For 30 years, an official from the Central Tax Department has been making calendars combining factoids and information with dates and months.
D Kumaresh, a superintendent in the department, began with a simple calculation of dates that gradually evolved into a unique calendar design that won accolades from cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda. "I was mentally computing dates at school, which led to the designing of the calendars," 57-year-old Kumaresh told DH.
The four-page calendar appears like a double-sided brochure. One side has dates/months while the other side has interesting facts about the country, some significance about the numbers that combine to represent the year, among other details. Users must first match the date with the month before learning the day.
Kumaresh’s calendars had themes like India’s inventions, UNESCO’s world heritage sites, major tourist attractions, and a celebration of Tendulkar’s career. The legendary cricketer later wrote Kumaresh a letter of thanks. In 2001, he also received an appreciation letter from Gowda.
Among the most memorable was the calendar Kumaresh made representing the achievements of music maestro Ilaiyaraja, which he presented to the composer.
"I don’t want to commercialise the calendars," Kumaresh said. "I just gift them to family and friends."
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