Billing for your beauty parlour and cosmetic shop in Assam
The Bihu stage morning, the bride's trial and the small things at the counter, on one phone.
Eight Bihu dancers in one morning, a red bindi by the piece and a chair empty in the rains
Eight dancers for one stage, and one chair
Before the Bihu show the committee books eight girls into the parlour for the same morning, each for the hair bun with flowers, the make-up, the bindi and the kajal. The chair has three hours and each girl takes forty minutes. The mothers come with money, the committee will pay for some, and by noon you cannot say which girl has paid for what.
A red bindi, a pencil of kajal and a pot of alta, each for a few rupees
Beside the chair is a counter of small things, and the women who wait for their turn buy them. A packet of bindi, a kajal, a small bottle of alta. Each is a few rupees and nobody writes it down. At the end of the day the drawer has more than the services account for, and you do not know which small thing it was.
The rainy month, when the lane floods and the chair stays empty
There are weeks in the rains when nobody walks to the parlour. The creams on the shelf sit in the damp, the threading girl goes home, and you pay the rent from what you made in Bihu. When the dry weeks come, you cannot tell how many weeks you really lost, because nobody wrote down which days the chair was busy. The girl who threads eyebrows has gone home early, the chair has been wiped twice for nobody, and the cash box holds only the small things sold across the counter.
From the stage morning's list to the bun's small things and a rainy-week coupon
Eight girls in a three-hour morning, written in the order they sit
Open one page for the committee and write each girl on it as she takes the chair, with her services: bun, make-up, bindi, kajal. The chair has three hours and each girl forty minutes, so the order on the page tells you who is done, who is next and who has paid, and the mothers are not asked to remember what the committee covered.
The pins, the net and the flowers for the bun, billed beside the service
Make the hairpins, the hair net and the flowers for the bun items of their own. When a girl's bun is done and she takes the flowers home for the next day, one bill carries the service and the small things together, and at closing the list shows how many pins and nets went, so the drawer and the list agree.
A coupon for the rainy weeks, given to the girls who came at Bihu
The chair is empty when the lane floods. Give a small coupon to each girl who came for the Bihu stage, to be used in the rainy weeks. She has a reason to come when the road is wet, and you have a reason to keep the threading girl on, and the coupon is a line on the bill and not a promise.
Silk looms, tea plains and an industrial town: where Assam's parlours get their customers
Parlours in Assam serve towns that trade, auction and travel. A few districts, and what they are known for.
- Sualkuchi town in Kamrup district is a silk handloom cluster, often called the Manchester of Assam, where many migrant hired weavers work.
- Cachar is known for its tea plantations; paddy, vegetables, pulses and tea are grown on the plains along the Barak river.
- Incredible India describes Tinsukia as Assam's industrial powerhouse for tea, oil, coal and commerce.
Tools for a chair, a mirror and a counter of kajal, bindi and alta
Bills on your phone
A bill that lists the bun, the make-up and the net of flowers, with a coupon line taken off the total for a girl who holds one, shared on WhatsApp with the mother waiting outside.
Credit book (khata)
A girl who paid part at Bihu has a page with her balance, and the coupon she was given for the rainy weeks is written on the same page, so when she walks in on a wet day she and you read the same two lines.
Low stock warnings
Kajal, bindi and alta shown as running low before the stage morning, when every girl wants them.
What Assam parlours ask about Bihu groups, bridal trials and small counter sales
The alta pot sits on the counter for the women who wait, and the same alta is painted on the dancers' feet. Do I count it twice?
No. Keep the pot as an item sold over the counter and the foot painting as a service at its own rate. The count of the pot then shows only what customers bought, and the painting is a line on the girl's own bill.
Can I give a coupon for the rainy weeks to the girls who came before Bihu?
Yes. Offers and discounts for customers who come back are part of the app. Give the coupon on the Bihu bill, and use it on the bill of the rainy week. A coupon is a line on the bill, so the girl and you both see it written.
How can I count the days the chair was empty in the rainy weeks?
Every day's bills are kept. Open the rainy weeks day by day, and the days with no bill are the days the chair was empty.
A tea auction and a river port: why visitors reach an Assam parlour
Dibrugarh launched Upper Assam's first public online tea auction in September 2026; 18 buyers took part and teas averaged about Rs 207 per kg. A parlour in a town where buyers gather meets visitors with an afternoon to spare and a wish to look their best.
Under the British, Tezpur became an important centre of trade and commerce, used as a river port for the surrounding tea gardens. A town with that history of trade keeps a bazaar of small counters, and a parlour sits among them.