Sociology of an object
Outlining the passage of a time through a common item
It’s night. The midsummer’s air has become less hot. Two men are sitting together, sharing the single hukkah standing between them. First, the man in T-shirt puffs from the pipe, then the man in the kurta pajama.
This hukkah is like a popular landmark, here in the small plaza outside the Jama Masjid, in Gurugram’s Sadar Bazar. It has been at the place for years. In the BC (before covid) era, large and small groups of men, always men, would be huddled around it at different times of the day, with the hukkah passing around the circle, like passing-theparcel game. Each person would unhurriedly indulge in a puff or two before handing it to the next. The men wouldn’t necessarily be familiar to each other, though many would be regulars. Most of these men would be labourers in the area. There would inevitably be a thekedar, the contractor who would arrange assignments for the labourers.
The arrival of the coronavirus temporarily disrupted that way of public life.
Now, as the pandemic fades, the hookah looks like a buried relic that has suddenly resurfaced. That’s an illusion—the hookah never disappeared except during the lockdowns. “It remained in use, hum log (we people) would come to it but never in such numbers as before,” says the man in T-shirt, as he replenishes the hookah’s chillum, the cavity containing the tobacco, with a fresh piece of smouldering coal. The man in kurta pajama interjects, saying that “almost of us are back to work an a daily basis, and the hookah is again in demand. Some of us don’t even smoke. The fact that it is here brings sakoon (calm).”
The men confirm that the hookah remains in the plaza at night. “It is placed over there,” one of them points to the low brick wall behind him.
It’s difficult to ascertain the hukkah’s original owner. One person says it belonged to a nearby kebab shop (its owner is not around at the moment to confirm the fact). Another person says it was brought to the plaza by a contractor called Saleem.
As time passes, some of the shops pull down their shutters. The two men who were with the hukkah too have left. But the hukkah still has company—four new faces are by its side (see photo).
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