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Of calendars and diaries

With yet another year dawning, there are plenty of calendars and diaries to choose from

PHOTO: T. SINGARAVELOU

COLOURFUL MARKERS An artistically done calendar for the New Year

Thirty days hath September,

April, June, November.

All the rest have thirty-one,

But silly old February spoils the fun.

Thus goes a traditional mnemonic verse by which to remember the number of days in each month in the calendar. At the fag end of December, as we bid adieu to Old Man 2006, it is time to look at what calendars and diaries do — they help organise our lives.

Imagine how it would be not to know the date or the month or the year! No one would be able to keep appointments or meet deadlines. There would be no New Year parties, we wouldn't even know how old we are... phew! The list of "won't knows" is endless.

But thanks to our forefathers, we have several calendars to follow — the Gregorian (also called Christian or English), the Islamic and the Indian, to name a few.

Calendars these days also come with a lot of information and special features. Take the calendar prepared by Shilpataru, a group of six artists from Puducherry, for instance. It contains dates that are important to artists and art lovers — dates of events and birthdays of great artists, who have shaped the art scene in India. The calendar, by Akmal Husain, Antra Sinha, Chandra Pitchal, Kirti Chandak, Robi Ganguli and Yann Pitchal, has eight pages and is priced at Rs. 85. The works of the artists have also been featured on the pages. It is available across the country, and in Puducherry at Focus, Splendour, Casablanca, Touchwood, FabIndia and Senteur. The Puducherry Government calendar has a different theme every year. "This year, the calendar features photographs of different tourist spots in the Union Territory and it has an artistic layout," said Tourism Secretary Anbarasu. You can also get daily sheet calendars with images of gods and goddesses. The ones with images of Sri Manakula Vinayakar can be bought near the temple.

You get diaries and calendars in shops such as Madras Paper Mart, Indo Burma Paper and Stationeries, West Asia Paper and Stationeries, Ashok Paper Mart, Thangaraj Stationeries, Saraswathi Book Stall, Sri Sakthi Book Stall, Thirumagal Book Stall and Vijayalakshmi Book Stall. Arumugam, proprietor of Thangaraj Stationeries, said, "We used to have a demand for diaries with hardbound covers. But, of late, people go in for diaries with a leather feel. Branded diaries such as Today from Delhi and Swan from Kolkata are also available." The store has diaries priced betweenRs. 75 and Rs. 300. Discounts are also offered. The store also undertakes orders for bulk purchase of customised diaries within a day's time.

DEEPA H RAMAKRISHNAN

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