The Nargile, a Turkish Delight

Source from:  singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg 11/04/2008

A STOMPer found a restaurant in Boat Quay offering customers a smoke on the nargile, a traditional Turkish water pipe for smoking tobacco. He shares some information regarding the instrument, sometimes also called a sheesha in Singapore. He says: "This picture of the nargile ( pronounced as nahr-gee-leh) was taken outside a Turkish restaurant at Boat Quay. If you dine at this place you can buy a packet of tobacco and the waitress will show you how you can enjoy a smoke on this so-called pipe known as the nargile. "However smoking cigarettes or a pipe carries a risk as tobacco smoke has been shown to cause cancer and other diseases. "The nargile or Turkish water pipe is an old way of smoking Turkish tobacco. It is also called a hookah by English speakers and sheesha by the Arabs. The popularity of nargile dropped off when tobacco-lovers switched to cigarettes. After World War II it was mostly old men who smoked nargiles. "In Turkey both men and women find great pleasure in smoking the waterpipe. The nargile started a whole new culture which endured for many years. Even today the nargile gives enjoyment to a special breed of smokers. The original nargile came from India and later spread to Iran and then the rest of the Arab world. "Not all tobaccos qualified for usage in the nargile, and only the dark tobacco imported from Iran found favour with the nargile user. This tobacco was washed several times before use as it was extremely strong. The nargile is still popular in Turkey even up to the present day". Enditem