Red-coloured ledger book toils to stay alive

Gone are the days when the first day of Bengali New Year witnessed a key business festivity – closing an old account and opening a new account for any business in what is called Halkhata.

Now the old custom has ebbed away, with only a few businesses in the port city and in the old part of the capital practicing the tradition merely to commemorate their ancestral mode of year-end transactions.

The advent of modern technologies has taken the place of once much-hyped Halkhata ritual.

Today (April 14) marks the beginning of Pahela Baishakh, the Bengali New Year of 1429. A wide range of Baishakhi celebrations are there, but not the opening of red-coloured ledger book which has apparently gone into oblivion.

Mughal emperor Akbar established a new calendar based on the old Bengali calendar in coordination with the harvesting season in 1584 to ease taxation, which was named Halkhata.

The event used to be of supreme importance to the business community of Bengal as most customers used to settle their dues with the shopkeepers on this auspicious day.

Since then for more than 438 years, Bengali traders have been keeping their transaction notes on the traditional 360-page red-cloth-hand-bound copy, which they used to be updated on the first day of each New Year amid festivity and communal harmony.

However, the cutting-edge technology has to a large extent faded the pomp and splendour of Halkhata tradition.

Even a few years back, it used to be celebrated elaborately in the wholesale markets of consumer goods across the country.

The shopkeepers used to send their customers letters and cards informing them about their total dues and inviting them to settle their accounts.

This practice of friendly written correspondence between customers and shopkeepers has been overshadowed by electronic communication methods such as cellphone, social network and email.

The popularity of public and private banks for financial transactions has also brought down the necessity of Halkhata.

Now payments are made using online, mobile and regular banking services. The current trend has forced the manufacturers of red-coloured ledger books to find an alternate means of income.

Moreover, the inclination of businesses towards the English New Year instead of Bengali New Year, i.e. Pahela Baishakh has driven the final nail in the coffin, Khatunganj traders in Chattogram told The Business Post.

However, denying these claims Dhaka Chamber of Commerce president Rizwan Rahman said the tradition did not go defunct but changed its form in line with digital revolution and socio-economic development in the country.

“The festivities centring Halkhata are still there in rural areas. As businesses are getting introduced to new means of recording their financial transactions, they are losing interest in traditional Halkhata,” he argued.

“I would rather take it as another manifestation of the century-old tradition.”

Chattogram Chamber of Commerce president Mahbubul Alam recalled that people in the port city used to serve their traditional Mezbani Beef with plain rice and a variety of Bengali sweets, cakes and drinks to greet shoppers on the first day of Baishakh.

“The tradition has long gone and the celebrations centring Halkhata became limited. To my knowledge, traders and shopkeepers in only Khatunganj celebrate Halkhata now,” he added.

Despite fading interest, the markets of old Dhaka are still keeping the tradition alive. The businesses were seen celebrating the Bangla New Year 1429 in a festive mood.

Speaking to this correspondent, a number of businessmen confirmed that they are observing Halkhata to uphold the century-old tradition.

Halkhata is being celebrated in the markets of Shakari Bazar, Tanti Bazar, Shyambazar, Babu Bazar and Islampur Market in old Dhaka.

Traders in old Dhaka’s Islampur and Tantibazar told The Business Post that they still try to maintain the old custom although the tradition has lost its grandeur.

“Even this year, we made cards written with heartfelt greetings and good wishes, inviting our customers to visit shops on the very first day of Baishakh,” they said.

One such shopkeeper Nur-E-Alam Bacchu, proprietor of Jahan Fashion at Islampur in old Dhaka, said although most of their financial transactions are made through banks and they keep record in Microsoft Excel Sheets, they still celebrate Pahela Baishakh and commemorate their ancestors.

“Halkhata is considered a token of good omen which brings prosperity and fortune for businesses. It helps establish a good relationship with customers and strengthens harmony which can be beneficial to any business,” said an optimistic Bacchu.

“I am concerned as to whether the next generation will keep this tradition up.”

The Islampur traders, however, said the shop owners that do not follow the old custom of Halkhata at least clean their shop premises and colour their shop walls to start their business afresh on the first day of the Bengali New Year.