A Village Market

A Village Market is a place where village people gather for buying and selling their daily commodities. It is the commercial trading centre of village people. It is an integral part of rural life. It plays a vital role to rural economy.

Generally a village market sits in a public place; usually by the side of a canal or river, under a large tree, at the junction of the roads or any important place of the village. A Village market can be classified into two types. One is daily market which sites every morning. It is called "Bazaar." It sits at early morning and breaks up before noon. Another type of market is weekly. It sits once or twice a week. It is called ''Hat." It sits at afternoon and continues till night.

The village market includes various types of shops. All the shops are arranged in a systematic way. These shops are of three types'- permanent shops, temporary shops and open space shops. Each type of shop has its own row.

Among all the shops of a village market open space shops remain most busy. Fish, milk, betel leaves, fruits all these are sold here. Temporary shops sit under the temporary sheds. These sheds are made in rows with sufficient space between them so that the customer can move freely. These types of shops come to the market only on the hat day. Normally oil, salt, pepper, rice, vegetables are sold here. Permanent shops are also arranged in rows. The grocery, pharmacy, bakery, tailor's, shop, stationary shop, garments, jewellery are the permanent shops of a village market. In some villages, a market is confined to one single thing such as fish market, vegetable market, fruit market and so on. However, bargaining is common in all types of village markets. To speak the truth, nothing is sold or bought without bargaining.

Village market is a part and parcel of rustic life. Some villagers earn their livelihood depending on it. Farmers come here to sell their food grains. Fishers come here to sell fish. Village people come here to buy the necessary things of their day to day use. A  handsome amount of money is exchanged in a market. Thus a village market plays a vital role in rural economy. Apart from all these, such a market is a meeting place of the villagers. It brings the people closer and strengthens the social band among them. Moreover, it is an important place for village politics and a place of entertainment.

A village market has some demerits too. Due to extreme haggling the market place remains always noisy. It is a crowded place. There is nobody to take care of such a market and hence the atmosphere of a village market remains unhealthy.

Though a village market is not well-maintained, nevertheless, we all are to confess that, it is the backbone of our rural economy. As our country's economy is based on village, it is not to be negotiated at all. Government should think over the proper development of the village markets across the country.