Winds of Change

Why This Matters

On a hot afternoon, when the power goes out, what do you reach for? Many of us pick up a simple hand fan and start waving it. That little fan has a name — a pankha. And it has a very long story.

Most of us never think about a hand fan. It feels too ordinary. But this one small object connects deities in old temples, kings in royal courts, and women working at home today in villages across India. Different regions make it in completely different ways, from palm leaves, from bamboo, from mirror-work and even from gold thread.

This chapter is an article — a piece of writing that gives you real information about a topic. It is not a story with characters. It is a factual piece about Indian craft. Reading it well teaches you two big skills: how to pull facts out of a passage, and how to tell a fact apart from an opinion. Both come up again and again in your exam.

There is one more reason it matters. This craft is slowly fading. Reading this chapter is a small way of keeping it alive.

The Big Idea

Here is the heart of the whole article in one line.

The Big Idea: The pankha is a beautiful, ancient Indian craft that comes in countless regional forms — but as technology took over, it slipped from daily life into mere decoration, and now we must celebrate and support it so the craft, and the artisans who make it, survive.

Before we go further, here is one note about how to use this page.

📖 Where to read the original: “Winds of Change” is a modern NCERT text, so the full article is not reproduced here for copyright reasons. Read the complete article in your NCERT Kaveri (Grade 9) textbook. This page gives you a clear summary, an explanation of every part, and lots of practice to study alongside it. We quote a few short lines only where they help explain a point.

The Story / The Poem, in Short

This is an article (a non-fiction information piece), not a story, so let’s call this its quick summary. The article moves through four clear parts.

Part 1 — Where the pankha comes from. The word pankha grows from pankh, meaning a bird’s feather. Pankha means any fan; pankhi was a small plumed fan of ancient India. We know it is old because the pankhi appears in the Ajanta wall paintings from the 2nd century CE. In those times, pankhas fanned deities in temples and kings in courts, and ranged from tiny two-inch fans to huge ones that needed a person’s full arm strength.

Part 2 — Many regions, many pankhas. Over time, pankhas spread through trade and became cultural goods. Each region developed its own kind, using its own materials and designs. Rajasthan has appliqué, zardozi, temple and painted fans. Gujarat has mirror-work, bead and Kutch leather fans. Bengal has delicate sola (Tal Patar) fans; Uttar Pradesh has gold-and-silver Phadh fans; Odisha has large palm-leaf fans; Bihar has sturdy bamboo fans. Many tribes make their own versions too. The point is simple: the shape of each fan reflects the culture of the place that makes it.

Part 3 — The winds of change. Then technology arrived — electric fans and air conditioners. People no longer needed hand fans to stay cool. The pankha’s use shrank to decoration only. The craft began to fade.

Part 4 — Saving the craft. The article ends with hope. If we celebrate pankhas, appreciate their stories, and hold workshops and exhibitions, the craft can find new life. This gives artisans a platform and a real, sustainable livelihood.

The Text, Explained

Let’s walk through the article part by part, in plain words. Each unit below sums up a section of the original and then explains it.

Part 1 — The word, and the ancient pankha

The article opens by tracing the word. Pankha comes from pankh, “the feather of a bird”. Pankha is used for all fans; pankhi was “a small plumed fan used in ancient India”. The writer points to proof: the pankhi is seen in the Buddhist wall paintings at Ajanta, dated to the 2nd century CE, and also in old embroidery, sculptures and carvings.

In plain terms: the fan is named after the feather, because the first fans probably looked like, or were made from, feathers. And it is genuinely ancient — we have hard evidence in stone and paint. Back then it was not just for cooling yourself. Pankhas were used in temples to fan deities and in royal courts to fan kings, and they came in every size, “from a tiny two inch one to large ones requiring a person’s full arm strength to move them.”

Let’s picture how the word grew and what the early pankha was used for. Figure 3.1 lays it out.

Tap to zoom

Part 2 — One country, many pankhas

Next, the article explains how the pankha spread and branched out. “Over time, pankhas became significant cultural goods distributed through trade routes.” People bought and sold them, and carried them far. Soon, “different villages and towns developed their own varieties.” Each place used “distinct materials or a variety of intricate designs, that set them apart from one another.” Bamboo, cane, palm leaf, silk, brass, leather and silver were all used, depending on the region.

The writer then takes us state by state. Here is the key sentence to remember: “The structure of each fan reflects the cultural core of the region that crafts it.” In simple words — look at a region’s pankha, and you learn something about that region’s culture.

A clear way to hold all of this is on a map. Figure 3.2 places each region’s signature fan on a real map of India.

Tap to zoom

Here is a quick state-by-state list to fix the details in your mind.

Part 3 — The winds of change

Now the mood of the article shifts. “With time and the advent of technology and innovative creations, the beautiful culture of pankhas runs the risk of slowly losing its presence among Indians.” Advent means arrival. Electric fans and air conditioners arrived. Suddenly, nobody needed a hand fan to stay cool.

So the role of the pankha changed. The article puts it directly: “Once made for personal use, over time this handicraft has transformed into a commercial business.” It went from an everyday tool to a decorative or commercial item. This is the “change” in the title — and it is a worrying change, because a craft that no one needs can slowly disappear.

Part 4 — Saving the craft

The article does not end in gloom. It offers a way forward. “One of the first steps to preserve the essence of the craft is by celebrating pankhas, and appreciating the culture, stories, and artistry that this handicraft invokes.”

What does that look like in practice? Pankha-making workshops and handicraft exhibitions. These “help spread awareness about the beauty and importance of this craft.” They also give artisans a “commercial platform to create a sustainable livelihood.” Sustainable here means a living that can keep going for years, not just once. So saving the craft also saves the people who make it.

