Hookah was possibly invented in Mughal India by the Persian physician of Akbar, who wanted to "purify" smoke when tobacco was first introduced to Akbar. Alternatively, it could have been invented in Persia even earlier and spread to India. At some point, sharing a hookah became a way to socialize in groups. This habit that was prevalent among adults in rural India is now becoming popular among youth in cities.

Hookah smoking is harmful to health, increasing the risk of cancers, heart diseases, lung diseases, and many other illnesses. Sharing of a hookah can also spread infectious diseases. Exposure to the smoke coming out of a hookah, often called passive smoking or second-hand smoking, as in the case of the child in this sketch, is also harmful to health. 

This sketch is of a man and his son from the Gujjar Bakarwal tribe from Jammu & Kashmir and is based on a photograph (CC license) by Syed Qaarif Andrabi.