The Friday Fair
By Rabindranath Tagore and illustrated by Debasmita Dasgupta
May 7th is the 160th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore lovingly called Gurudev.
“The Friday Fair” by Rabindranath Tagore and illustrated by Debasmita Dasgupta. Published by Katha. This is book one of Tantalizing Tagore which is the set of five poems by India’s most loved poet. A good way to introduce Tagore’s works to the little ones. A timeless poem of a fair that is a weekly affair in the village of Bakshiganj by the banks of Padma River.
The excitement with which the people look forward to going to the fair has been described beautifully. The rustic charm of colours, smells and sounds from the fair has been portrayed so well. The poem is full of rhyme and rhythm. The original in Bengali is called “Kumor paarar gorur gadi”. As is the case with most books from Katha, this one has the last few pages dedicated to facts about Rabindranath Tagore. The original poem in Bengali is also there. Both in Bengali script as well as English for those who want to read it. The book is also available in Hindi.
My seven year old liked it particularly the scene of the fair where people are buying or selling their stuff. Though the books are meant for 4-6 years as per Katha, I feel that the children begin to understand the nuances of the poems only after 5 maybe. This is from my personal experience, YMMV. I bought another book from this series when my son was 4 and he didn’t like it so much. I gave it away and he insisted I buy it once again when he was 6! This time he seemed to understand it better and liked it.
