'Ghost' in the Marketplace

Every year in August, the Asian community of Loughborough organise a Mela, an outdoor cultural event of music and dance. It's not confined to South Asian communities. This year there were contributions from a trio of Chinese instrumentalists, a group of Taiwanese students and a dance troupe that looked predominantly white, but backed by a superb group of Banghra drummers, see extra.

Trader stalls filled the marketplace. A great place to try out authentic Asian dishes. I particularly liked the masala dhosa stall that had come from Birmingham. An old Sikh gentleman was skilfully making the dhosa on a griddle. If I hadn't already eaten some pakora at another stall, I would have bought one.

Dhosa are made from a fermented mixture of gram and rice flours, and are therefore suitable for coeliacs to eat. I discovered them first while living briefly in Sri Lanka.

You could also buy lovely Indian dresses, or were they Pakistani?

Today's photo is a multi exposure intended to reveal something of the marketplace and one of the jewellery stalls. The gentleman wearing a purple tunic, orange turban and white trousers only sort of shows as an apparition.

Many congratulations to the Mela Committee who organised the event. I really enjoyed it. Of course, Charnwood Borough Council strives for kudos for its Love Loughborough campaign by being associated with the Mela, but I'm sure it charged for use of the marketplace.