Billing for your provision shop in Meghalaya
Oil by the small measure, sacks counted at the roadside, and the families who settle on pay day.
A small measure for each item, the sacks checked at the roadside, and kwai counted by the piece
Each measure of each good as its own item
Make oil by the small measure and oil by the bottle two items, the tea leaf a rate per fifty grams and rice a rate per kilo. A customer's mixed basket is a bill in seconds, and at night the oil poured and the tea leaf sold are numbers in the report, so the shelf looks as low as the book says. The customer who asks for a half-measure of oil is not a puzzle for the next helper.
The sacks counted at the roadside against what you ordered
Write the order to the wholesaler on the supplier's page. When the shared Sumo arrives, tick what came against what you asked for, even standing on the verge. The two missing sacks are on the page that night, and the next call to the wholesaler is a short one.
Kwai by the piece, and the day's pieces added up
Make kwai an item at a rate per piece, and tympew another. A sale of two pieces is two taps, and the day's report adds the dozens of small sales up for you. At night you read how many pieces went, and you can see that kwai paid for the day more than the rice did.
Tools for a shop that restocks before the rains close the road
Orders to suppliers
The order to the Shillong wholesaler, with each sack that came in the taxi ticked against what was asked, and the shortfall left on the page.
Low stock warnings
A list of the salt, oil, matches and rice that are low, which you read before the rains close the road.
Daily reports
How many pieces of kwai and tympew, how many small measures of oil, and how many kilos of rice went in the day, in one view.
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Loose goods in small measures, a taxi that brings the sacks, and betel nut sold by the piece
Red tea leaf goes out of an open sack by the handful all day
A customer wants a fistful of tea leaf, another a small measure of rice, and each is priced a little differently. The red tea leaf comes from an open sack, and nobody can say at night how much left it, only that the sack looks lower. The handful given at ten in the morning is the handful that is short in the evening.
The sacks come up from Shillong in a shared taxi, and the count is done at the roadside
You send the order to the wholesaler and the sacks arrive in the back of a shared taxi. The driver says eight, you ordered ten, and the road is wet and the other passengers are waiting. You sign for what he says and hope. Before the rains, when the road may close for days, you also stock more than you can count properly.
Kwai and tympew are sold in ones and twos all day
A customer wants two pieces of kwai, the betel nut, and a leaf of tympew to go with it, and pays a few rupees. Another wants five. All day the counter hears small orders like these, and the coins go into the box without a word written. At night you know the day was busy and cannot say whether kwai or rice or tea paid for it. The heap of kwai at the corner of the counter is the one thing that never has a count.
Bara Bazaar's traders, Garo jewellers and Jaintia farmers: who walks into a provision shop
A provision shop sells to everybody in its district, and these three districts show who they are.
- In Shillong, Bara Bazaar (Iewduh) has shops for traditional Khasi materials and household items, so its traders buy household goods in bulk.
- West Garo Hills' district site lists local makers of tribal-design jewellery, including Seven Cherri, which employs local tribal women, and Amis Jewellery in Tura.
- In West Jaintia Hills about 70% of people depend on agriculture, with potato, ginger, garlic and turmeric as key cash crops, so families there shop after a harvest.
Questions Meghalaya provision shops ask
The heap of kwai in the corner is sold by the hand and never has a count. How do I start one?
Count the heap into the phone once, as pieces. From then on each sale takes its pieces off, so the corner heap has a number that falls and you see when it needs filling.
Two shops share the same taxi and the sacks get mixed at the roadside. How do I know which are mine?
Your order on the supplier's page lists your sacks and their weights. At the roadside, set each sack that came against that list and note only what matches. A sack that is not on your list is not yours to count.
When the road closes for days in the rains, which of my goods can a neighbour shop not lend me?
Kwai and red tea leaf are bought close by, so a neighbour may spare a little. Salt, oil and matches come up the road for every shop at once, so none has any to spare. Put those at the head of your own order, before the rains.
Cultivation in Ri Bhoi and jackfruit in South Garo Hills
In Ri Bhoi's Umling block the main occupation is cultivation, and Byrnihat has an industrial estate. Bamboo and cane work is a local craft.
A jackfruit processing unit opened at Rongara in South Garo Hills in February 2024 to process over 700 tonnes a year. The state says it will raise the incomes of about 8,000 farmers.