"That what we call a waterpipe, by any other name would smell as sweet"! Actually Shakespeare was referring to a rose - not to a waterpipe. But his wise quote can easily be applied to argilehs, nargilehs, hubble-bubbles, sheeshas, shishas, hookahs and whatever other names are given to the traditional Middle Eastern waterpipe.

 

One of the things that most intrigue the "shisha virgin", is the way such a contraption works. What's the long metal pipe doing there, and how exactly do we lead the smoke through that water? And eh... why isn't the tobacco itself lighted, but heated by a chunk of smouldering charcoal instead? Not to mention the greatest mystery: what is the little sheet of metal foil doing between the charcoal and the tobacco? Wouldn't it be more efficient to put the hot coal right on top of the tobacco itself? Why is there a little valve next to the hose header right above the glass base or vase? Doesn't that suck in false air? And why's that sheesha tobacco so moist and so sticky? All these questions have fairly simple, and come think of it also logical, answers. The Middle Eastern waterpipe doesn't require a rocket scientists brain to figure out its workings. Everything about the shisha, hookah, hooka, nargileh, hubblebubble, argileh or sheesha makes sense, even its numerous names! It's so simple that even weird critters can enjoy a hooka: just think of Alice's "hookah smoking caterpillar"!

 

Before answering all the above questions, let me first duly introduce myself. I am Jaap Verduijn, a fairly widely travelled Dutchman of let's say "senior age". I enjoyed my first smoke around 1961, and many decades, uncountable miles, lots of pipes, and an incredible number of cigars later, my guts must be more thoroughly smoked than a well-cured kipper.

 

I reckon I smoked my first waterpipe around 1965, but back then the deliciously fruit flavored tobaccos were not readily available, and the experiment wasn't sufficiently enjoyable to last very long. I had to wait some forty years, when my far better half Caroline and myself pottered about the Middle East for a while. Where that led to can be seen on the pictures to the left and right, where we are enjoying a mighty good after dinner shisha on a quiet evening in Kuwait. Since then, thanks to the now easily available tasty fruit-flavored tobaccos (or tobacco-free fruit-flavored molasses for "smoking non-smokers"!), the shisha has become an integrated and highly enjoyable part of our social lives.