Notes on The Five Wounds
Bahi khata: the red account books Indian families open at Diwali
A bahi khata is the red, cloth bound account book of India's traders and households. Bahi means book and khata means account. In much of western India a fresh one is bought and worshipped at Diwali, because for many trading families the new financial year begins the day after.
How it is made
A bahi khata is built from a few plain things: red cotton cloth, cardboard, coarse white thread and paper. The cardboard is sandwiched in the cloth and stitched, and the pages are either sewn in sections or stitched straight to the spine with thick cotton thread. Much of this binding is done in Gujarat and Rajasthan, often by women who sew the covers at home.
The paper is folded lengthwise into sections, and the folds serve as the columns: what came in on one side, what went out on the other.
Why red
Red is the colour of good fortune, the colour of vermilion and of a bride. An account book is a promise about the year ahead, so it is dressed for luck.
The first page
Before a single figure is entered, the first page is made holy. A swastika is drawn, often in vermilion and turmeric, and the page opens with Shree Ganeshaya Namah or Om. The words Shubh, for what is auspicious, and Labh, for gain, are written beside it.
Chopda Pujan at Diwali
On Diwali, before the Lakshmi puja, trading families perform Chopda Pujan, the worship of the account books. The old year's accounts are closed and the new books are blessed, because by this reckoning the financial year starts on the day after Diwali. In Gujarat, Rajasthan and Maharashtra many families still buy a new ledger every Diwali, and businesses call their whole staff for the puja. Today some even place their computer printouts beside the books.
Not only for shops
The bahi khata was never only a merchant's book. Women who ran the household kept their own khata for daily spending: milk, school fees, a loan to a neighbour, a gift at a wedding. Over years such a book becomes a record of a family, written in money.
The red account books in The Five Wounds
The Third Woman: The Diary of Nandita Mehra, the companion volume, is written in exactly such books:
For eight years, first in the back pages of a household ledger and then in six red account books bought one at each Diwali, Nandita Mehra kept an account of a family that told her nothing. She ruled columns for what was owed and what was received.
Quick answers
What is a bahi khata?
A red, cloth bound account book used by Indian traders and households. Bahi means book and khata means account.
Why are bahi khata books red?
Red is the colour of good fortune in India, and an account book is a promise about the year ahead, so it is covered in red cloth for luck.
What is Chopda Pujan?
The worship of new account books on Diwali, before the Lakshmi puja. Trading families close the old year's accounts and bless the new books, since for them the financial year begins the day after Diwali.
What is written on the first page of a bahi khata?
A swastika, often drawn in vermilion and turmeric, an invocation such as Shree Ganeshaya Namah, and the words Shubh and Labh, for what is auspicious and for gain.
