‘Bahi Khata’ still running parallel with digital a/c

After the implementation of GST, it has become mandatory for the traders to keep their accounts online.  But the tradition of purchasing account ledger (bahi and kalam ) on Dhanteras in Marwar remains intact.

After GST also the Marwari traders are respecting the traditions as well as maintaining the tradition of a ledger. This has led to the increase of bahi buyers from 20 to 25 percent in Jodhpur.

Covered in the auspicious colour red for good luck, the “bahi-khata” notebooks are an important tool for the business community. The ledger based on a double-entry system of records originated in India and has been used for thousands of years.

It has a long, substantiated history in keeping track of the financial affairs of Indian business firms by making jama and nam entries.

The old accountants (munims) can still calculate crore in few minutes.

The ledger sellers near the Achalnath temple in Jodhpur’s Kapada market were not expecting the sale of the ledger this time due to GST but on Tuesday morning the process of buying pen and ledger suddenly increased.

Shopkeeper Labhchand Mertiya said that even though businessmen keep their accounts online, they rely heavily on accounts written in the ledger, now every businessman is maintaining a ledger parallel with digital accounts.

The bond with ledger is so strong that whether the businessman does not enter everything online but they enter minute of transaction details in the ledger.

The bahi-khata style of stitching has remained unchanged over the years, the only change being the use of sewing machines for the fabric cover. Popular in Gujarat and Rajasthan, this bookbinding business, in a way, supports small-scale industry of women, who supplement their household incomes by stitching the fabric covers of the notebooks on sewing machines.

On Dussehra or Vijayadashmi while doing puja there is a ritual to write script on a family bahi that festival is being celebrated.