Billing for your fruit and vegetable shop in Lakshadweep
The firm tomato, the soft tomato and the neighbour's basket, each at its own rate on your phone.
Coconut on the counter beside the greens
Coconut is the crop the islands are known for, and a vegetable shop sells it beside the greens.
- The Industries Department names coir production, coconut-based industries and handicrafts as the key sectors of Lakshadweep.
Two rates for one tomato
The soft kilos of a rough crossing, sold under their own price
A crate that came over a rough crossing arrives with a soft layer. Make a second tomato item with its own price per kilo, and put the soft kilos under it when the crate is opened. The customer who asks for the cheap lot gets the cheap lot on his bill, and Thursday's argument over Monday's rate does not start.
The basket weighed on Tuesday and paid for on Saturday
A papaya or a few kilos of brinjal come in on a weekday and the money goes out at the weekend. Open a supplier page in the neighbour's name and put the basket on it with its weight and rate. When Saturday comes, note the payment, and the page shows what is still owing without anybody counting on their fingers.
The neighbour's brinjal, asked for by name
A customer who wants the home-grown brinjal asks for it by name, and you take it from the neighbour's garden. The ship's brinjal sits beside it for the one who only wants brinjal. The garden basket is small, and the ship brings nothing like it. At the week's end you know whether the neighbour's basket is worth asking for again before the next lot comes.
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Crates that spent days at sea, and what is left in the corner
A crate that came by ship, and a corner that did not survive
Vegetables reach the islands by ship, so a crate of tomatoes or beans has been packed and moved for days before you open it. The top layer looks fine and the corner is soft. You sell the soft ones cheap before they go, and by the evening you cannot say how many kilos went at the full rate and how many at the low one.
The customer who presses the tomato and puts it back
People here press a tomato with their thumbs. The soft ones are cheaper, and the cheap rate belongs to the soft lot only. A regular who got the soft lot cheap on Monday asks for the same rate on Thursday, and Monday's soft lot is gone. You give it on the firm tomato instead, and the loss goes unnoticed in the cash at night.
The neighbour who brings a basket from her own garden
A few families grow brinjal, chilli or a papaya tree at home, and bring a basket to your shop when there is more than the house can eat. You weigh it, you pay cash or you say you will settle later. A month on, nobody remembers how many kilos she brought, and the sum between you is a quarrel waiting to happen.
Tools for a counter that sells coconuts and tomatoes together
Bills on your phone
A bill for the house that asked for the garden brinjal by name: a kilo of it, two kilos of firm tomatoes and a papaya, sent while the bag is still being packed.
Daily reports
Each day's kilos of firm and soft tomatoes on separate lines, so the cost of a rough crossing shows up as soft kilos.
Low stock warnings
A short list of what is running out, with the fast sellers such as onions and potatoes at the top before the next order is sent.
Orders to suppliers
A supplier page for each neighbour who brings a basket and one for the mainland wholesaler, so what you owe each of them is always in front of you.
Farmers' stalls whose bills and online stock came together
What vegetable sellers in the islands ask
How do I tell from the daily report how many beans the crossing took and how many sold cheap?
Put the crate's kilos in as stock when it comes. The report shows the kilos that went. At closing count the basket and set it against the phone; what is in neither was lost.
A neighbour brings papaya or chilli only when her garden has a surplus. Can I take it when I did not order?
Yes. Add it as an item on the day she brings it, with its weight, and note whether you paid her in cash on the spot or left it for later. The papaya has a line only on the days it comes, and anything left unpaid shows on her page.
Which vegetables ran out in the last days before the previous ship, so the next order covers them?
Open the days just before the previous ship and read the lines by vegetable. The ones that sold well and then stopped selling before the ship are the ones the next order must cover with a larger lot.
Home gardens and the islands' vegetables
Under the Nutri Garden scheme begun in 2021-22, Lakshadweep supplies tomato, brinjal, chilli, sapota, mango and guava seeds and seedlings for terrace and backyard cultivation. Each family that plants a few of these becomes a possible supplier to a vegetable shop, with a few kilos at a time.
Islanders told The News Minute in 2021 that they do not get good quality vegetables in the islands, unlike on the mainland. A shop that sorts its crate into firm and soft, and tells the customer which is which, answers that complaint at the counter.