Cafelization

“Lets try a new place this weekend” this is the dialogue I get to hear from my friends. In return I always say there are no new places in Lahore but they always have to say Lahore is full of café’s to entertain youth like us. Surely, Lahore has a lot of café’s nowadays. The trend of café’s is growing faster in this ancient city of Lahore. It is no longer a historic city confined to four walls. This walled city has grown to become a more modernized town. Though there is a Mughal touch found in the city but now Lahore has transformed into a commercialized city.

The major thing which has moved Lahore towards a well-run society is the growing trend of café’s. Café’s on one hand has promoted arts in Lahore taking the example of Peeru’s café; it is a splendid place to hang out. It has encouraged people to have a social life, to get out of their houses. Somehow, getting out of houses and sitting in café’s relaxes people, they tend to forget their worries for a while. It gives them a soothing environment. People are so frustrated from their personal lives, from the political and social evils that they need a break; they need some time to calm themselves. That serenity they feel in going into café’s. Lahore, due to the emergence of café’s has brought a new culture into this city and in someway has created awareness amongst people. People sitting in café’s having  cup of coffee feel the effect of sitting in an England’s coffee house as it has adapted this trend from a western society.

Not everyone could afford to go and unwind their tensions in the marvelous and expensive café’s of Lahore. So, basically the café life is cramped to the rich, wealthy n upper middle class. On one hand where café’s provide a night life and a social circle for Lahoris, on the other hand it promotes some bad activities amongst the youth. Smoking cigarettes and shisha is the most common activity practiced in café’s. Teenagers rush to café houses to smoke shisha and according to them it is harmless. Its injurious effects were stated in Dawn newspaper of January 10, 2006 as “Recently, however, the World Health Organization (WHO) released a report on the health consequences of shisha use and it has proved to be an eye-opener. A commonly held belief is that shisha is harmless because the smoke first passes through water before it is inhaled. Shisha smoking sessions last for 20-80 minutes, during which the smoker may take anywhere between 50 and 200 puffs. The shisha smoker may therefore inhale as much smoke during one session as a cigarette smoker would inhale consuming 100 or more cigarettes. Even after it has passed through water, the smoke produced by a shisha contains a high level of toxins, including carbon monoxide, heavy metals and other carcinogens.”

From my personal experience, shisha is really damaging to health. Once a beginner smokes it he feels dizzy and sometimes vomits. Once u get addicted your body gets immune to it and you don’t feel its side effects. It is like smoking cigarettes, once you get obsessed you want more of it and it is very difficult to let it go. Once I was sitting in a café with my friends when a 16 year old girl passed out and fell on floor. I along with her friend picked her up and asked the reason of her faintness. She told me it was due to the over smoking of shisha. Teenagers just smoke due to peer pressure or for the sake of fun. They don’t know about the destructive effects it carries. Nor do their parents know. In fact most of the parents even don’t know their children are involved in such activities. Moazam, a student of first year and frequent pipe smoker said that shisha smoking was more than a fashion and ‘in fact a status symbol for his generation. “It leaves an impression on my friends, I am versatile”, he said adding that he used to visit Shisha House twice or thrice a week and he never faced any hurdle. (Source newkerala.com)

Apart from just smoking shisha, café involves other negativities as well for example drugs, gambling etc. An eyewitness, ACCA student of University College of Islamabad, claimed that he has seen students of class 7th and 8th having shisha smoking and even drugs in one of such shisha houses (Source newkerala.com). I myself saw two boys and a girl sitting in a café house were playing cards which involved money, which is an example of gambling. Apart from these activities, café’s have more or less become dating spots. Most of the café’s are promoting cabins with curtains drawn so couples can have privacy and the fear of being caught is reduced. The environment of café houses explains it all, dim lights and soft music is a perfect place for couples where only teenagers mostly visit and not oldies so couples have an advantage.

The growing trend of café’s in Lahore is making our eastern society a more westernized one due to which our next generation is being involved in bad activities and forgetting their norms and values of society. I’m not an extremist and not against café houses but against the negativities it is spreading. I myself am fond of café’s and visit them on regular basis but do not indulge in such activities. There are some café’s which do not offer shisha at all e.g. Gloria jeans is a coffee shop, it does not offer shisha and everyone is least bothered about what the other person is doing. There is a more relaxed environment there. Likewise, shisha is banned in DHA. As not to spoil the youth they banned the shisha, also because of its unsafe effects but there are few café’s who present shisha. It is for the betterment of youth to bring a change in our society. We are the one’s to educate our next generation so instead of promoting the negativities we should concentrate on upholding the culture and the advantages of such café houses.

Mehr Nawaz Khan
Section H
09U0241