My Favourite Hobby

A hobby can be almost anything a person like to do in his spare time. Because the Idle Mind is Devils workshop therefore those who have developed a hobby never need to worry about what to do with their newly founded leisure hours. Every person in the world has a hobby of his own. There are many kinds of hobbies such as gardening, stamp collecting, hiking, coin collecting, photography, listening to music and so forth. Girls to pursue some hobbies. Their hobbies differ from those of the boys. Girls mostly like hobbies such as cooking, stitching dresses, painting and listening to music. Among all the hobbies mentioned above I like painting. It is a subtle hobby. Whenever I get time I sit down with my paint box, canvas, brushes and paint beautiful landscape. My hobby does not infringe on the rights of other people. It is not a noisy hobby like music. I can also earn money by selling my paintings to lover of fine arts. My hobby fills my heart with joy and colours and there it is my favourite hobby. Sir Wilham Osler said: No man is really happy or safe without a hobby.

A Visit to a Fair
A fair means a periodical gathering in some open place. I had got the rare opportunity of visiting the Baliyatra Fair in Cuttack. The fair was held on the full moon day in the month of Kartika. The fair is conducted every year on the bank of the Mahanadi. Thereby we commemorate our sea-trade with other countries in past. I had been to the fair with four of my friends. On our way to Cuttack, we discussed many things about our racial past. The Sadhavas of the then Kalinga were known for their richness and caliber in trade. They set sails for Java, Sumatra, China, Ceylon (Srilanka), Borneo, Indonesia, Rangoon for trade. They exchanged their goods for jewels and gold. The sea-trade does not exist now. So we float toyboats down the stream to remember our past-glory. We reached the fair-in the evening. The place of fair was overcrowded with children, men and women. Men of different occupations had assembled there. Goods of various kinds had been brought to the Baliyatra for show and sale. People amused themselves in a great variety of ways.

Holi Essay
Colours, gujiyas and fun...I love Holi so much Holi happens to be my favourite festival. I particularly enjoy the colour part of it. I keep stocks of every colour but red happens to be my favourite. The other ones specially, the purple is one I hate to use on Holi. It never goes and makes one look so bad. I also enjoy preparing gujiyas with my mother and sisters. My mother keep frying them in the pan, while we sisters do the rolling, cutting and filling part of it. My favourite job is to do the filling which gives me a chance to keep stealing the tasty khoya which is full of dry fruits. Eating the gujiyas - piping hot just as they come out of pan is the other most cherished moment of the festival. I also take care to keep my preparation for the festival ready. Like choose some old and faded jeans and a shirt I am bored off besides taking care of the oiling and creaming part of it. Otherwise, the aftermath of the Holi festival could be extremely tiresome. I have also had a bad experience after Holi once when I got so much engrossed in playing with the colour that I became to late to get a bath and the water tank got exhausted. I had to wait for hours drenched in the water before the water supply was restored. It was a very painful lesson that I learnt - take a bath on time. I particularly enjoy the festival in the company of friends and relatives, i.e. when there are lot of people to be coloured. The excitement is unmatched when everybody loves the festival as much as you do. - Mitali Mishra