Duty at India International Trade Fair involves a lot of madness, more so in recent years as thousands of visitors jostle each other in a much-reduced space (the fair is being held at a temporary set-up due to renovation work at Pragati Maidan). To unwind, I am sharing some snippets of happenings as I witnessed:
Cacophony: Hall12A, housing state and UT stalls, is offering a strange ensemble of sound and music. A Gandhi@150 stall is blaring "Vaishnav Jana To" at full volume, interspersed by shouts of "Chana Zor Garam" and "Bhelpuri, Bhelpuri" from nearby Rajasthan stall. Someone at the public address system is droning on and on about plastic ban, most of his words coming out garbled and tired. A group of folk artists from Haryana is adding to the orchestra with "clank, clank" sound of the manjira, while Mr. Sameer from Maharashtra is creating the loudest blasts of noise with his "tutari". Also known as "ranashringa", it used to be a war trumpet, but trade fair is a battle no less.
Carpet: It is said that the wall-to-wall carpet at Terminal 3 of Delhi airport is not to the liking of many passengers, but the same at IITF is a hit. Tired after a day's shopping, the families and their trolley bags, both with bellies full of stuff, rest on the carpet. Yesterday, I saw an elderly couple - the man sitting with his legs stretched, the wife fast asleep beside him, using her bulging shopping bag as a pillow. Sometimes, one may witness minor mishaps too. A kid of around 2 years was playing in front of our stall last evening. The Hall was getting emptied, but the boy's mother was still haggling with the stole- seller a few metres away. The boy, unattended, first started "swimming" over the carpet, then took his milk bottle and let a few drops spill over. When he started rubbing his hand over it, a call came and I had to return to the office cabin, hoping that he did not lick his hand afterwards.
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