Billing for your toy shop in Gujarat
Glow sticks by the hundred, the carrom set on one bill and the garba stall as a shop of its own.
What a Gujarat toy shop keeps on its phone, from the garba stall to the maker's order
Bills on your phone
A bill for a carrom board, a set of coins and a tin of powder, sent on WhatsApp to the father who is buying for the Diwali nights.
Many shops, one owner
The stall by the garba ground as a second shop under your account, with its own stock and its own nine nights.
Online orders
A parent orders the carrom set online on Saturday, and the coins and powder join its bill when she collects it for the Diwali night.
Orders to suppliers
The order to the maker in Rajkot for the kite season, written in January's first week and ticked off when the carton arrives.
The garba night's small things in five taps, the stall as its own shop on the account, the carrom set on one bill
A glow stick costs the same at eleven as it did at nine
A child holds out a coin and points at a glow stick, and the next child is already behind her. The rate on the glow stick is the same at eleven at night as it was at nine, because it was set once before the nights began and nobody at the stall has to remember it. When the nine nights are over, the stall's page shows how many of each went.
Nine garba nights on one page, and what they took from the shelf
When the nine nights are over, one page shows what the stall took across all nine, and how much of the main shop's stock went to it. The stall's night-by-night sales and the shelf at the shop are read together, so you see what the nights cost the shelf.
The carrom board, the coins and the powder on one bill, a fourth on the next evening
Make the board, the coins, the striker and the powder four items, each with its own rate. The family's first bill takes whichever it asked for, and the striker on the next evening is a second bill under the same name. Each item's count falls on its own, so a shelf with no powder is seen before the next family asks.
Rajkot's craftsmen, Vadodara's engineering units and Surat's cloth traders: where a Gujarat toy shop's customers work
Three Gujarat cities and the families that shop for toys near them.
- Rajkot's Soni goldsmiths and silver craftsmen make jewellery, and the city is also known for textile printing and for metal and wood carving.
- Vadodara has over 35% of India's power transmission and distribution equipment makers, with an estimated 800 supporting ancillary units.
- Surat accounts for 70% of India's rough diamond cutting and polishing and 40% of its man-made fabric production, says the city corporation.
Navratri garba stalls selling by the hundred, two peaks in a year and a carrom board that is three small sales
The garba ground stall, where everything costs a few rupees and sells by the hundred
In the nine nights the toy stall near the garba ground sells balloons, glow sticks, masks and small rubber balls to children who come with their parents. Each thing costs little, and a night sells hundreds. Nobody writes anything, because a child is holding out a coin, and at two in the morning the owner counts the coins and cannot say what was sold.
Two peaks in the year, the garba nights and kite week, and nothing between
The balloons, glow sticks and masks of the nine nights are followed, three months later, by kites and string for Uttarayan. The shop re-sets its shelves for each, and whatever is left from the first peak sits at the back until it is forgotten. The count at the end of the nights is a guess, so the order for the next peak is a guess too.
A carrom board, its coins and its powder: three small sales for one family's Diwali nights
In the Diwali holidays families who play carrom and ludo at night come for the board, and then for the coins, the striker and the tin of powder, one at a time, as each is remembered. The board goes on the slip as one item, the coins and the powder are added in the head, and the same family returns for the striker the next evening.
Questions Gujarat toy shops ask about garba stalls, gift wrapping and carrom sets
A family buys a birthday toy and a carrom set in the same Diwali week. Can the two be separate bills?
Yes. Make the birthday toy's bill on its own, and a second bill under the same family's name for the Diwali game, so each can be shown to the person it was bought for.
Of the nine garba nights, which night did the stall sell most?
Look up each night's sales, one night at a time. The night with the most is easy to see, and a night when the stall sold little shows as well. Load the stall for the heavy nights next year.
A local maker brings plastic toys and the wholesaler has the same kind. Which do I order from before kite week?
Order the carton from whoever has the toy when you need it. Note each carton on arrival with its day, and if both sell at one rate, keep the toy as one item so the count is one number.
Toy making in Gujarat, and the farming district beside it
Gujarat is increasingly a key production hub for toys thanks to its plastics and engineering industries. The Gujarat Toy Manufacturers Association hosted a Rajkot trade networking event.
Banas Dairy at Palanpur, sold under the Amul brand, is Asia's largest dairy cooperative, and it stands in Banaskantha district. In a district whose income comes from the milk, a toy shop's busiest weeks may follow the weeks when that money arrives.