Hukkah, Hukau, Haq

Hukkah, Hukau, Haq

Huqqa an Arabic word become Hukkah in Urdu was an important custom of Asia/India and was a matter of prestige. People used to smoke tobacco filtering it through the water to remove some of the toxins. The jaggery and other flavours are added in making the tobacco gives a sweet smoke taste that gives pleasure to the smokers. Hookah and Pani are the instruments to allow the person into the company. It is a medium of friendship and relationship. When someone has been boycotted by the society or community the first punishment announced is to stop hukkah Pani of the person. Once hukkah Pani are stopped, the family is debarred from all the customs and relations. The social boycott was so powerful an instrument that all the persons in the community abide by their rules and regulations. Therefore, the customary codes and rules are still survived though there are  laws and rules under the Constitution. 

The hookahs were hewn from coconut cell therefore, it was called narghile (Persian) meaning Narikela  in Sanskrit. It was a popular in many Asian countries, more in Muslim world. The Pictures of Sultans and Emperors carry images of smoking hukkah. It was popular among noblemen and became a status symbol for the Indian aristocracy and gentry. Hubble Bubble was the name the English in India gave it to mimic the gurgling sound. The artisans decorate it with silver tin cover with handwork. There are many shapes, sizes and designs of hukkah. It is called by different names: huqqa, hukkah, huqqo, hoko, chillm, guduguda, etc, in different parts of Asia. Modern people taste hukkah in hukkah bars. 

My father used to smoke hukkah. He had a silver hukkah and used to make it new after regular intervals. My childhood started with preparing hukkah for my father. Putting the wet tobacco in the earthen bowl and lit with charcoal, then loaded over the hukkah was my morning and afternoon work of the day. As the maker has take two-three smoke through the pipe to remove the blocked air and to make it active, I had tasted hookah in childhood. We used to make the wet tobacco with jaggery flavour at home. However, I have never tried to smoke either hukkah or cigarettes in life. 

The water filter doesn't remove all the toxins of tobacco and people use the same pipe/tube to smoke, hukkah smoking is injurious to health for smoking chemical toxins of tobacco (lungs, heart, cancer diseases) as well as spreading infectious diseases of tuberculosis, herpes, hepatitis, influenza, etc. It increases the level of carbon monoxide in the smokers body. The nicotine make them addictive.

However, Ayurveda allows hukkah smoking between 12-80 years age with conditions. There are timing and seasonal restrictions as well as prohibition for some. It is not smoking of tobacco but smoking of Ayurvedic medicines. It is used for balancing three dosas, to clean up congestion from the broncho and lungs area and dealing with upper respiratory problems, etc. Coughing with loud sound removes the chocking and congestion of the respiratory and lungs area, therefore we read messages of apply such act as a first aid in case of heart attack. As smoking increases the metabolism rate of the body, therefore, the smokers are not obese.

Hukau (pronounced huka) in China is a registration of the residents of the area. It is a system of family registration for social control. China don't have slums because people of one province can't get work permit in other provinces without hukau. It is like a visa within the states. It is a household registration system. Without Hukau permission, nobody can stay or work in that province. India has a system of domicile certificate but it is not been followed strictly, therefore, Mumbai and other cities are converted into the slum cities.

The word huqqa/hukkah/hukau must have been derived from the Arabic word Haq/hak meaning just/true/right. Hukkah - Pani is a permission to stay in the company. 

Have you tried Hukkah? It is tasty but addictive. Don't try.

Punamchand 
14 June 2016