With just a few weeks left for the academic year 2010 to begin both parents and children are busy with shopping for school. And the destination is  Jaigaon.

People from different parts of the country are here in Jaigaon and the list includes school uniforms, bags, school shoes and stationeries and other stuffs like bed cover, mattresses, pillows, pillow covers, etc.

Of the many shops in Jaigaon, shops selling garments, stationeries, bags and shoes are crowded with customers.

Surender Gupta, owner of Unique Enterprise said: “In a day about 250 customers come to the shop to buy stationeries like books, pens, and cello-tapes, etc… the lists go on.  People from Gelephu, Haa, Thimphu, Paro and especially people returning from Bodgaya are the customers who do the maximum of the school shopping.”

He further added: “In the year this is best time for our business and we earn better than in the other months. After this season, we hardly get 10 to 20 customers a day during the summer.”

While the shopkeepers are busy with their business, tailors are also busy stitching the school uniforms and in a day they stitch a maximum of 500 uniforms for the customers.

Though all the shops are not enjoying the boom in their business but they are still happy with the business.

Babula, owner of Balaji Kids care said: “Many people come and go and it is not possible for us to record or count the number but the number is more as we are very busy with the work of showing our customers the dresses.”

He also added: “Though compared to last year, this year the business was not up to expectation as the rate of the materials has increased and most of the customers are shopping less. On top of that the supply from the dealers has been less due to some problem in Punjab. But still I am doing a fine business.”

Most of the customers rush to Balaji for the school uniforms and other materials like bed covers and pillows.

The shop has a special discount for the school students. The stitching charge of a gho is for Nu 100, for tego it is  Nu 30 while for the wonju it is just Nu 20.

Tshering, a student from Chhukha said: “I have come to Jaigaon for shopping as it is cheap and can save some amount of money with which I can buy other necessary stuffs for the school. In the Chhukha, the prices are very high and we don’t get what we really want. So I prefer coming here for shopping.”

Sangay Om, a mother of two said: “In Jaigaon we have many choices and the price is affordable too. In Thimphu the expenditure for one child is more than Nu 2000 whereas for the same amount you can buy things for two here. So why not shop in Jaigaon when things are cheap?”

Though Jaigaon is doing good business as of now but they confess the business is just till the school reopens after that the business will be low.

­­By Chencho Dema in PHUENTSHOLING