smoked usually over a cup (or cups) of coffee; the pace is slow; people do not sit so much as drape themselves over sofas; and the mellow, scented smoke hangs low over everything.

So, how does a sheesha pipe work? The mechanism is quite simple: there are three main parts to it"" a clay hollow top with holes to allow air in; the long, narrow body; and the bottom which holds the water that the smoke is bubbled through.

According to the CEO of Mocha, Riyaaz Amlani, "When you inhale through the mouthpiece, this creates a vacuum in the body which sucks air through the holes in the clay top. We put the mix of tobacco, fruit pulp and molasses in the hollow, cover itwith aluminium foil and put the coal on top. The scented smoke is therefore sucked in through the pipe, down to the water at the bottom, through which it is bubbled and purified before it goes into your lungs. So, actually," he ends, in a burst of lyricism, "it's like inhaling pure fruit essence."

This is a tad optimistic, but it is true that sheesha does contain very little nicotine and no tar at all, and contrary to popular opinion, isn't really addictive, and not as bad for you as cigarettes are. (But this is not to forget that all the usual adverse affects of introducing smoke into your body still apply).

If you're new to the culture of smoking sheesha, start out with a normal flavour (and don't worry if your first inhale ends in a coughing, sputtering "" everyone else, however smug they look, have been there and done that); the most popular are apple and apricot, although cappuccino is up there as well. And once you're more used to it, why not try one of the flavours Mocha has introduced for their sheesha festival.

The creators have played around with the flavours, and, as is sometimes done in the Middle East, even substituted the water with lime juice (the Rabat sheesha), cranberry juice (Tangier), and even milk (Marrakesh).

In their outlets in Mumbai, they even have a Champagne sheesha, and Red and White Wine sheeshas, for, as Amlani says, "that extra kick".