April 6, 1998

One of life's great pleasures or a new fashion accessory? Recent converts discover that cigars make a statement of style and substance.

By Namita Bhandare

Need a lifestyle overhaul? Girlfriend dumped you for a higher credit limit? Annual job assessment recommends a transfer to Hoshiarpur? Never mind. Try a cigar. Better still, try one even if life seems good: it could make you look more macho, successful, sexy. It's what everyone in town, from teen queens to eclectic politicians, from businessmen in power suits to consultants in designer khadi seem to be sporting. It's what the man in the Ray- Ban ad holds on to; what Jackie Shroff smokes in Jadh, in which he plays a mean but classy jail warden and what Bal Thackeray recently brandished (complete with a holder) during a television interview.

It's the dawning of the cigar era in India. Of course, cigars have been around ever since the East India Company set up base here. Only difference: in your grandfather's time, they were associated with mustachioed plantation owners and crusty ICS-types. Now, it's hard to walk into a nightclub and not see desperately 20-somethings trying to blow rings while they compare sizes (my Cohiba is bigger than yours).

What's more, upmarket restaurants seem to have cottoned on to what has been a huge trend in the West for some years now. 28th The Grill at the Hilton, Delhi, offers its clients cigars as soon as the dishes are cleared. So does La Rochelle at the Oberoi.

The buzz is that the Oberoi Group plans to launch the country's first cigar club, where members can lean back on leather chesterfields with a glass of port and light their favourite cigars. With a Rs 1 lakh tag, membership won't be cheap -- but that's not scaring away people. "The Oberoi Group is actively promoting cigars," says Stephen Magor, the group's executive assistant manager (food and beverages), Delhi. "You tend to associate cigars with good wines, good food and a nice ambience."

Elsewhere, business Chetan Seth, a businessman, has been appointed the exclusive distributor for all Havana cigar brands in the Indian subcontinent and has just received his first consignment of one lakh cigars. He's been sending mailers to potential clients but claims that the response has been so overwhelming he's going to have to ration his stock. This despite the price that ranges from $800 (Rs 32,000) for a box of 25 Montecristo-As and $38 (Rs 1,520) for a box of Quintero brevas. Take heart. They're cheaper than Hong Kong duty-free.

Not that the recent converts are deterred by the price. The 22-year-old Suraj Mahant, an "occasional puffer" who tried his first cigar two years ago, says he only "smokes at parties" -- and prefers Cubans, though he admits he can't tell the difference. His 23-year-old friend Nitin Bhayana, who averages three to four cigars a week, is clear about what he wants: the best.

But Bhayana is a serious smoker who hoards his collection of Cigar Aficionado magazine and has a library of such books as The Gourmet Guide to Cigars by Paul B.K. Garmirian, a PhD in international politics. "Smoking cigars seems to give most people a sense of confidence. It makes you feel special," says Bhayana.

With endorsements from such icons as Winston Churchill as well as more contemporary celebs like Matt Dillon, Jack Nicholson, Sharon Stone and Arnold Schwarzenegger, cigars are more than just tobacco -- they are also about wealth, status and power. Cigar smoking has been boosted by the fact that cigarette smoking is now considered not only politically incorrect but also déclassé.

"When you smoke a cigar, you're making a statement. It's like saying 'I can't drive a Ferrari but I can smoke a cigar'," says design consultant Manya Patil, who began smoking cigars about a year ago. There's an erotic overtone to that statement. "When a woman smokes, it's sexy," continues Patil. "It's on a par with women photographers who have big cameras with even bigger lens."

It also tells you something about the cigar world's pecking order. Here, you are what you smoke: size is all and if you can flash a Cohiba, you're a king. This is why Suhel Seth, CEO of Equus Advertising, is somewhat of an exception. Seth freely admits smoking the more cheaper US-made King Edwards (Rs 100 for five). His Cubans are his treasure: he doesn't offer them to anyone and ruthlessly turns down would-be moochers. "Delhi is the most brand-conscious city in India," he says, stroking his Louis Vuitton leather cigar case lovingly. So while the grey market seems flooded with imported cigars, the indigenously produced Trichy cigars are hard to come by.

Would-be cigar smokers are well-advised to heed businessman Asit Chandmal's statutory warning: "The only side-effect of cigar smoking is poverty." The trappings aren't cheap. You could start with a humidor that maintains ideal temperature and humidity for cigars (or you could opt for a cheaper option: wrap your precious cigar box around a towel and shove them in the chiller). Ordinary petrol lighters and wax matches will foul your cigar aroma; so that's another investment. Then you need ashtrays with larger holders to hold the cigar. Finally, there are cutters to cut the cigar cap. The range? Stainless steel to gold.

"Youngsters tend to follow the ritual more," says Vivek Burman, managing director of Dabur India, who has been enjoying cigars for the past two decades. Burman prefers to dip his cigar in cognac, a habit borne of personal conviction. Today's faddists would perish at the thought.

The aficionados -- and everyone who smokes claims to be one -- are sure that the faddists will eventually move on to something else. But as they point out, cigars have one important use that cannot be replaced.

Explains Chandmal: "When you're smoking with a really pretty girl, you can take off the band and slip it on her finger." If you're lucky, you would have made an impression. If not, you would still have had a good smoke.

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