patna hardly will the holi khumari hangover of patnaites be over when they from march 30 will have an opportunity to relive the ambience of an ideal country life along with rich harvests of their choice ethnic items in the 12day mock country fair to be organised here in gandhi maidan with support from the rural development department rdd it is a part of union government policythe fair called basant saras 2005 will have on sale and display ethnic items of decorative and general utility value in about 250 stalls also on sale will be edible items all local produce from different parts of the state to satiate their culinary tastes if you have already begun to wonder and salivate hear the names of some of the items in this category bilgrami from old bhojpur laddu from maner parval ki mithai from dalsingsarai khaja from silao in fact everything that has a name with subregional touch in biharand if you thought that mention of litti and chokha has been forgotten then you got it wrong we will have everything bihar is known for having its typical touch and flavour said rdd secretary p n naryanan adding it is an experiment we are trying to see if it can stand if it succeeds then we will have it each year and also make it tourist destination the idea itself has novelty and the presentation too is different they will not only have things to satisfy their culinary tastes but also items of local art and craftyou know about madhubani paintings from mithila but have you heard about manjusha paintings from ancient anga already the concerned are in touch with the tourism department to prepare the brochure concerned indeed such fairs are being organised in other statesparticipants from 22 other states they will bring products made by selfhelp groups shgs will you believe it in kerala one such group started producing sanitary napkins for women they are competing with mncs the same can happen in bihar naryanan saidthe aim is to make bihars shgs interact with successful shgs from other states so that they learn to upgrade quality of products apart from providing markets to them the department is in the picture only as a facilitator the fair is being organised by a delhibased ngo prayas which is also active in a couple of districts of the state on thursday present on the occasion with narayanan were patna ddc kumar rahul as well as vinay kanth and daisy narain from east westthe fair will have the look of a village with all its idealistic ambience including chaupal a well and pandals to hold cultural programmes and two art galleries one for folk and another for the modern art section cultural troupes including from bihar would perform folk dancesurely if you have lost touch with an ideal village setting the fair awaits you and courtesy your response it will become an annual fixture