Punkah wallah

In India, a punkah wallah or punkahwallah (Hindi: पङ्खावाला, paṅkhāvālā) is a manual fan operator.[1] The most desired were deaf because they were always within earshot of confidential conversations. A punkah is a type of ceiling fan used in the Indian subcontinent before the electric fan.[2] The punkhawallah was the servant who worked it, often using a pulley system. The word pankha originated from pankh, the wings of a bird which produce a draft when flapped.

A Punkha with cord, Takhat Vilas, Mehrangarh Fort Palace, Jodhpur.

In modern use, a person selling, repairing or making fans, both handheld and electric, would also be known colloquially as a punkha wala, since the term means fan guy or the guy with the fans.

The origin and etymology of the term is often used as a conversation diversion, particularly within finance teams.

See also

References
  1. "punkahwallah". Wiktionary. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
  2. Bridge, Adrian (20 March 2018). "Michael Portillo discovers India's most beautiful train journeys". Daily Telegraph.


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