dussehra

Every dussehra, there is a fair at Parade Ground, Dehradun.
This year, I toddled off there with a colleague, and am very glad I went.
It was fun for me- a trifle noisy, but interesting.
The gods were nice to watch, of course, but far more interesting were the people.
The gangs of little boys determined to have a good time- they would form chains and dart about blowing whistles and tooting horns. fun? well, whatever works,I suppose.
The families that came here anticipating much pleasure- with full blown picnics, with gift-buying, with street-food.
And individual people themselves:
My colleague who took so much pleasure at the shooting rinks- never mind that the target was all of 2 feet away. and the Sadhu who watched with child-like pleasure and then took his turn.

The woman who took the role of Kali with far more fierceness and dignity than a parade called for.

My colleague and I took a lot of photos, and they are posted here.

dusshera, dehradun