As old habits die hard, there are people who are emotionally connected to daily-sheet calendars. For them the day is not complete without a glance at the calendar. But such practice is fast becoming a thing of the past as these calendars, in the past two decades, have gone out of favour.
“These days monthly-sheets are preferred as they are easy to browse,” says M. Jeyachandran of Meena Cards and Calendars. “The calendar business now survives on sponsorship. I get bulk orders from people, who ask for their company’s name or their own to be printed on the calendars, which are then distributed as gifts. I get more customers for monthly-sheets,” he says.
There was a time when daily sheets ruled the roost. Even before the dawn of the New Year people used to flock to the retail stores to buy one. “My father is a die-hard fan of Vivekananda calendar,” says T. Ravichandran, faculty of Department of Gandhian Thought and Peace Science, The Gandhigram Rural Institute. “He never throws away the sheets but meticulously pins them for future reference. I think the variety of information and the charismatic figure of Swami Vivekananda with folded hands did the trick. For more than two generations we are regular users of daily-sheet calendars but only for the past two years I have shifted my loyalty to the monthly sheet,” he says.
Vivekananda Press was the first in the State to publish daily-sheet calendars with Tamil numerals. “We were the first to introduce astrology in our calendars. The horoscope for 12 zodiac signs was an instant hit,” says Pazha. Arumuga Pillai of Vivekananda Press.
Vivekananda calendar was started in 1928 by his grandfather Krishnasamy Pillai. Their popularity crossed borders as even today they enjoy good patronage in Malaysia and Singapore. They have dedicated astrologers to provide horoscopes and have also incorporated the Islamic calendar in their product. Apart from daily horoscopes, dates of important temple festivals and birth and death anniversaries of Tamil scholars, find place in their calendar. “There are people who fix marriages after referring to our calendar. Our calendar is seen as a mini ‘panchangam’ (almanac),” he smiles. “But our business has come down by 50 per cent, he laments adding that free distribution of calendars as gifts in textile and jewellery showrooms has created a dent in the business. Not many purchase calendars from retail stores any more and nor do these stores stock the calendars. “We are surviving because of our dedicated customer base and the name we have earned with our credible predictions,” he says. The daily sheets, which are called ‘cakes’, and the hard paperboards are sold separately in the market. “These cakes come in different sizes from 5 to 10 inches. Public preference has changed over the period. People now want their calendars to be more colourful and there are customers who choose daily sheets only because of the photograph of gods and goddesses printed on the paperboard,” says K. Rajagopal, salesman, Kathirvel Account Book Shop. The monthly sheet calendars are sold for Rs.30 to 50 while the price of daily sheet calendars fluctuates.
“The business is seasonal. We start our work during the month of July and it goes on till Pongal, then the demand gradually dips,” he says. Increasing patronage for the monthly sheets has prompted the printers to include horoscope of zodiac signs in their product. They are preferred mostly by Government offices and commercial establishments.
“Technology has also played its part for the slide as calendars are now available on mobile phones and computers. I cannot carry the daily-sheet calendar wherever I go,” says V. Balasubramanian, architect.
Nowadays, calendars are more of a decorative piece as they exist in different forms like table tops and wall hangers.
