Fairs and festivals are very common in India. Fairs let the people get together to make merry, drown differences if any and create better understanding among them. Some fairs last for a few days. In such fairs temporary bazaars and stalls are set up.
Last Sunday I and some of my friends made a plan to visit a fair held in a nearby village, Ramgarh. There is a temple and people worship Goddess Durga there. As fixed we reached the fair at about 10 o’clock. We had enough time, so there was no hurry. First of all we went to the temple, worshipped the Durga, offered prasad and finally started for sight seeing.
The actual fair was a place of great pomp and show. There were shops of general items, toys and sweets all decorated nicely and had irresistible attraction for people of all age groups. We saw huge crowd at almost every shop. Men, women and children in their gaudy dresses, looked veiy busy in doing this or that. There was a great rush outside the temple gate. People were standing in a queue with an earnest desire to have a glimpse of Goddess Durga.
There was hustle and bustle everywhere in the fair. All were enjoying it (the fair) in their own way. Young girls and newly wedded brides were seen busy in buying radiant bangles of various colours and sizes from the bangle-sellers. Newly married ladies made a lot of purchases of cosmetics.
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Elderly ladies were not less busy. They were buying goods of household utility. There were hawkers too at several places, all crying in different tones to sell their goods. We were getting amused by their tones and gestures.
The whirling and turling merry-go-rounds with cracking sounds were also a centre of attraction especially for the young children. They were enjoying rides on them. Some people were dancing to the beating of drums. Their folk dance was worth- seeing and we watched it with great happiness.
There were snake-charmers and jugglers too. The rope dancers and magicians were also busy in their different activities. We saw in one corner some foretellers. There was also a great rush. I too wished to go there and know my future. But soon my inner voice prohibited me from doing this and I with my friends moved on. I thought I should not believe in fate but in hard work which alone can bring all success in life.
The whole fair was full of activity. There were some volunteers and scouts who were helping the people in several ways. Some were regulating the traffic; some were providing water to the thirsty while some were engaged in restoring the lost children to their parents. There were good police arrangements to maintain law and order.
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In the evening the fair came to an end. People began to return to ‘their homes. We too came back with a nice feeling. The fair is, no doubt, a good source of knowledge about the varied life of our country and we must visit it whenever we have suitable time.