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The story is set in spring. As the winter season had just ended, all the people came out of their houses. They were joyful as the chilling cold weather had ended. People travelled through different modes of transport like by foot, horses, bamboo carts, and bullock carts. A little child ran eagerly and often hit into his father’s legs. He was full of life, enthusiasm, and laughter.
The child was attracted to the toys which were exhibited at the various stalls. As he was left behind, his parents called him to come with them.
The child walks back towards his parents on being called, but his eyes keep on looking at the toys that he wanted. As he reached them, he couldn't control his desire to buy a toy. He was amicable to the response that they would give. He knew that they would stare him suggesting negation to buy him the toy.
The child was unable to manage his wish any longer. He said that he wanted to buy the toy.
The father’s eyes enlarged red with anger. He looked at the child just like an inhuman ruler who was trying to crush him. The mother became emotional due to the merry mood. Kindly, she gave her finger to the child to hold and asked him to see what was in front of him.
There was an enormous field of yellow - coloured mustard flowers. They seemed like outflowing full of gold and were extensive. The little boy compared the mustard field to the gold, which looked dull after melting.
A group of dragonflies, black bees, and butterflies buzzed around, gulping the nectar from the flowers, and they had bright wings. The child looked at them as they flew around. When one of them sat in some place, he tried to catch them, but the tiny creatures would fly away the next occurrence. The mother called out to him as they started walking down the footpath.
The child ran towards his parents to keep pace with them. He walked next to them, but after a few steps, he stopped to see the insects coming out of the soil to enjoy the sunshine. Once again, the child was left behind.
His parents called him. They sat on the edge of a well under the shady trees. The child ran and joined his parents.
As the child entered the shady orchard area, he was greeted by a shower of flowers. He forgot his parents and started collecting the petals that had fell on him. Just then he heard the cooing of doves and was happy to see them. He started pursuing the birds, and in that process, the petals fell from his hand. This shows that as the child got attracted towards the next thing, he forgot what he had been doing earlier.
The parents called the child who was running and playing around a banyan tree. They lifted him and walked down a narrow lane through which they crossed the mustard fields and reached the fair.
As they were about to reach the fair, the child saw a huge crowd of people walking from all directions towards the fair. The heavy crowd alarmed him, and he stood there for a while, but the next moment, he got attracted to the breathtaking crowd of humanity.
At the entrance of the fair, in a corner, a sweetmeat seller had set up a shop. He was selling various sweets like gulab jamun, rasgulla, burfi, and jalebi. The sweets were exhibited at different heights and were covered with foils of gold and silver. The boy's mouth watered when he saw his favourite burfi. He expressed his desire to get one in a low voice because he knew that his parents would disapprove his request. They would say that he was greedy for the burfi. As he did not expect anything from his parents, he walked further.
At the entrance of the fair, in a corner, a sweetmeat seller had set up a shop. He was selling various sweets like gulab jamun, rasgulla, burfi, and jalebi. The sweets were exhibited at different heights and were covered with foils of gold and silver. The boy's mouth watered when he saw his favourite burfi. He expressed his desire to get one in a low voice because he knew that his parents would disapprove his request. They would say that he was greedy for the burfi. As he did not expect anything from his parents, he walked further.
The next counter was that of a flower seller. He stated that he was selling garlands of Gulmohur flowers. The child wanted one of those. He walked towards the basket of flowers and again declared his wish to have one in a low voice because he knew that his demand would not be bothered. They would refuse to buy him the flowers as they would say that they were cheap. Again, the boy walked ahead without expecting anything from his parents.
The next thing that the child came across was a balloon seller selling balloons of different colours. The boy was attracted to the balloons' silken colours, which resembles that of a rainbow's glory. Since the balloons were quite colourful, they were likened to the rainbow. They also had colours from the VIBGYOR.
Furthermore, the author compares the balloons to "rainbow" and "silk". It could be that the child must have felt by looking at the balloons: like a rainbow and silk, they were inaccessible. While the former (the rainbow) can never be reached, the latter could only be accessed by a few. Finally, the boy knew that his parents would not buy the balloons for him as they would reason that he was too old to play with them. So, the child walked further.
He then paused at a snake charmer who was playing the flute, and the snake was twisting and enjoying the music. The snake had winded itself in a basket and had raised its head out. It bent and moved its neck gracefully like a swan. It seemed that the music of the flute was heard by the snake’s invisible ears and created the effect of a waterfall on it because it similarly wobbled its neck. The boy walked towards the snake charmer, but as his parents had warned him to remain away from the irksome music played by such men, he walked further.
Then he saw the roundabout swing. It was full of men, women and children who were enjoying the ride by shouting and crying. The boy watched the people on roundabout and then with a lot of courage, expressed his desire to go on the roundabout.
When his parents did not reply, he turned towards them. He saw that they were nowhere around. He looked around and behind, but his parents were nowhere to be seen.
The boy cried loudly, jerked his body, and ran here and there calling out for his parents. He was full of fear, and tears started rolling down his cheeks. As he wailed and ran around his turban opened and his clothes became muddy.
After some time he stood defeated. The loud cries turned into mild sobs. He saw some people standing and talking and tried to find if his parents were among them. The laughter and talks of the people were ridiculous for the child. He was searching for his parents.
The boy ran towards a temple which was crowded with people. He ran through the legs of men, calling out for his parents. The crowd was pushing each other as he neared the entrance of the temple. The boy got scared of huge strong men who starred people with their horrible eyes and pushed them with their strong and big shoulders. The boy could have been crushed under feet of men, and the boy cries out loud with a maximum pitch of his voice. A man in the crowd heard him and lifted the child with great difficulty.
As the man got the child out of the crowd, he asked him how he had reached there and what were his parents’ names. The boy cried even more and repeated that he wanted to go to his parents.
The man tried to comfort the child by taking him to the roundabout swing. He offered him a ride, but the child wept more loudly that he wanted his parents.
The man started walking back on the same route which the child had taken. So he took the child to the snake charmer. He asked him to listen to the music being played by the snake - charmer. The child shut his ears with his fingers and cried aloud that he wanted his parents. The man took the child to the coloured balloons, hoping that he might get happy by seeing them. He offered a balloon to the child, but he turned away and wept for his parents.
The man tried to make the child cheerful and took him to the flower seller. He asked him to smell the fragrance of the flowers and offered him a garland as well. The child declined to smell the flowers that he wanted to buy earlier because now, his prime concern was to get his parents.
Finally, the man took him to the sweetmeat seller and offered to buy sweets for him. Still, the child did not want his favourite sweet but wanted his parents.
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