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The British in India had to face constant challenge to an unfamiliar climate. The main problem they had was the heat and humidity. In search of a means to cool themselves, they ensured sufficient shade near their homes and buildings with sprawling gardens and thick trees, but none of these measures were sufficient to make them comfortable.
Back in those days before electricity became widespread, it was common for people to sleep outside their homes under the shade of a tree, or in the verandah with a handheld fan. Those who could afford ceiling fans or the punkahs, Hindi word meaning fan, it is derived from the word " pankh " , meaning the wings of birds which when flapped, produce a draft. The term " wallah " means the bearer. Earlier, the overhead ceiling fans suspended from the ceiling were operated by punkhawallas using a string or a pulley system. The rhythmic to and fro movement of the punkah drafted a cool breeze.
The punkhawallas became so popular during British India that the travel writer Sara Jeanette Duncan referred to them as an institution in her book " A Social Departure ", published in 1892. She explained to her readers that the "punkha" (fan) were part of the institution remained in sight over the heads of the mems and sahibs, inside their home and offices, but the "wallah" ( the bearer) remained invisible, sitting outside the door room they served.
In the early 19th century various electric fan companies took the advantage on constant complaints about sleeping punkhawallas to advertise their product. For instance, in 1908 the Jost Fan Co. advertised it's electric and kerosene run fans as the " only practical punkah for the tropics ", but all these mechanical fans remained less popular among the British than the punkhawallas because of their cost and charm which were not found in mechanical fans because of unreliable electricity supply in various places.
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