New Delhi, May 24 -- In August 2018, Projit Bihari Mukharji, professor at the University of Penn and Head of the Department, Professor of History, Ashoka University wrote a fascinating piece on the Ellahie family which migrated to Calcutta from Delhi in the 1880s and started what became a hugely successful business of importing tobacco to make cigarettes.

The piece included an advertisement and though it appeared to be a depiction rather than the original black & white one, it had all the ingredients of a gripping story. The vintage advertisement portrays a woman in a sensual and languid pose while smoking a cigarette.

Lying on a chaise lounge, with her arms raised and dress slightly disheveled, there's a sexual undertone and a challeng...