This lovely hand-made cloth covered book is a  symbol of Ahmedabad where business and cloth milling have a long and strong history. A staple in all the businesses was a ledger for record keeping. Interesting that Ahmedabad where “cloth is king” partnered these functional ledgers with red cloth and white thread covers. The Indian traders and businessmen could keep diaries of their business transactions with a choice of inside paper of plain, lined, or grad. A simple but precise double entry accounting method was practiced in India and  begun over 2000 years ago by Indian merchants. Today with records kept on computers, there is only one school in India which teaches this ancient accounting method.

Today with no need for accounting books, people are using them as notebooks and sketchbooks. There is one century old shop in Manek Chowk, Kagdi Soniwala,  that is one of the few remaining  shops with  an extensive array of  these books.   Visit the pocket-size stall to rummage through bins  for fun gifts and souvenirs . There are traditional covered books, others covered in silk and even more modern ones of  resin and cloth.. The shop  will even take custom orders made to your specifications for color, cover , paper , and size.   You can  bring in your cloth  selection for use in your order which will be ready in a few days. Service is still important in Ahmedabad at Kagdi Soniwala!

Books are all covered and bound by hand.

Varied cloth selections . . .  .

The most popular and traditional. . . . .red. . . . .

The white thread is not just used for stitching, but also left long to be used as a tie to keep the book closed.  I dithered  last spring and didn’t buy these. If we are fortunate enough for a second trip to India,  I an buying these for gifts!  They would be great for addresses, Christmas card and gift records , or just about anything that is still written and not typed!

Namaste. . .  . .This Is Incredible India!