The whole article, then, is a journey: from the glorious past, to a worrying present, to a hopeful plan. Figure 3.3 shows these four parts as one flow.

Tap to zoom

Themes

An article like this still carries clear ideas, or themes — the big messages running underneath the facts. Here are the main ones.

Theme 1 — Tradition versus change. This is the title itself. The “winds of change” are the new technologies that swept hand fans aside. The theme matters because it is not only about fans. All over India, old crafts face the same wind. When we understand this with the pankha, we understand it for all of them.

Theme 2 — Unity in diversity. One object, the pankha, takes a hundred forms across India. Each region adds its own touch, yet it is still the same craft. This shows a deep Indian idea: many different cultures, one shared heritage.

Theme 3 — Craft and livelihood are linked. The article keeps connecting the craft to the people. If the craft dies, artisans lose their income. If we support the craft, we support real families. Culture is not only beautiful — it feeds people.

Figure 3.4 shows Theme 1 most clearly — how the pankha’s place in our lives fell and is now being lifted back up.

Tap to zoom

Who is the writer, and what is the voice?

This article has no named author printed with it — it is written for the textbook. But we can still describe the voice, which means the attitude and tone behind the writing.

The voice is informative and warm. The writer clearly admires the craft. Notice the praising words: the pankhas are “exotic and stylish”, “delicate”, “elegant”, “dainty”. The writer wants you to feel the beauty, not just learn the facts. By the end, the voice becomes gently persuasive — it is asking you to care, to celebrate the craft, to help save it.

This matters for your reading. When a writer chooses warm, admiring words, they are sharing a viewpoint. That is your clue for spotting opinions in the passage, which is exactly what the exercises test.

Setting — time and place

The “setting” of an article is the world it covers. Here, the place is the whole of India — Rajasthan, Gujarat, Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Bihar and tribal regions. The time stretches from ancient India (the Ajanta paintings, 2nd century CE) right up to modern times with electric fans.

This wide setting is the writer’s main tool. By moving across many states and across many centuries, the writer proves the point that the pankha is both a national treasure and a very old one. A narrow setting could not do that.

Literary and language devices

Even a factual article uses craft in its language. Let’s name a few devices, define each, and see the exact example from the text.

Imagery — words that paint a picture in your mind. The article describes “the beautiful milky-white spongy centre of the sola” and “glittering ornate and encrusted gold threadwork.” You can almost see and touch the fans. The writer uses imagery so the craft feels real and lovely, not like a dry list.

Fact and opinion — this is the key “device” the chapter teaches. A fact can be checked and proved. An opinion is a personal judgement that cannot be proved. “Pankhas were used in royal courts” is a fact. “They were considered exotic and stylish” is an opinion, because “exotic” and “stylish” are views, not provable truths.

Telling these apart is a skill you must show in the exam. Figure 3.5 gives you a simple test.

Tap to zoom

The double-meaning title — “Winds of Change” works on two levels at once. A fan literally makes a wind. And “winds of change” is also a common phrase meaning new forces that bring change. The writer picks a title that fits both the object and the message. That is a neat, deliberate choice.

The “why” behind the writer’s choices

Let’s close the gaps a curious reader would wonder about — the “but why?” questions.

Why call a fan a “culture”, not just an object? Because the article shows the fan carrying meaning far beyond cooling air. Each design holds a region’s traditions, its materials, its rituals, its skills passed down for generations. When something carries a community’s identity like that, it is part of their culture, not just a tool. So the writer’s word choice is exact, not loose.

Why does the writer give so many regional examples? Not to make you memorise a list. The examples build one argument: the pankha belongs to all of India, and losing it would be a national loss, not a local one. The long list is proof, stacked up.

Why end on workshops and exhibitions, not just sadness? Because the writer’s real aim is action, not pity. A reader who only feels sad does nothing. A reader who is shown a clear, doable step — celebrate, hold a workshop, visit an exhibition — might actually help. The hopeful ending is a persuasive choice.

Why does the title fit so well? Because it captures the whole arc in three words. The fan makes wind; change has swept over it; and the chapter is about both. A weaker title would name only the object. This one names the object and its story.

Common Misreadings

Some easy traps catch students in this chapter. Let’s clear them up.

A first trap is treating every admiring line as a plain fact.

A second trap is misreading the title.

A third trap is about the change itself.

A fourth trap is thinking the article is just a description.

Quick Check

Let’s test the main ideas with a couple of quick questions.

Practice (Exam-style)

Now let’s practise the kinds of questions you will face. Try each one yourself first, then open the model answer.

Short Answer

Long Answer

Reference to Context

Finally, let’s see how to frame a clean answer for a common exam question. The walk-through below builds the answer step by step.

Summary

After studying this chapter, you should be able to explain:

• That “Winds of Change” is an informational article about the pankha, the traditional Indian hand fan, not a story.
• Where the word pankha comes from (from pankh, a feather) and how old the craft is (the Ajanta paintings, 2nd century CE).
• How different regions of India make their own pankhas from their own materials, so the fan reflects each region’s culture.
• How the role of the pankha changed — from daily use, to decoration, to a craft now at risk because of technology.
• How the craft can be saved through celebration, workshops and exhibitions, which also give artisans a livelihood.
• How to tell a fact from an opinion, and why the title works on two levels.

What’s Next

You have just read a factual article about a craft and the change sweeping over it. Next, the mood shifts to story-telling and gentle humour.

In the next chapter you will meet a very different kind of writing — a tale about a boy, his pocket money and a tricky situation. Keep the same close-reading habits you built here, and carry on to Chapter 4 — Vitamin-M.