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Just outside the island grounds in that summer
evening, 10-year-old Padmini appears excited as she, along with her family, is inching
closer towards the gates of the 26th Tamil Nadu tourism and trade fair, which is being
held there since the 1st week of January. She is one of the 15 lakh visitors, who have had
a sumptuous view of the pavilions and other places of entertainment in the fair.
As the fair is preparing to choose the best
displays in the pavilions for a special award, its manager Rajagopalakrishnan says that in
26 years the fair has become the hub of entertainment in summer every year. "We not
only get visitors from the city, but also from other places both inside and outside the
state," he explains. Although he fell short of disclosing the revenue that the Tamil
Nadu Tourism Development Corporation (TTDC) generated from this fair, it is apparent from
the crowd and the stalls that the figure must be several crores.
As disclosed by a trader who has pitched up
his stall in the fair,  income
for TTDC from one stall is around Rs. 45,000. "There are more than 150 stalls booked
by the private traders, apart from the 45 pavilions of various government departments.
"The government pavilions are mainly displaying information about their functions in
the form of paintings, photographs and models of cities and villages. This is mainly to
disseminate information about its policies and programmes to the public," says
Rajagopalakrishnan.
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 But, the main centers of attraction,
particularly for the children, are entertainment and a host of eatables, which lure them
through their smell. "I like to sit in the giant wheel and eat the Bajjies sold here.
I like them so much," says Padmini. As her parents disclosed, the fair is the best
entertainment both for their child and for them. Barring the entertainment aspects,
display of household goods such as utensils, electronic equipment, kitchen appliances,
etc., are busy, with ladies, choosing the best requirement for their houses. "Only in
the weekends we have busy sales, otherwise it is moderate," says an utensil trader,
who was also happy about the over all sales figure in the sale.
Having more on the entertainment is where
the income lies. But, Rajagopalakrishnan denies that this is just for entertainment.
"We would also like people to see the achievements of the government and various ways
in which they can make use of the government schemes," he says. In the last few
years, screening of feature films and staging dramas have become common in the fair. But,
information on vital scientific developments like that of the Internet does not find their
place in the fair. So, the kind of information that people can get is less and many say
that there is nothing new to gather. May be, in the coming years, the organisers should do
something about this. But, for those who come for an enjoyable weekend, the trade fair is
still the best place to hang around.
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