Composition: A Village Market

A Village Market

A village market is public place in a village where the influx of people assemble from adjoin areas to buy and sell commodities necessary for everyday life. So, it is an important buying and selling center for the villagers. It is the back-bone of the rural economy.

A village market generally locates at a place where people from different places can easily come for buying and selling different goods. So, a village market usually stands by the side of a river or canal or at the junction of roads or near a railway station.

There are generally two kinds of village markets—the daily market and the weekly market. The daily market is called 'Bazar'. It sits daily in the morning. The weekly market is called 'hat'. It sits once or twice a week in the forenoon and continues up to late in the evening.

The shops in a village market are arranged in a systematic way. Generally three types of shops are seen in the village market. They are permanent shops, temporary shops and open space shops. The open space shops of the same kind are clustered together and are arranged in rows. Fish, milk, fruit, betel leaves, vegetables etc. are bought and sold in the open space shop. The temporary shops are held in sheds having only their roofs. In these shops oil, rice, salt, pepper, spices etc. are sold. Some grocers, tailors, cloth dealers, stationers and tea-sellers have permanent shops. There are different sections of the village market. They are generally known as fish market, vegetable market, rice market, fruit market, and so on. The fish and vegetable markets are the most crowded place in the market. Haggling is one of the main characteristics of a village market. Nothing is sold without haggling.

The village market is of great use and importance the villagers. Here they get all the necessary things of their daily use. As such they need not go to distant places to buy and sell things.

Apart from its practical utility, it has also its social value. If brings the people of different villagers closer and thus strengthens the bond of their unity. It is an important place for village politics and a place of entertainment for the villagers too. There are some people who come here only to pass a pleasant time in roaming about.

The village market is an unhealthy place. It is dusty in the dry season and muddy in the rainy season. There is no proper system for disposing the garbage and other filths. It lacks in proper sanitation too.

Though the village market is a noisy, dusty and unhealthy place, yet it is an integral part of village life. It is a place of gathering of a vast number of people providing opportunities for views and news let alone buying and selling daily necessaries. Proper care and arrangements should be made for the improvement of the unsatisfactory condition of the village market.