v Points : The occasion of the fair -
Different kinds of people are found in the fair - Places of amusement in the
fair – Shops in the fair Small exhibition advantages and disadvantages of
fair.
v The best attended fairs that I have ever witnessed tire those that
held every year in my village, on the occasion of the 'Urs' of a great Muslim
Saint, Hazrat Shahbaz Qalandar.
v They are attended by thousands of people from far and near. A few
days before the fair is held, the tomb is whitewashed, the houses repaired and
the premises thoroughly cleaned. The custodians of the shrine are dressed in
their best. They are very civil to the pilgrims who came in streams to pay
their homage to the departed saint. Their civility, however, is not completely
disinterested. They wish to impress upon the pilgrims the saintliness of their
own character, so that the shrine may become all the more popular in the
neighborhood, and the offerings of pious pilgrims the larger, year after year.
v All sorts of people attend the fair at the shrine. The beggars in
their rags line the route to it on both sides, and
v solicit our charity in many ways. You pity the blind beggar,
because he is deprived of his eye-sight. And you cannot ignore the cripple
either. The leper shunned by everybody is there, and the pauper also flits
about like a ghost.
v Pakistani fair does not, however, possess only a religious
significance. People go to a fair for the sake of merry-making and enjoyment,
and surely one can find various kinds of enjoyments there. At one place you see
a merry-go-round with its load of gay children and proud young men whirling in
the air. At another place you find the juggler showing his tricks. Acrobats and
rope-dancers also perform their feats in a corner. A company of strolling
players has also pitched its tent there, though the admission to their
performance is by tickets. There is a travelling circus too, admission to which
is by tickets costing fifty paisa’s and a rupee.
v A Pakistani Mela, however, does not provide entertainment only. It
also provides the people with a market for their goods. The people of the
neighborhood get an opportunity of buying and selling their wares. There are
some fairs. Where cattle are sold, but at most of these fairs the chief
articles or consumption are the sweetmeats and the other eatables. The
confectioner displays his wares to the best advantage, and tempts every
passer-by to purchase something or the other. Nor are the peddlers wanting in anything.
They sell pins, brooches, bangles, and other trinkets to woman and children.
v Advantage is sometimes taken of these fairs to hold exhibitions on
a small scale. These exhibitions are meant to show us how we can improve
agriculture by using better seeds, better oxen, and better implements. There
are places where we are told how we can decrease the death-rate of children,
improve the sanitation of our homes and the village, and live more
hygienically. All these are very necessary.
v On the whole, these fairs serve a very useful purpose. They
encourage trade, and enable the people to meet and discuss questions that
affect their daily life. In times of an epidemic, however, these fairs become a
source of great danger. They spread disease from man to man and from one
village to another, and should on such occasions be disallowed by the
Government.
