Halkhatas are going out of fashion, but for traders the halkhata puja on Poila Boisakh still retains symbolic value.
Ahead of Poila Baishakh, the first day of the Bengali calendar, it’s usually a busy time for retailers of halkhata — the traditional hardbound account-keeping ledgers that are still used by many traders and business houses in Kolkata. But this year the mood is sombre, as sales have been far lower than expected.
“Owing to computerisation in offices, there is a systematic decline in the demand of halkhatas with each passing year,” says Chandra Nath Garai, a seller in the busy Burabazar market area. “Previously people would buy eight or nine halkhatas for their yearly stock, but today people buy only one or two copies for the purpose of puja, just to keep up the tradition,” he adds. Sales this year have seen a sharp decline of about 50 per cent compared to last year.
Despite the decline in demand, however, the price of halkhatas have gone up. “This is because the prices of paper and cardboard have gone up,” says D N Mitra, another halkhata seller in the vicinity. Sheets of paper for halkhatas are brought from Hyderabad and Chennai, and then stitched and bound at Patoabagan in the Raja Bazar area of north Kolkata. Prices start at Rs 20 and go up to Rs 100, depending on shape and size. Not all the rising input costs, however, are passed on to the consumer — “We are compelled to compromise on profit margins,” says Mitra ruefully.
Though technology is ringing the death knell of traditional practices, many traders still maintain a manual backup in halkhatas, not wholly trusting their computer records.
For instance, K C Das, the famous makers of rosogolla. “We maintain daily records of milk manually in halkhata, as milk is the backbone of our business,” says Dhiman Das, director of K C Das. “It’s a tradition that has been carried on for generations. Although we have modernised our production and business processes, yet we celebrate Poila Boisakh by worshipping the halkhata.”
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For Das’s family, the day starts early. They go to the Sindheshwari Temple in north Kolkata to seek the blessings of the goddess and perform the halkhata puja at 6 in the morning. “The halkhata puja is important for us also because we started our Bangalore business on this day in 1972, and it has grown to become one of our most successful ventures,” Das adds.
Lakshmi and Ganesh are worshipped during the halkhata puja. The offerings generally include a panji, the almanac which has guidelines for rituals based on the solar Hindu calendar, sindur or vermilion, a one-rupee coin, bhang leaves and flowers. Thousands of traders, businessmen throng the Kalighat Temple for the pujas that start as early as 2 am and continue through the day until midnight.
After a month-long chaitra sale — which is also the annual stock-clearance sale —shopkeepers invite important customers in the evening and give them small gifts and, of course, the quintessential Bengali calendar. For many small and big traders, the halkhata celebration marks the beginning of the new financial year with divine blessings.
