Billing for your stationery and book shop in Meghalaya
Readers in four languages, a table in the rain, and a board exam week when the pens run out.
Four languages of readers, a Khasi storybook on trust, and a book stall in the rain
Readers in Khasi, Garo, English and Hindi, and each school wants its own set
A school in the Khasi Hills asks for a Khasi reader beside the English one, a school in the Garo Hills asks for a Garo one, and a third wants the Hindi. The books look alike on the shelf, the parents ask by class and language, and a reader sold in the wrong language is a book thrown back at the counter. A mother who walked a long way for the Garo one does not come back a second time.
A Khasi storybook comes from a small local publisher, a few copies at a time
Children's books in Khasi and Garo are printed in small runs by publishers in the state. A publisher gives you a handful of copies to sell and wants payment as they sell. You remember how many you took and how many are left, and a month later the publisher and you do not agree. The publisher is a neighbour, and the argument is awkward because nobody wrote anything down.
A table by the school gate in the rain
The stall by the gate sells copies, pens and sweets to children on their way in. In the rains, the plastic sheet goes over the table, a pack of notebooks gets wet at one end, and the pens are carried indoors. At the end of the day nobody can say how many notebooks were sold and how many spoiled.
A reader found by its language, the local publisher's copies, and the wet stock counted
Each reader named with its language and class
Name the item with its language and class, such as Reader, Khasi, Class 3. The helper who is new sees the right book on the screen, and a parent who asks for the Garo one is given the Garo one. At the end of the term you know how many readers of each language went. The count of each language also tells you which one to ask the publisher for before the next term begins.
The publisher's copies on a page of his own, paid as they sell
Give the publisher a page. Note the copies he gave you and the rate, and each sale takes one off the count. When he asks, you read how many sold and what you owe, and the two of you agree in one look, not after an hour of counting.
At the school-gate table, the rain's share is one number
The morning's count less the day's sales is what should be on the table at closing. When rain gets in, the closing count falls short by exactly what the rain took, and that is one number for the week, and not a mystery. Write nothing down in the rain; the count and the day's bills do the sum for you.
Bara Bazaar's traders, Garo makers and Jaintia farmers: the families who buy school things
Families buy school things in every district, and these three show who they are.
- In Shillong, Bara Bazaar (Iewduh) has shops for traditional Khasi materials and household items, so the traders' children buy their school things nearby.
- West Garo Hills' district site lists local makers of tribal-design jewellery, including Seven Cherri and Amis Jewellery in Tura.
- In West Jaintia Hills about 70% of people depend on agriculture, and families there buy school things when the crop is sold.
Tools for a school-gate shop that sells books in more than one language
Orders to suppliers
A page for each local publisher, with the copies of every Khasi or Garo storybook he gave you and what you have paid him so far.
Bills on your phone
A bill for a Khasi reader, an English one and a pack of notebooks for the same child, sent on WhatsApp to the parent. The parent reads which book is for which child before leaving the counter.
Online orders
A parent in another town opens the shop's own online page, orders a Khasi reader for a niece, and you pack it. The order is ready for the next bus that goes that way.
Questions Meghalaya stationery and book shops ask
A mother has walked far for the Garo reader of her child's class. How do I tell her at once if it is in?
Look the reader up on the phone by its language and class before she is asked to wait. If the Garo one is out, note it on your next order to the supplier, so she is not turned away without an answer.
The publisher is a neighbour. What does he see of my page, and what does he not?
He sees only what you send him: the copies and what sold, from his page. Your other pages and your sales stay on your phone, so the talk with a neighbour is about his copies and nothing else.
At the school-gate table I carry the pens indoors when it rains. Can I count them back in?
Yes. Count what you carried in, and what is short is what the rain took. Reduce the stock by that number once, and the next day starts from the true count.
A school asks for the Khasi reader of Class 3 and the Garo reader of Class 4. Can both sit on one bill?
Yes. Each reader is named with its language and class, so they sit on one bill as two lines, and each count falls apart.
NCERT books and QR codes in Meghalaya's classrooms
In November 2023 the Meghalaya Cabinet decided to use NCERT textbooks for Classes 1 to 10 with minor modifications, saying state board textbooks were not up to national standards.
In July 2024 the Education Minister said MBoSE textbooks for classes 9 to 12 would carry QR codes linking to digital study material from the next academic year.