Reviving the art of book-keeping

Reviving the art of ‘book-keeping’

A custom coffee-table book designed for Learning4Impact re-contextualises Bahi-Khata, an old technique of binding accounting books, to make a memorable farewell gift.

Our coffee book design for Learning4Impact was a customized gift to outgoing USAID India Health officer Sangita Patel. The book is a heartfelt send-off present, summing up Sangita’s memorable contributions to the unique knowledge partnership Learning4Impact between USAID and Swasti-The Health Catalyst.

Beyond a book

Our design team hit upon the idea of Bahi-Khata, an older form of book-keeping that was used for accounting in Northern India. This has been making a comeback on special occasions, such as the Union Budget presentation for 2023-24, where Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented a made-in-India tablet in a traditional red ‘bahi-khata’ style pouch with the national emblem in gold.

A book of accounts

Bahi-Khata meaning ‘book of accounts’ became the perfect analogy as a symbol of keeping records or accounts to trace Sangita Patel’s journey as a Director, Health Office, USAID India associated with the L4i programme. The design of the typical red cloth cover and stitching pattern was inspired by this art of binding. Designer Mohan Godwal says, “We got the prototype made by old craftspersons in Old Delhi who were familiar with the technique. The binding art is a painstaking process, which is privy only to them.” The process of finding the bookmakers was like a treasure hunt, and every effort was made to execute the binding to the desired quality. The team worked in tandem with the binders to achieve the expected finish, making the older context come alive in fresh ways.

The project required the team’s full commitment to be responsive to stringent deadlines. Four books were finally handcrafted after the first dummy, each 68 pages long. The cover uses machine-stitching techniques by the craftsmen. The designers embellished the opening pages with cloth motifs, which are hand-stitched. The rest of the motifs in the book are digitally produced. The final customized gift consists of a book and a scarf, which was also printed digitally on cloth and stitched on all four sides. Propitiously, red turned out to be Sangita Patel’s favorite color. This was a book that bound together fortunes, memories and exquisite book-keeping art.