Introduction: A village market is nothing but a shopping center for the villagers. The villagers assemble to buy and sell things of their daily necessaries of life. So to speak, it is a great noisy place. Indeed, a village market is a heart for the villagers. A village market is generally situated by the side of a river or a canal or a big road. There are two kinds of village markets. One is a daily market which is held in the forenoon and the other is a periodic market which is held once or twice a week in the afternoon.
Location and Kinds of the village market: Generally, a village market sits by the riverside or canal usually under a banyan tree. This place is linked with surrounding areas on road. A village market sits in the morning and breaks up at noon. On hat days some market sits at 1 or 2 p.m. and breaks up at night.
There are two kinds of village markets like Hat and Bazar. A Bazar sits every day in the morning and breaks up before mid-day/noon. A hat sits once or twice a week in the afternoon and breaks up before sunset.
Nature of shop: A village market is divided into three sections-open space, temporary sheds, and permanent sheds. In the open space vegetables, rice, fish, milk, fruits, betel-nuts, and other perishable goods are sold. In the temporary sheds, the grocers sit to sell various kinds of things such as oil, salt, pepper, cloves, spices, and other stationery goods. In the permanent sheds clothes, wheat, pulse, flour, sugar, fried rice, guar, ghee, stationery commodities, medicine, etc. are kept ready for sale. Of all the sheds, the fish shed remains overcrowded. It is noisy. Goats and Cattle are also sold in the village market.
Utility and Demerits: The village market is very useful to the villagers. Many people earn their daily bread by selling goods here. The villagers can easily get their necessary goods of daily use. They can buy fresh things at a cheap rate here. They need not go to the towns. They exchange their views and ideas here. Marriage discussions are also held in the village market. The local leaders settle up the small disputes here. It is a meeting place of the common people of the rural areas. A village market helps the villagers to become closer. It also strengthens unity and good harmony among the villagers. It removes the monotony of village life.
A village market has economic roles. It is the place of the economy for the village people. The government can collect taxes or money from the village market. It is a source of livelihood and employment for the people.
A village market has some drawbacks too. It is very dirty in summer and very muddy in the rainy season. It is very noisy too; sometimes, haggling leads quarrels, customers are cheated and shopkeepers are oppressed by the local mastans and criminals. Besides, it is a very unhealthy place. There is no proper sanitation system here.
Conclusion: A village market is the center of relations among the villagers. Here different types of people assemble together. They can meet their daily necessities. It saves the valuable time of the villagers. It also saves money. They can easily get goods of daily use. Thus a village market plays a vital role for the villagers.
