Enjoy hookah smoking at Purdue

Purdue needs to get its head out of its rear end and open up to different views and cultures.

I support student’s rights to freedom of speech, but there have been too many religious debates over the last few weeks on campus that it’s getting overwhelming and irritating. Religion should be a personal issue and not about harassing students to re-analyze their beliefs in God or in nothing.

However, what I have noticed cultivating and circulating around campus (besides jerks waving flags), is the hubble-bubble noise. Yes, the water pipe, simply known as "hookah," is the celebrated future of social life at Purdue. Many people smoke it at the Hookah! restaurant, pass it around the table and share laughs and the sweet, gratifying taste with friends.

Those who are unfamiliar with the origins of hookah smoking , smoking it or preparing the pipe to smoke, pay attention.

The pipe dates back 400 years ago, deeply rooted in Turkish and Arabian society. At the time, hookah was known as Narghile, but there are also many other labels for it. The main parts of the pipe include a water bowl, a cylindrical open-ended stem that is branched toward the water and also breathes in the heated tobacco at the top. The mu’essel (flavored mixture of tobacco and molasses) is loosely packed in a small-ventilated bowl. On top of that is the heated oak charcoal to burn the mu’essel.

Symbolically, the pipe represents that of a princess. The crown at the top, and the round, baluster type body, elegant in that it evokes women’s features. The hose is meant to represent the arm of a woman lusting to be touched and shared by the environment.

Although this may stress promiscuous relationships, the narghile is noted as an intrinsic art form used in many paintings ranging from the 1650s to present day. Many of the later prominent paintings included portraits of women smoking the pipe.

Many Middle-Easterners and other cultures view the narghile as preferable over smoking a cigarette. When it comes time to smoke through a hookah, there is more time to think when compared to smoking a Camel Light. The pipe teaches patience, tolerance and a more balanced approach to life. While cigarettes are for those fast-paced, nervous people rushing to get through their day.

Preparing the pipe and heating the mu’essel is a chore, but the reward of completing such a task is beyond belief. While you sit down to smoke the hookah, you can re-think what you really want to achieve in life. Whether it be taking a nap after you finish or skipping your next math class. I would recommend neither, but take part in both.

But in all honesty, I am not writing this to degrade the cigarette smokers on campus, but to advocate the new fashion of smoking hookah.

Today, especially around campus, it’s uplifting to see different cultures and ethnicities emerging and sharing their nation’s traditional music while dancing together. At hookah smoking cafes and restaurants, you experience the pleasures of spending time with friends and it’s not necessary to have a beer in your hand in doing so. However, in the tradition of smoking hookah you are strongly urged to drink coffee or tea as a compliment. And etiquette should always be followed, but hasn’t always been in the past.

Around the 1700s and 1800s, Sultans and Kings would pack opium and other illicit drugs into the bowl when stressful times beat down upon them. Sitting cross-legged on dark cushions with multiple wives serving them wines and re-heating the tobacco. That is a joy every man should experience (no, no, just kidding).

That’s beyond the point. The only thing to remember is:

Inhale—exhale, and taste the sweet passionate flavors of the Hookah.