Tradition rings in Bengali New Year

KOLKATA: April isn���t really thecruellest month for the Bengali bhadrolok, who still savour and celebrate PoilaBaisakh with the same fondness as they do every year. So thisSaturday was different. Traders opened their new books of accounts (halkhata),restaurants across the city customarily had lots of Bengali specials on theirmenu and pure Bengali music was unlimited as usual. The new year inthe Bengali almanac, 1413, has arrived. And for a change, the English calendartook a beating from the Bengali Panjika. In fact, the demand for thepanjikas rose by at least 10% this year. "The average daily sales were 60-70.The trend began three-four months ago, but it peaked in the past two-three days.Even the calendars that carry the snippets of a panjika sell like hot cakes,"said Vikash Mondol, a bookstall owner at College Street. There areabout 13 panjikas in circulation of which Benimadhav Shiler Panjika is the clearbest-seller. "So far, we���ve sold 8.50 lakh copies," said Mohan Seal,editor of the Benimadhav Sealer Panjika. Selling so many copies is aremarkable feat for any book, even by the world standard. "A panjika is afterall a guide, the Bengalis cannot live without. Poila Baisakh is thebest day to buy the most essential book. "My husband has bought a panjika,something I look forward to," said Kalpana Saha of CIT Road. "We areso dependent on it for all sorts of shubho kaaj, right from Baisakh to Chaitra.It helps us keep our Bengali identity," she added. The demand forBengali calendars was also very high. People flooded shops celebrating PoilaBoisakh and offering calendars. "More than the sweet box, it is thecalendars that draw us to the shops. I enjoy it," said Lopamudra Mallik of ShyamBazar. The calendar-makers, however, are really hard pressed, forthey have got to meet the stiff deadlines set by a host of candidates contestingthe Assembly polls. But they hardly complain.