On 11th April 2023, Mac Agaba – a citizen of Uganda – messaged India’s external affairs minister, Dr. S Jaishankar, that he is thankful to his Indian friend who taught him how to eat khaini (tobacco mixture). He expressed his gratitude towards his Indian friend in a response he gave to Dr. S Jaishankar in a tweet.
In fact, Dr S Jaishankar was on a tour to the African country at the time, and during his visit he tweeted, “Participated in the virtual groundbreaking ceremony of solar powered piped drinking water supply systems funded by India Exim Bank in Uganda. This project will provide a safe and sustainable water supply to half a million Ugandans across 20 rural districts.”
In response to this tweet by the Indian External Affairs Minister, Mac Agaba tweeted, “I worked with this Indian guy for 3 months. He taught me how to eat tobacco mixture with white-coloured flour-like things (ssuna) It was damn cool. He was like a brother to me.” The Uganada citizen also attached a photograph of him with his Indian friend.
One Ashutosh Kumar Dixit replied to Mac Agaba, “Please don’t continue to eat it, it causes cancer and heart attack.” Mac Agaba wrote in response, “Its not available in Uganda. Sadly.”
It is notable that the thing Mac Agaba referred to as ‘ssuna’ is actually Chuna which means lime. In India, usually, tobacco or any tobacco-based mixture is prepared using Chuna. It is basically taken in almost ‘one to twenty’ proportion in a pinch of tobacco or khaini and rubbed together with the palm and fingers by the consumers. This action achieves two things. One is cleaning the tobacco or khaini and the other is enhancing the taste. In many parts of India, it is mixed with Kattha, supari, pudina, hara patta (green leaf), clove, and other chewable stuff, packed in a small plastic pouch, and rubbed against a rough surface in order to mix it all together very well.
However, consuming tobacco with lime is the most common practice among tobacco consumers in India and easy to adopt than the other mixtures. Tobacco is consumed by many people across various socio-economic strata in the country and now it has emerged that a citizen from Uganda liked this method of consuming tobacco so much that he expressed his gratitude towards his Indian friend in a tweet response to India’s external affairs minister Dr S Jaishankar.
*Tobacco consumption is injurious to health and OpIndia does not recommend its consumption and other additives in any form whatsoever.