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Bahi khata Red Pothi / Diary ☙ 34 { 14" X 7" in }

ABOUT
Letter diaries ~ These cleanly hardbound diaries with printed & tearable letterheads enable you to take a step out of your busy lives to ponder...to care. Whether it is a handcrafted product like this or a hand written letter, both carry the warmth of the hands of its creator. Clad in the hues of nature, these diaries are available in varied prints of the beautiful Ajrakh. Their convenient size and a pack of brown envelopes attached at the back make letter writing fun on the go.

  • Rs.380

Availability: 10

Product Code: 3788-ABKD-34

Made/ Mkt. By: Gaatha

Box- L.W.H | Wgt:35.5 x 18 x 1.5cm | 400g

pothi_notebooks1


On the festival of Diwali, Hindu traders and businessmen worship the goddess of prosperity and start new account keeping books, marking their new year. Covered in the auspicious colour red for good luck, the “bahi-khata” notebooks are an important tool for the business community. The double entry system of account keeping is believed to have originated in Asia about 2000 years ago. Notebook makers beautifully customized the pages for the purpose of accounting, without the use of ink drawn tables. They crimped the pages to give subtle folds to the paper, to be used as columns; “naam” for debit and “jama” for credit, much like modern methods of accounting.


pothi_binder


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 book binding 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.


book_binding_tools


The fabric covers of the books are first stitched into a pillow cover like shape, to insert the cardboard in and then, the two are fixed together with thecharacteristic white curvilinear stitches that the notebooks are known for. This wavy pattern of dashed lines has remained constant during the switch from hand stitching to machine stitching. According to the craftsmen, this is probably because this way, it is faster to make and the stitches are evenly distributed, giving better hold to the cardboard cover.


notebook_binding_glue


Cut paper is folded into sections and pressed with a wooden folder. The sections are hand stitched with needle and thread in the middle and joined with other sections at the spine. Once the required numbers of sections are joined, it is time to attach them with the cover. A binding cloth is stuck to the centre of the sections of paper and the cover for reinforcement. Sometimes the binders add a decorative paper at the beginning and end of the notebook. The outer cover, binding cloth and paper bundles are finally stuck together with glue and left to dry.


pothi_binding_process


In another type of notebooks, there is only one large section of paper which is directly stitched to the spine with a thick cotton thread and a punching tool called “ari”. One end of the thread is left long, to be wrapped around the notebook, to prevent the pages from opening. Today, computerized account keeping is fast replacing manual systems and one sees businessmen worshipping their laptops instead of notebooks on Diwali. Yet, the book binders are finding new ways to make and sell their craft. With many kinds of coloured paper and a variety of fabrics, ranging from printed, to patchwork, to zaris, the notebooks now find their way into the lives of artists, students, or just about anyone who may need something to write on. The hand bound bahi-khata or “pothi” notebooks, even in their original form, make quirky alternatives to their mass produced machine made cousins.


bahi_khata_notebooks


The sinuating white stitches, beautifully meandering and complementing the fabric, take the notebooks from the systematic world of account keeping, to the world of vivid imagination, doodles, scribbles and stories…

Craftsmen
Made by Ajrakh Printing by: Sufiyan Khatri, Pothi binding: Momin Bhai
City Pothi Binding at: Ahmedabad, GUJARAT
Village Ajrakh Printing at: Ajrakhpur, GUJARAT
Material
Made of Cotton fabric, Paper

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Everytime I buy a saree from you guys, everyone keeps asking me where I get them from. It makes for a great gift as well... so creative and artistic, fabrics feel great

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I received my saree today. The folks at Gaatha were very responsive when I had some questions before placing the order. The saree is absolutely beautiful! In fact it is so much more pretty in person. The cotton is soft to touch and drapes likes a dream. Very pleased with my purchase!

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