Air is filled with 'exotic aroma'

Is it part of traditional culture that cannot be separated? Or is it a hazard that shouldn't be accepted?

Shisha smoking is once more being debated as a new rule is out in Dubai banning its use in all communal public places, including parks and beaches.

Gulf News readers, as always, took different sides. Some said shisha smoke was not just annoying but also harmful to health.

Geetam Kapur, an Indian expatriate said: "It is extremely frustrating when I am out with my family in a crowded park, and we find ourselves surrounded by shisha smoke. There are children who play around in public places. It is unfair to them that they have to inhale the smoke."

She also raised concerns about people with serious health issues, who could be harmed by the smoke.

However, others believed that mature adults should have the freedom to do as they wish, After all, they ask what's the harm in a nice shisha every now and then?

Malcolm Thompson, a 73-year-old British expatriate said: "I believe that there's nothing more beautiful than a walk in the park with the air filled with the exotic aroma of shisha."

Other readers took the middle ground.

Lizette Guzman, a 30-year-old Filipina expatriate, said: "I don't smoke shisha at all, but at the same time I am not bothered by it in public places."