Winds of Change Class 9: Summary, The Last Leaf and Q&A

Winds of Change is chapter 3 of the Class 9 English book. It begins with the story of India's hand fans, the pankhas, then moves to O. Henry's The Last Leaf and two poems that paint gardens in words. This guide summarises each piece from beginning to end, explains the characters and themes, covers the language points and gives you board-style answers.

Summary: the heritage of the pankha

The word pankha (or punkha) comes from the Sanskrit pankh, a bird's feather, which reflects the earliest fans. Small plumed fans called pankhi were widely used in ancient India. The earliest visual evidence is in the 2nd-century CE Buddhist wall paintings at Ajanta; fans also appear in embroidery, sculptures and stone carvings.

Pankhas had religious and royal uses: fanning deities in temples and cooling kings in courts. They ranged from delicate two-inch decorative pieces to huge fans that needed a person's full arm strength. Over time they became exotic cultural goods traded across regions.

Summary: regional fans and the winds of change

Tribal communities embed grass and metal into bamboo frames, often with geometric patterns in white ink on red.

The change. With modern technology, personal use of hand fans has declined. They are now seen mainly as craft or decorative items, which has turned the craft into a livelihood for artisans. Still, the culture risks disappearing. Workshops, exhibitions and a commercial platform for makers can keep it alive and keep regional identities strong. The pankha is called a culture, not just an object, because its design reflects the rituals and identity of the people who make it.

Summary: The Last Leaf by O. Henry

Sue and Johnsy are two young artists sharing a home in Greenwich Village. Johnsy falls ill with pneumonia and loses the will to live. She ties her life to the leaves of an ivy creeper outside her window and believes that when the last leaf falls, she will die. Sue tries hard to cheer her, but Johnsy keeps counting the falling leaves.

Their neighbour Behrman, a sixty-year-old painter, has always dreamed of painting a masterpiece. Hearing of Johnsy's fancy, he goes out on a stormy, freezing night and paints a realistic leaf on the wall. Next morning Johnsy sees the last leaf still there after the storm and regains her will to live. But Behrman catches pneumonia and dies after only two days of illness. His painted leaf, so real that it saved a life, was his masterpiece.

Characters

• Johnsy: gentle but despairing; her recovery shows the power of hope.
• Sue: a loyal friend who never gives up on Johnsy.
• Behrman: gruff old painter whose final act is a selfless sacrifice.

Themes: hope as a source of life, friendship, sacrifice, and art that gives life.

The poems: Canvas of Soil and Toru Dutt's garden

In Canvas of Soil, Maya Anthony compares the earth to a 'palette' and seeds to 'brushstrokes'. The gardener is an artist planting 'dreams' that wait for the 'vibrant hue' of spring. Nature becomes a living artwork, and the land a 'canvas'. Read as an allegory, the garden stands for life's journey, growth, and the harmony and diversity of the world.

Toru Dutt's A Sea of Foliage Girds Our Garden Round shows the finished picture: 'sharp contrasts' of light-green tamarinds and deep-green mango clumps, 'red-red' seemuls like a trumpet, and a white lotus that the moon turns into a 'cup of silver'. The garden is a 'primeval Eden' that leaves the viewer 'drunken with beauty'.

Language study

Present perfect tense: has/have + past participle, for past actions linked to the present. Many tribes in India have adopted this handicraft means they adopted it in the past and still practise it. Use has with he, she, it and have with I, you, we, they.

Collocations are words that naturally go together: take an exam, have a seat, improve grammar. Fixed expressions keep their order: all and sundry (everyone), wear and tear (damage from normal use), thick and thin (through difficulties), time and again (often), high and dry (stuck without help).

Board-style questions and answers

1. What is the origin of the word pankha? It comes from pankh, which means a bird's feather.

2. Where is the earliest visual evidence of fans in India? In the 2nd-century CE Buddhist wall paintings at Ajanta.

3. How does a zardozi fan differ from an appliqué fan? A zardozi fan uses ornate gold threadwork; an appliqué fan uses fabric pieces sewn into patterns.

4. What is sola, and what are Phadh fans made with? Sola is a milky-white spongy water grass used by Bengal's artisans. Phadh fans of Uttar Pradesh are adorned with gold and silver zari, silk and satin frills.

5. Why is the pankha described as a culture rather than an object? Its structure and design reflect the cultural core, rituals and regional identity of its makers.

6. What was Behrman's masterpiece? The ivy leaf he painted on the wall in the storm, so real that it gave Johnsy the hope to recover.

7. How long was Behrman ill before he died? Only two days after his night out in the storm.

8. How does Toru Dutt describe the white lotus under moonlight? As changing into a 'cup of silver'.

9. Fill in with the present perfect: The students ____ (learn) about traditional crafts. have learned (or have learnt).

To revise the stories and poems with practice questions, study this chapter with Joy.