General Manager's room ['Times of India'],AND THE HAND PULLED/OPERATED FAN/PUNKAH - November 1898.--Photographer: E.O.S. and Company Medium: Photographic print Date: 1898

{HAND PULLED PUNKAH [FAN]; USED BEFORE ELECTRIC FAN WAS MADE SEEN ;ALSO KEROSENE LIGHTS HANGING DOWN;AND TYPICAL FURNITURE OF 1898}
rint by E.O.S. and Company showing the general manager's room at the Times of India newspaper at Mumbai taken on the occasion of the newspaper's Diamond Jubilee (60 years), November 1898. The newspaper was established in the 1830s following Lord Metcalfe's Act of 1835 which removed restrictions on the liberty of the Indian press. On the 3rd November 1838 the 'Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce' was launched in bi-weekly editions, on Saturdays and Wednesdays. It contained news of Europe, America and the sub-continent and was conveyed between India and Europe via regular steam ships. From 1850 the paper appeared in daily editions and in 1861 the 'Bombay Times' became the 'Times of India'. By the end of the 19th century the paper employed 800 people and had a wide circulation in India and Europe. The company was owned by Kane, Bennett & Co. at this period.
                         OTHER MODELS OF HAND PULLED PUNAHS:-

HAND PULLED/OPERATED FAN/PUKAH

The Punkah Wallah was in charge of the punkah. Punkahs were cooling wafters made by hanging a huge flap of cloth across a room on a wooden frame, which was moved backwards and forwards – or to-and-fro depending on one’s mood – to create a cooling draught of air. ‘Punkah’ is derived from a Sanskrit word for ‘wing’ and the huge flaps not only looked like giant wings, but also moved the airs as do wings.

Punkah Wallahs sat on the floor and pulled a rope attached to the punkah’s frame to create cool breezes. Silent in operation, they nonetheless contributed critically to human comfort in many an office where the merciless sun sought to frazzle and dehydrate its occupants. Underpaid, and not required to produce much in the way of effort, nevertheless they were indispensable, although not irreplaceable. A good Punkah Wallah was punctual, silent, continuously effective, trustworthy, and discreet, a necessary adjunct for someone who heard every detail of business or military planning.

The advent of electricity to remote places and the development of the electric Punkah wallah signalled the end of the road for these patient rope-tuggers, and another occupation slipped into the seldom opened pages of history to be forgotten by all save those who have been the direct beneficiaries of their services.

         PHOTO OF ANOTHER HAND PULLED PUNKAH FROM  AN OLD BRITISH BUNGALOW