The best attended fair ever seen is the one held every year in my own town at Basant.

All sorts of people are seen at the fair. Beggars in their rags ask for alms. One pities the blind and the lame and gives them a few coins in charity.

But one does not find only the beggars here. Take your stand near the shrine and watch the crowd. You will see villagers elbowing their way through the crowd. That young bride there is offering prayers for he birth of a child, while that poor widow beyond is praying for the return of her long lost on. The school boys are idly wandering about the shrine, while the girls are standing apart, laughing and jesting.

There are two long rows of temporary stalls, with a broad passage in between. Here is a fruit-seller, selling bananas, oranges, apples and guavas. There is a sweetmeat seller’s shop at which you see a crowd of village women and children buying sweets. Village women and children are very fond of sweets. There are also stalls selling toys, bangles, balloons and ice –cream. How happy those girls are! They are buying bangles and brooches of different designs.

People go to a fair to make merry. So, one can find various kinds of amusements there. At one place you see a merry-go –round, with its load of gay men, women and children whirling in the air. At another place, you see a juggler entertaining the ignorant villagers with his tricks. Rope –dancers and drum-beaters are also there.

The whole place is full of dust and noise. go where you like; you hear the loud beating of drums, the shrill music of reed pipes, the blowing of rubber balloons, the shouts of women and children, and the hoarse cries of peddlers and hawkers.

Such interesting sights and sounds are the chief attractions of a village fair.