The Calendar Vettai

New Year 2023 has begun but the Vettai (the Tamil word for Hunting) for calendars has ceased.  The internet and smartwatches have dealt a death blow to calendars; now one can access a calendar of any year of the past or future, thanks to data download and storage options making the calendars obsolete. 

The hunt for calendars would start in early December of the year before and continue till the end of February/March of the New Year.  Long-forgotten friends and acquaintances in big companies like Hindustan Lever, Kingfisher Airlines, etc.,   would be approached for their prestigious calendars. Only the most privileged will be lucky to get one. The calendar would be nicely rolled and packed in a cardboard tube and carried home hiding it from the prying eyes of neighbors. These corporate calendars were usually printed on 12 full-size sheets of glossy art paper with photographs of beauty parade models and young cinema stars. or some exotic pictures of snow-clad mountains of the Himalayas or Alps. In some years, they would go thematic with classical dance forms of India featuring eminent dancers or temple Gopurams or African safari and wildlife. Dates and months were only of secondary importance. Some companies would bring out what could be called Desk calendars but they did not command a premium for use in homes.

Lesser mortals will approach their regular grocers, clothiers, and other sundry merchants.  These calendars were mostly advertisements of their wares and products like LG brand asafoetida (Hing in Hindi) or TSR sandalwood powder or Kanchipuram silks. The name, address, and telephone number of the shop would be printed in bold letters and doled out only to regular and longstanding customers. The image of a Hindu deity like Goddess Lakshmi or Lord Ganesha or their brand ambassador, usually a cinema star, would be featured in them. Months and dates would be printed in small size letters on three or four thin papers clipped/glued at the bottom.  Some corporate would bring out desk- calendars but would not command a premium for display on home walls.

The irony about these prized calendars is that their charm and appeal would be only for a few days proving the saying in Tamil “Mogam Mupathu  Naal”, meaning their charm lasts at best for thirty days with some of them not even fully straightened from their embryonic posture of rolled position requiring a clothesline clip to be used.  It is inexplicable that after so much effort to get them, they were left to hang on the walls with sheets of months gone by not even removed.

My mother was not however satisfied with either the corporate or smaller mercantile calendars because the dates were not printed in individual boxes not providing adequate space for writing the daily milk and dhobi accounts.  She, therefore, insisted on my bringing a Government of India calendar printed and distributed by the Directorate of Audio and Visual Publicity, DAVP, and distributed for use in government offices.  They were of monotonous pattern year after year showing bold and big-sized numbers in a separate big box for each date.  It is another matter that they were seldom hung in offices but found their space on the walls of residences of government servants.

In our family, none of the above types of calendar answered the need for data of the day such as Rahu kalam, Yamakandam, Yogam, ruling Nakshatra, and the Thithi. Only the “Daily” calendar brought out by the Tamil publishing house Rani Muthu with the unchanging image of Lord Murugan with his inevitable “Vel” was the answer and a permanent feature in our home.  Each day even now begins with the tearing off of the thin slip showing the previous day’s data and a namaskaram and a prayer with folded hands for a happy today. The only snag with the Murugan Calendar has been about their disposal at year-end as in deference to my mother’s sentiments for deities they should not be discarded but preserved.   

Let me end this piece with a joke. At the beginning of each New Year, the office of the  Director General of Supplies & Disposals,  Government of India, would get a pile of calendars from the supplier company representatives calling on the officers for New Year greetings.   On a complaint that their distribution was not equitable among officers and staff, orders were issued that all calendars should henceforth be deposited with a clerk at the Reception office who would be responsible for hanging the calendars in the officers’ rooms. When the complaint persisted and the clerk was called to explain, he showed the record diligently maintained by him of the names and designations of officers with the remark against each as “Hanged” or “Will be hanged later”.