Barishal Correspondent :
Chaitra Sankranti was observed on Sunday and Pohela Boishakh will be observed on Monday.
These two days are significant especially for those who are businessmen.
Halkhata, symbolic act of starting the new year with fresh financial records, is a Bengali tradition of opening new ledger books for account-keeping.
Itis particularly associated with the celebrations of Chaitra Sankranti and PohelaBoishakh.
In Barishal too, this custom of Halkhata is appreciated by people of all communities.
On this day, traders settle accounts in new ledgers.
Although Halkhata is originally a commercial custom, it has become a social custom over time.
In fact, this day creates an opportunity to further strengthen the business relationship between buyers and sellers.
Mrinal Saha, a famous sari trader in the city, said that just as they settle accounts in new ledgers, they entertain customers with sweet.
The word ‘Hal’ comes from the Persian language. The Persian word ‘Hal’ means ‘new’.
Reviewing historical documents, it is known that after the Mughal Emperor Akbar ascended the throne in 1556.
Akbar he tried to establish a uniform calendar for the collection of taxes in the provinces.
As a result, it was not possible to fix a specific day for collecting the annual revenue according to the lunar year.
At that time, revenue was collected on crops. In some years, the day for paying taxes would arrive before the crops were harvested.
Emperor Akbar started thinking of introducing a new year to remove this difficulty for the common people.
When Emperor Akbar assumed power in 1556, the Hijri year was 963.
And from this year onwards, he changed the Hijri year to the solar year and introduced the Bengali year.
Initially, this year was named the Harvest Year. Later, it was known as Bangabda or Bengali New Year.
At that time, Bengali Muslims used to write ‘BismillahirRahmanihir Rahim’ or ‘Elahi Bharsa’ on the first page of the ledger.
Traders said in the past, it was an occasion of unparalleled joy.
But nowadays almost everyone does the book-keeping based on the Gregorian calendar.
Dilip Ghosh, a gold trader from Bazar Road area of the city, said, ”We used to send invitations to our customers. It was all very festive. ”
Anisur Rahman Dulal, president of the Barishal Book and Book Binding Association, said that on the occasion of Halkhata, 10-types of hand ledgers are sold in Barishal.
Abdur Rashid Munshi, a seasonal trader at the market, said his business is not satisfactory this year. The business isn’t what it used to be. But we are still surviving somehow.
In this era of modern information and communication technology, the splendor of Halkhata has diminished due to various apps and online shopping.
Banks, insurance and corporate offices have become computer-dependent instead of large khatas.
The businessmen conclude the transactions of the outgoing year on Chaitra Sankranti.
Traders start keeping accounts in red-wrapped ledgers from the first day of Bengali New Year.
As a result, the usefulness of Halkhata tied in Lalsalu(red cloths) is decreasing.
Sudam Ghosh, a sweet-meat trader, said, “Our new generation does not know what Halkhata is. They celebrate the new year on PohelaBoishakh.”
