Here taking a cue from this architectural element, the artist here has taken the help of a stone cuter to carve out the ornamental jali in the upper half of the background. The central figure itself is of a graceful lady, in all probability a courtesan. Richly attired in the finest of textiles and adorned with the finest of jewelry, she stares at nothing in particular. Resting against a large, comfortable bolster, the huqqa is her only companion.
The huqqa in Indian medieval tradition, more than a mere smoking device, has been contemplated almost as a living entity with a multifarious role and a living personality. It defined its owners' status and his economic condition. The huqqa was a trusted companion of all, from a village chaupal, ruler's court, lovers loneliness, poet's reveries to a thinker's thoughtful mood. It was a cementing force, which united varied sections of society and at same time served as a potent weapon of social boycott of wrong doers and was thus an instrument of various checks, discipline and discharge of justice. Here the artist has portrayed the huqqa in its more loved role of the companion of solitude.
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