DOHA • Seesha smoking among women has shown an alarming increase in the country, in spite of warnings from physicians and other experts that it can be equally if not more harmful than smoking cigarettes.

An Arabic daily spoke to a group of women sitting around in a Ramadan tent dragging away on seeshas. Twenty-eight-year-old Amani, said she first took up the seesha when she went out with a group of friends and started to imitate them in order not to feel left out.

Amani said: "I then got used to it and have become a seesha smoker. Before that, I used to smoke cigarettes. I feel a woman has a right to do what she wants and I prefer smoking in front of everyone. It is better to do it in front of people rather tank keep a secret."

S A said her mother was a heavy smoker, constantly with cigarette in hand. "Thus smoking was normal for me. When I felt stressed I started to smoke in order to relax and ease the tension. Now with the seesha, I find it difficult to quit smoking."

Wafa, who works with a private firm here, stated that she, too, started smoking the seesha when she went out with friends and succumbed to peer pressure. "Now I am very eager to go to cafes where there are seeshas. My family, however, is unaware that I smoke."

Another 28-year-old, private form employee Sawsan said she got into the habit three years ago. It had all started when she was engaged and her fiancée had offered her sheesha at a party. "Though my engagement has since broken, now I am still smoking," she said wistfully.

There are several cafes in the city where women congregate to smoke the hubbly bubbly. Many of them are from well-known families and are not too keen on divulging their names. S L admitted it was a peculiar habit so she chooses to puff away in private. "It is not good for women to smoke the seesha, especially in a conservative society," she stated.

Umm Fadi, a mother of three, took up the sheesha as a challenge to her husband. He used to make her prepare his seesha for him. Umm Fadi says: "There is a proverb saying that whoever prepares poison also takes it."

She stated; "I felt challenged as I could not smoke like him. I started coughing when I first tried it but soon I became an expert. Now my husband has had to buy me a seesha of my own!"

M W is now hooked on the seesha. "I started when I was 17-year-old with friends. Now I find it very difficult to give it up. I smoke now sitting in the privacy of my room and have my sister act as a lookout."

However, more than worrying of having picked up a bad habit, M W is upset as she feels she is being exploited by her sister who asks for small favours and money to keep her sibling's secret.