Lucknow, Dec 18 (IANS): After wall clocks, it is now the calendars that are vanishing from the walls.

December used to be a month known for distributing and buying calendars. The business slumped during the pandemic when people avoided getting calendars printed and distributed but this year, people seem to have given up on calendars.

"First the mobile phones took away wall clocks and watches and now it is the calendars. The pandemic slump has weaned people off calendars," says Surendra Kumar, who owns a card and calendar shop in Aminabad.

He explains, "The pandemic has changed the habits of people. People prefer to watch the date and time on their phone and are not inclined to look at wall clocks or calendars. Even this wedding season has been very dull for us because people are not getting invites printed -- they are getting them designed and sent on WhatsApp which saves the money and effort."

According to wholesalers, the main reason for this is that business establishments, banks, etc., no longer get tax concessions for calendars and diaries and hence have almost stopped the practice of gifting these to customers.

Ashraf Ali, another wholesaler in the card and calendar market, says that if the trend continues, he and others may have to look for other business options.

"We have been selling cards and calendars for almost five decades but the slump that began with the pandemic is continuing and we cannot remain in the business for long," he says.

Most of the bookshops have stopped stocking calendars this year.

"Good calendars are expensive and customers do not want to buy them," says a leading bookshop owner.