Billing for your footwear shop in Nagaland
Nine sizes of one shoe, a boot season that ends in a week and a pair that has sat since the rains, all counted.
.jpg){kind=link}
From a count by size to the rains' stock counted before it is boxed
Trek boots for the Dzükou walkers, found from the counter
Visitors walking to Dzükou valley ask for a sturdy boot the evening before, and most of them also want thick socks and a rain cover. Put the boot, the socks and the rain cover on one bill, each with its own rate, so the visitor pays once at the counter, and the helper does not have to add them up in his head.
One colour for every player on the village team
When the village football tournaments start after the harvest, studs sell in a rush. Teams often buy the same colour for every player, so keep each colour as its own item beside the sizes. One team's order then does not empty the colour the next team wants.
Jhum-season gumboots counted when the fields close
When the jhum work ends, read the count of each gumboot size before the boxes go up to the top shelf for the year. Next season's order starts from what the farming families actually bought, not from what was easy to get. Some families buy for the whole household in one visit before the fields are cleared, five pairs in four sizes.
Fields, hills and the people who walk them: districts that buy footwear
Footwear is bought for fields, hills and school roads. A few of the districts the buyers come from.
- In Mon agriculture is the main economic activity, with paddy the main crop, grown by terrace and jhum farming.
- Jhum farming of rice, maize, millet and kholar bean is common in Tuensang, and handicrafts and handloom are the main culture.
- Phek grows kiwi as its One District One Product, with tree tomato, persimmon and cabbage as secondary products.
Tools for a Naga footwear counter, from gumboots to school shoes
Bills on your phone
One bill for the football club: twelve pairs of studs and twelve pairs of socks, each at its own rate.
Low stock warnings
A warning when the trek boot in size nine falls to the count you set, before the Hornbill visitors arrive.
Orders to suppliers
The gumboot order to the Dimapur wholesaler goes in pairs by size before the jhum fields are cleared, each size ticked as it comes off the truck, and the sizes the Wednesday market sells cheaper are left out of the order.
Daily reports
The days of last January kept one line each, to read when you plan the boots for this winter.
UPI payments
A QR for the trekker from another state who has spent his cash on the guide and the homestay.
A size eight in black, the boots that go out before January and gumboots left after the rains
The visitor who needs boots before the dawn bus
A visitor bound for the hills comes at dusk and asks for boots before the dawn bus. Size ten is not on the wall, and you cannot say if it is in the back room. If it is not, the kind answer is the quick one: no, try the next shop. A slow no costs him the evening and costs you his goodwill.
The man from the hill village who buys winter boots for the whole house
A man comes down from his hill village to buy winter boots for his household and wants five sizes in one visit. He names the people at home and guesses their sizes. A guessed size is wrong more often than right, and the boots that do not fit are on the feet at home for the whole season, because his next visit is a season away.
Gumboots still on the shelf when the rains have gone
The rainy season ends and the gumboots that sold by the pair in July sit in a corner in January, next to the winter boots. Nobody has written how many were bought, how many sold, or how many are left in the boxes at the back. They are packed away by guess, and next year's order starts from the same guess.
Questions Nagaland footwear shops ask
Can I see how many pairs of studs I sold in last year's tournament weeks?
Yes. The daily report keeps every day. Open last year's tournament weeks and read the studs row, size by size.
A village team wants the same colour of stud for every player, in many sizes. Can I count colour and size together?
Yes. Write the order as one line for each player's size. The captain checks the lines against his players, and the bill says how many pairs of each size the team has, which he needs when he goes to the players for the money.
The hardest cold comes in January in the hill districts. How early must my boots leave Dimapur to be on the shelf before it?
The road decides, so count by the road and not the calendar. Note on the supplier's page the day the last lot left Dimapur and the day it reached your shelf. That gap is the number to count back from January, and the order goes before it.
The captain collects from his players only after the harvest money comes. Can the team's bill wait that long?
Yes. The captain collects from many players, one by one, and some pay late. The bill has a line for each player's size, so what is paid and what is not can be read player by player when the harvest money has come.
The Wednesday market and the cold months: when Naga feet need shoes
Dimapur's big Wednesday market at the Super Market sells new and second-hand clothes, socks and shoes at prices for varied pockets, and draws vendors and shoppers from nearby Assam.
Extreme cold is common in winter in Zunheboto, Tuensang, Kiphire and Phek districts, and the harshest cold is felt in January, Morung Express reported in 2019. Boots and socks sell fastest in those months.