South Asians Can’t Give Up Tobacco. It’s Killing Us.
The region’s long history of paan, gutka, and hookah use has made us blind to a major health risk, especially in the American diaspora.
In “A princess reclining on a terrace with attendants,” a painting from the mid-1700s, a young Mughal woman lies on her stomach on sumptuous pillows in the middle of a white marble terrace. She watches two musicians perform, while a woman pours her some liquor. Behind her are more attendants, one waving away insects, one holding a box of paan, and another fanning the princess while smoking hookah.
While this piece of art suggests a life of ease and wealth, it also points to consuming paan — and tobacco — as a way of life. Centuries later, South Asians are continuing the tradition of eating paan, gathering with friends to smoke hookah, and grabbing drinks. But one substance, tobacco, is responsible for making South Asians susceptible to cancer at substantially higher rates.