This series of artwork showcases pencil-on-paper drawings of people engaged in using or producing traditional forms of tobacco products. The intention is to evoke the historical, socio-cultural, and economic contexts in which tobacco evolved, is used, and is regulated. The artwork is supported by the DBT (Government of India)/Wellcome Trust India Alliance.
The Portuguese introduced tobacco, a plant originating in the Americas, to India. Tobacco’s spread across the world is linked with the spread of colonialism. After initial restrictions, it also became popular in India. Soon, it got exploited as a commodity for transoceanic trade, fueling the colonial empire.
India is now among the largest consumers and producers of tobacco in the world. Tobacco use causes over 1.3 million premature adult deaths every year in India, apart from imposing a huge cost on the economy and environment. The governments in India have taken several measures to reduce tobacco use in society to reduce tobacco-related harms and deaths.
This sketch depicts one of the imaginations about how Vasco da Gama, a Portuguese explorer, would have met Samoothiri (Zamorin), the Nair monarch and the ruler of the then Calicut (today’s Kozhikode) in southern India in 1498 when Vasco da Gama arrived in India the first time through a sea route from Portugal. This sketch is based on a painting (out of copyright now) by José Maria Veloso Salgado in 1898.
Bidis were possibly invented in the 17th century in southern Gujarat, where tobacco was initially cultivated. Laborers rolled tobacco leftover in broad leaves of certain trees. In the early part of the 20th century, the bidi industry expanded, benefiting from the popular rejection of ‘foreign’ cigarettes as part of the Swadeshi movement. By the mid-20th century, factory-based production of bidis declined, and it became a cottage industry.
Bidis are primarily rolled by women and children in their households, wherein they roll tobacco in cut tendu leaf and then tie it with a thread. The leaf is tucked in at the end using a sharp knife. Children are preferred by contractors given their nimble fingers for rolling bidis.
Bidi rolling has occupational hazards, including body pain, postural health conditions, and a high incidence of lung diseases like bronchial asthma and tuberculosis, due to inhalation of fine tobacco dust. The wages for bidi rolling remain typically low, and exploitation of workers by middlemen or contractors is also widely documented.
As India aims to effectively control tobacco products, it is vital to keep in mind the need for rehabilitation of people working in the tobacco industry to safer and viable alternative occupations.
This sketch is of an adolescent girl from a town in Rajasthan and is based on a photograph (CC License) by Jeffrey Leventhal/ILO.
Bidis, made of uncured tobacco rolled into leaves tied with a thread at one end, dominate the smoking tobacco market in India. Compared to hookah (and later, Chillum), bidis provided an easier and more portable means for individuals to smoke tobacco that was beyond the confines of castes.
Among women, bidis are the most prevalent form of smoking tobacco. Being cheaper, bidi use is more concentrated among lower socioeconomic groups. Some believe bidi smoking to be less harmful than cigarette smoking, which is untrue. Bidi smoking is associated with similar health hazards as cigarette smoking, including a greater risk of cancers, heart diseases, lung diseases, and several other illnesses.
This sketch depicts a woman pilgrim at the Gangasagar Mela, the second-largest congregation of Hindu pilgrims after the famous Kumbh Mela, and is based on a photograph (CC license) by Biswarup Ganguly.
A chillum is a straight conical pipe made of clay or stone, a few inches long. There is generally a small stone inserted in the stem as a stopper containing a hole in the center and/or slits on margins that prevent debris but allow smoke to pass by.
Such pipes in varied forms were in use by societies across Asia, Africa, and the Americas for smoking herbs. At times, their use was associated with spiritual rituals. In India, chillum use became popular in the eighteenth century.
Some Indian sadhus used chillums to smoke cannabis, opium, or tobacco with some sort of a spiritual connection with the lord Shiva. Chillums are becoming popular again and are now made with a variety of materials beyond clay (glass, wood, etc.) with various engravings, including cultural symbols.
This sketch is of an Indian Sadhu (ascetic and/or monk) smoking a chillum and is based on a photograph (CC license) by Vijay Richhiya.
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.
Artworks by Upendra Bhojani
Text edited by Parth Sharma