# How common is smoking tobacco in India **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 21, 2007, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-is-smoking-tobacco-in-india/388854 "2007-01-21T17:46:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Barrington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Barrington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barrington)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2007, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-is-smoking-tobacco-in-india/388854/21 "2007-01-22T16:07:38Z")
[QUOTE=pkbites] It would be nice if **Barrington** came back here and confirmed this, but I do think you missed the point of the use of the word “decent”. [/QUOTE] Yes, the reply struck me as something of a non sequitur too. I wasn’t saying they were good for you or anything (that would be a very stupid claim), rather that I enjoyed smoking them. They have a good flavour - although to be fair to **BarnOwl** , that’s a subjective opinion. Oh, and a tip for anyone contemplating smoking a bidi (or beedie, or biri, or what have you): make sure you have something to drink with it. I find that they dry out my mouth. ---
**Author:** ![wisernow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/13edae/32.png) [@wisernow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wisernow)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2007, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-is-smoking-tobacco-in-india/388854/22 "2007-01-22T22:56:52Z")
[QUOTE=Dervorin] Ye gods. I just had a brain-fart of epic proportions. You’re right, of course - the red stains are from betel nuts. [/QUOTE] Just to put things in the right perspective. The red stains are essentially from [kattha](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catechu), one of the ingredients in [paan](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paan) that is chewed with or without tobacco. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-is-smoking-tobacco-in-india/388854.md?page=1)