Click to play videoJaipur: The bazaars of the Pink City are done up for Diwali and shopaholics are pouring in to make the best of the religious sanction that the festival provides to the craziest of shopping sprees.
But what're the shopkeepers shopping for? The bahi khatas or the traditional ledgers are a must buy for the Marwari merchants on Diwali.
Though computers have cut down the business by half on Diwali, bahi khata sellers like Shanker Lal still have the cash registers ringing.
"Even those who use computers take bahi khatas today. Earlier, they used to take 4/5 kgs, now they take 400 gm/500 gms, says a bahi khatas seller, Shanker Lal.
With computers and laptops, the account-keeping is just a mouse click away and the bulky handmade ledgers, traditionally used to keep accounts, are now virtually redundant for most of most businessmen.
But the Marwari merchants known the world over for their spirit of enterprise are known equally well known for adhering to tradition and they have quite a legacy to flaunt.
A Marwari merchant, Bhawan, points out that Laxmi Mittal, the steel king; the Morarkas, Birlas, Tatas and Goenkas, they are all Marwari. "Though they've reached the top, they've not forgotten their traditions," he says.
So, even the young Marwaris swear by tradition. Shweta, a Gen-Next entrepreneur, has her desk flooded with work on Diwali. She's quick on the keypad and has her fengshui in place.
But she too feels writing bahi khatas is sacrosanct on Diwali. The Marwaris believe that Diwali marks the onset of the traditional financial year and filling up the bahi khatas, even if its only symbolically, and placing them in the Puja does wonders for the business.
"Traditionally, this thing has been carrying for since years and we still worship it since years people believe in it. My grand parents believe in it, so I believe in it now and it really brings good luck, it does," says Shweta Rana, a Businessperson.
From the yellow pages of the bulky traditional log books to the excel sheets of the sleekest of laptops, times they're a changing for the Marwari merchants of Rajasthan.
But when it comes to finding their way into the Puja rooms, it's still the good old bahi khatas that rule the roost.
(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest)
More on IBNLive Right Now
MOST SHARED
PHOTOGALLERY
