Naswar: Tainted love

Never get high on your own supply, warns a famous naswar maker in Karachi’s Jackson bazaar.

The funny thing is that most people who use it think that Naswar is a safe drug. They are perhaps not aware that the WHO found this smokeless form of tobacco has a minimum of 28 cancer-causing agents. They include compounds such as arsenic and nickel, plus radio-elements such as polonium, uranium, beryllium.

Naswar is a mixture of sun-dried, sometimes only partially cured, powdered local tobacco, ash, oil, flavouring agents (eg cardamom, menthol), colouring agents (indigo or yellow) and lime or calcium carbonate, water and guar gum. Ammonium chloride is added as a preservative and to give it bite. It is usually sold in round or square plastic packets held with a rubber band to keep it from exposure to the air. A single packet costs Rs10 and can yield up 20 pinches. Unlike chewing tobacco, naswar is taken as a pinch and packed into the jowl. It used to come in special steel snuff boxes but those are rare these days. The tins would come fixed with a vanity mirror men used if they wanted to fix their comb-over.

The sun-dried, sometimes only partially cured, powdered local tobacco is crushed between two big curved stones fixed to the floor

The Yousufzai dialect speakers of Pashto call it naswar and the people in the southern districts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Waziristan refer to it as kap or nasor, however, in Karachi where the largest population of Pakhtuns are said to live, it is naswar no matter what size or shape it comes in. It is a common misperception that only the Pathan is addicted to naswar. It has not spared any ethno-linguistic group, from the Sindhi- to the Hindko-speaking populations.

Karachi is also among the biggest markets for naswar where tons of it are consumed daily. One of the best places to get some is Keamari but it is also sold in Banaras and old Sabzi Mandi.

Oil, flavouring agents (eg cardamom, menthol), colouring agents (indigo or yellow) are added to the tobacco and then water and guar gum

Namus Khan, originally from Bajaur Agency, has earned a bit of a name for his supply at Keamari’s Jackson Bazaar where he is assisted by his 20-year-old son Ayub Khan. Their naswar is said to reach almost every part of the city and their daily sale comes to about Rs20,000. One of the reasons for their popularity is experience. Khan is said to be the first man in the city to install a naswar-making machine around three decades ago. The entire street is now infamous as Naswari Street. But Khan even owns a ‘branch’ at Empress Market.

“Four people, including me, work from morning till night making and packing the packets of naswar,” says Khan. “We produce around 300 kilograms a day but this is still not enough to meet demand.”

Right at the end the and lime or calcium carbonate is added and it is left in the open to air a bit before it is packed

The tobacco and ash, particularly from the sheesham tree, comes from Swabi district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Jampur of Ranjanpur in Punjab. The other ingredients are available in Lea Market in Karachi. A supplier of the key ingredients to Karachi, Khalid Khan, says that he brings tobacco in a 50 kilogramme sack for Rs7,000 and the same quantity of Swabi ash costs Rs1,200.

The tobacco is crushed between two big curved stones fixed to the floor. A pair of wooden hammers run by an electric machine hit it for 10 minutes. “The hammer hits the tobacco so hard and fast that it burns and their colours turn black,” explains Lal Jahan, who has prepared naswar in Keamari for over 30 years. Then the ash and guar gum come next. The calcium carbonate, colour and ammonium chloride (locally called naushadar) are added right in the end. The more you crush the tobacco the stronger the naswar. It takes about two hours to make a batch.

This is all hard work, however. Namus Khan says the average man can’t do it. The constant smell of the tobacco makes you vomit, gives you headaches and leads to skin rashes or itchiness. “Those who make and pick it can’t be addicted to it because of their exposure to it all the day,” he says. “But for those who are hooked on naswar it is impossible to go a few minutes without having some or ensuring there is some in your hand or pocket.”



Naswar, much like smoking, has a disastrous first encounter. “Almost everyone vomits with the first intake and swears that they will never touch it again,” says Abdul Majid, a young man who came to buy some at Namus Khan’s at a half past midnight. “But if they take it again, they will be addicted. At least it is better than cigarettes.” His habit is so bad that he starts to feel anxious if he doesn’t have it in his pocket or somewhere close by. He warns that if your supply runs out you start to get irritated and angry and get a headache. That’s why he was there in the middle of the night to score some more.

Published in The Express Tribune, Sunday Magazine, September 22^nd, 2013.