Irritating habits of Indians – chewing paan and tobacco and taking snuff

The saying goes that cleanliness is next to godliness but, there are various aspects of Indian culture that do not follow this line of thinking. A few of these, in my opinion, are chewing paan (betel leaf), chewing tobacco (either raw or in the form of gutkha) and taking snuff.
Each of these habits have more of nuisance values and, a large section of Indians are addicted to these bad habits. The result is that they not only dirty their surroundings apart from fears of spreading disease but also cause harm to their bodies – their teeth get affected and they can become cancer patients.

Incidentally, the paan culture is prevalent in Bengal also and, even the women are addicts – in days gone by, the women of the family would sit together after lunch with their paraphernalia and prepare the paans. They would have with them the major ingredients like the betel leaves, whole betel nuts, slaked lime, zarda (scented tobacco), cardamom and cloves. They would cut the betel nuts as they chit-chatted and cracked jokes and prepare the paans. To them it was a ritual to spend some time and get updated on latest gossips – kitty party of yore!!
Incidentally, paan is basically a betel leaf in which are added innumerable ingredients, with some of these being aphrodisiacal in nature. In North India, the paan culture is rampant and the addicts love to experiment with different additives. When they chew the paan, the heady aroma wafts through the air and leaves a trail behind the man who is chewing it.
However, taking snuff is really a nuisance. The individual takes a pinch of the snuff, stuffs it into his nostrils and them uses his handkerchief to wipe his nose clean. The snuff apparently goes into his head and gives him a high. This is a habit which is exclusively for the men because I have never heard of a woman addicted to snuff.(To be continued …)

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