The Kalnirnay 'Calmanac' Goes Digital For four decades, traditionalists in Maharashtra on the cusp of buying a new home, switching jobs or scheduling surgeries have looked to one authority to establish the most auspicious moment at which to make these crucial decisions: Kalnirnay calendar-almanacs that list religious festivals, the phases of the moon, the timing of the sunrise and all the other information anyone seeking to divine the intentions of the cosmos could ever need. Since they made their appearance in 1973, Kalnirnay "calmanacs" have become a fixture in homes in Maharashtra and are popular in several other states, too. Sumangal Press, the firm that publishes the calendar, claims a circulation of more than 18 million. But now, as the firm looks at the charts to determine its own destiny, it seems that the future is increasingly digital. The revenues from the firm's information technology products - such as horoscopes delivered to cell phones, its iPad app and a Web site that generates cyber-predictions about such matters as "family welfare," "buying gold" and "personality/anger management" - are set to grow at 300 percent this year. They constitute approximately 5 percent of the firm's $4.5 million in total revenues, but Jayraj Salgaokar, the firm's publisher and managing director, expects that figure to grow much quicker during the next decade. "I'm driven by technology," he declared. The situation didn't look quite so bright the year the Salgaokar family launched their publication, aiming to allow ordinary folk to figure out when precisely to embark on new ventures without needing to consult professional astrologers. Shopkeepers couldn't see the point of the product, and the Salgaokars had to plead with them to stock the calendars. But a year later, aided by glowing reviews in the newspapers, sales took off. "It was a cultural revolution," Mr. Salgaokar said. People didn't have to seek the advice of a pandit anymore. The firm's first calendar was in Marathi and charted the Hindu months in relation to the standard Gregorian one. But over the years, it has grown in both in the density of the data it presents and in the breadth of its multiculturalism. Kalnirnay calendars are now available in seven languages, including Gujarati and Tamil. They display information important to Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Parsis and Jews, as well as secular occasions such as National Youth Day and Universal Census Day. A characteristic feature of the calmanac is the articles it carries on the reverse. Over the decades, some of Maharashtra's best-known literary figures have contributed articles to Kalnirnay. These pages also carry household tips, health information, train timetables and career advice. For instance, this year's English-language edition has a recipe for pineapple upside-down cake, an article on cervical cancer and a column on the importance reinvigorating one's marriage ("The worse marital skids take place when we let the interesting grooves and grids of our personalities wear out. ... Redefine your grooves...and you'll continue to have a great grip on the bylanes as well as the highways of marital life.") The calendar can be found in Indian grocery stores around the world. Copies are also dispatched to Israel, where there is a significant community of Jews from Maharashtra, known as the Bnei-Israel. For now, these overseas markets are where the company's iPad and android phone apps are in greatest demand. But Mr. Salgaokar says that in addition to second-generation immigrants who have grown up seeing their parents buying the calmanacs year after year, his digital products are gaining popularity with young Indians. "Mobile is the future," he said. Though 57-year-old Mr. Salgaoakar recognizes the paradox of melding ancient practices with cutting-edge delivery platforms, he doesn't think it strange that many people in modern India continue to repose deep faith in astrology. "It isn't just Indians - it's people from around the world," he said. It fulfils a psychological need. There must be something to it that people recognize and value. Naresh Fernandes is a consulting editor to Time Out's editions in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore and a Poesis fellow at New York University's Institute for Public Knowledge.