Sale of ledger book, almanac high ahead of Pahela Baishakh

Bookshop owners of the Sylhet district are doing brisk business ahead of Bangla New Year since business establishments are buying ledger books (Tali Khatas) and almanacs (Ponjikas) on the occasion of Bangla New Year 1422.

At the same time, idol makers locally called ‘Malakors’ are also earning money ahead of Bangla New Year by selling Ganesh idols to the Hindu businessmen.

The red-coloured ledger books have great demand among owners of stationary, cloth and wholesale shops. These are used to write down business accounts of one year.

The Hindu minority people generally open ledger books in the morning of the first day of the Bangla Year and a priest (Thakur) puts five marks of old coins at its first page, said Bokul Das, an owner of a shop of the City.

In this way, a new book would be used for the next one year and the old one would be preserved, he also said.

Shamol Kumar Das of Shibgong area of the town said almost all men of the Hindu community buy almanac ahead of Bangla year as it is very popular to them.

A ledger book is being sold at Tk 100 to 300 depending on its quality and size while an almanac is selling at Tk 50 to 120, said a bookshop owner of the City.

Kumar gonesh paul of Munishpara area of the City said every Hindu businessman keeps an idol of Ganesh at the shop seeking blessings from the god on their businesses.