A shopkeeper sells CDs of Chhath numbers in Ranchi on Sunday. (Hardeep Singh)

In these days of third-generation download groove, compact discs (CDs) may seem passé. But when it comes to celebrating Chhath, the capital spontaneously hits the rewind button.

More than 250 music stores in Ranchi are raking in happy profits — anything between Rs 18,000 and Rs 30,000 a week — with thousands of chhath vratis on a buy-buy mode before the two-day festivities kick off on Tuesday.

Bablu Ghosh of Ghosh Music on Main Road said he had roughly sold 3,500 CDs of Sharda Sinha, whose melodious Ho Dinanath track is a rage. He maintained that Bihar Kokila’s renditions too were fast flying off the shelves and would resonate at homes and ghats, where devotees will offer arghya to the sun god.

“Sharda Sinha is undoubtedly the hottest pick this time. Chhath celebrations, especially hymns and songs, are no longer restricted to any class or caste. Not just Biharis, almost everyone is buying these CDs,” Ghosh said.

Ghosh Music had stocked up 4,000 CDs of Sinha, with hit numbers like He chhathi maiya and Chhathi maai ke daurawa. “We expect to clear our entire stock by Monday. Online downloads may be free and of good quality, but most people still prefer playing DVDs/CDs as a ritual during Chhath,” Ghosh added.

The Chhath CDs are priced at Rs 15 and the DVDs come for Rs 20. There are 250-300 shops in the capital and owners maintain that the profit margin in audio/video business is anywhere between 60-70 per cent during Chhath. “Profit on one CD is a minimum of Rs 5. In case of DVDs, it ranges between Rs 5 and Rs 8,” said Ghosh.

Besides Sharda Sinha, albums of Anuradha Paudwal and Kalpana Devi are also selling like hot cakes, challenging new male singers like Kesari Lal and Arvind Kumar to a stiff competition.

“It is evident that female singers are liked better than their counterparts. Reasons are many. People cherish voices with classical base and that charm is often limited to old and established singers than new ones. There are not many veteran male singers in town. Moreover, women are considered more pious than men,” said Rajesh Sahu of Raj Electronics at Upper Bazaar. “We have sold 6,000 CDs/DVDs in a week. It is definitely brisk business,” he added.

The Internet invasion has sounded the death knell for the audio cassette market, but CDs have survived the digital outbreak so far.

Kamal Singh, who owns a music-video shop on Main Road, said electronic companies had stopped making cassette players altogether, but the same was not true for CDs. “Companies don’t make the tape recorder anymore. Those who have it at home keep it as part of their vintage collection rather than for listening songs. So, CDs are still in vogue,” he explained.

Singh pointed out that downloading songs and videos was an elite passion and the common chhath vratis still relied on CDs/DVDs. “Compared to metros, the Internet bug is yet to floor Ranchi’s people. Though the fad is catching up fast, we hope to do good business for some more time,” he said, adding that music/video parlours were preparing for digital transformation by already offering downloads, MP3 converters, et al.