(Descriptive Writing) Describe the sights and sounds of a market place

It was past 5:30pm and was almost getting dark. We had run down like hooligans which made us breath so heavily after we arrived. All the stalls were open now, lit with their lanterns, lamps and hanging bulbs that attracted a lot of mosquitoes and other flying insects. There were lots of pigeons on top of the opposite building and you could hear the constant cawing of the crows. We stood at the edge of the left hand side road as people passed by. The noises were very loud; people talking in all sorts of languages, the daily noise of traffic, constant horns of cars and buses. Both of us were a bit dazed with what we were actually sent down for and got back to work as it hit us.

First we walked by a women in an old yellow sari who was sitting on her plain mat on which she had laid out all her vegetables. She shooed the flies every now and then which sat on her vegetables. We glared at the list in my hand that read “4 good tomatoes and potatoes”. We hardly searched for the good ones the women was already set to it and asked us how many. Her hands were dark and wrinkly as you could see the faintly visible tattoo on her arm which kept reappearing as she picked out the best potatoes and tomatoes. She handed us the blue plastic bag in which she had just put the vegetables in. She smiled and you could see her wrinkly face twist and her broken brown teeth glow.

We passed a couple of stalls this time; vegetables, fruits. We were told to look for the one with the number 4 on it and so we did. There it was before us his standing one man shop. He was selling fruits; bananas, mangoes and oranges in particular. We told him we wanted 6 oranges and a bunch of bananas. He went right to it wearing a white shirt and grey pants and slippers, he assembled the items and put them in a bag which was re-checked by a younger boy who was probably about 10 years old, wearing ...

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It was getting darker already and the sky had changed its colour course from bright light to murky blue. It was getting late and the noise was getting louder. People passed, cars honked, the temple bells rang, and it was all very busy. We crossed the road which was more like hop, skip, and jump. Women from each stall called out to us this time “Bhenji, Bhenji…Ah! Lardki”, they all sounded alike as though it was some sort of rehearsed routine.

We went to the women in the green sari. The corns that she sold were supposedly the best. We told her to pack 5 yellow sweet corns and she did. There were 2 other people beside us waiting for their corn to be cooked, which was kept on the coal which was balancing on the pieces of wood. She fanned the corn and the coal changed colour to lava every time and then went back to black. The corn burst, making a pop sound every time and its colour yellow was now changed to black .After that was done she would change over every time to get the next side popping to black. She talked with her neighbouring corn sellers and they laughed at jokes. They all wore saris and had their hair tied up in buns or plats. They all wore either bangles, chain or a “piyal” (anklet).They all seemed to have tattoos on the arms, mostly written in Hindi script.

We got our things and crossed the road once again. The overall noise was not getting any softer and the amount of people that came by also increased. The shop lights were switched on all around and the traffic and noise pollution had also increased. The puddles on the road had got my feet dirty and I was going to take a shower. We started to walk and it started raining out of the bloom and there it was. People got out their umbrellas, started covering their stalls, put on their wind-sheeters, ran towards shelter and everything had changed within a second. All The stalls were now covered with what they could manage and all the flies had settled on their food. They all had sheets of blue plastic that covered up their tiny stalls and themselves. The rain was heavy and people had drifted apart and the raging sounds of the rains could be heard everywhere.

Teacher Reviews

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Jeff Taylor

26th of Apr 2013

This is a very good essay, requiring only a little editing to make it excellent. The simple narrative maintains interest and escorts the readers through a series of scenarios, effectively evoking the colour and bustle of the busy Indian market place. 5 stars

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