Understanding prices and the lakh number system in Sri Lanka I keep getting confused by the zeroes

Local so let me demystify the numbers and prices for you The LAKH (and crore) the South Asian number system you will hear LAKH which means ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND (100000) it is used across South Asia for big numbers so 1 lakh equals 100000 (mostly you will hear it for property salaries big sums not everyday shopping) you may also hear CRORE which means TEN MILLION (10000000 or 100 lakhs) again for very big sums for everyday tourist spending you mostly deal in hundreds and thousands of rupees so do not over worry about lakhs unless discussing big prices but now you know lakh equals 100000 The everyday prices most things you buy (food tuk tuks entry fees) are in HUNDREDS or low THOUSANDS of rupees so the zeroes are not as scary as they look a meal a few hundred to a thousand or two a tuk tuk ride a few hundred a nice dinner a couple of thousand How to do the mental math the trick know your rough EXCHANGE RATE to your home currency and pick a simple round number to divide by (work out how many rupees equal one euro for you then to convert a rupee price to euros divide by that number) round it to make the mental math easy (use an easy approximate divisor) so you can glance at a price and instantly know the rough euro cost a CURRENCY APP on your phone (the useful apps threads) does it instantly too (handy for bigger purchases) Tips to avoid confusion and overpaying COUNT THE ZEROES carefully (a price in thousands vs hundreds is a tenfold difference so read carefully) know the rough value of the common notes (familiarise yourself with the rupee notes so you hand over and check change correctly) have a rough sense of fair prices for common things (a tuk tuk ride a meal a water bottle) so you spot when something is way off use the currency app for anything big and round in your head for everyday So the LAKH means 100000 (and crore means ten million) used for big sums not everyday shopping for daily prices you deal in hundreds and low thousands of rupees so to make sense of it learn your rough exchange rate and divide by an easy round number in your head (or use a currency app) count the zeroes carefully know the notes and have a feel for fair prices do that and the numbers stop being confusing and you will convert prices at a glance