The village fair was bursting with life, music, laughter, the creak of the ferris wheel turning in the distance. Brightly colored stalls lined the dusty path, their canopies strung with paper flags swaying in the warm breeze. The air was thick with the scent of roasted corn, sizzling jalebis, and the sharp sweetness of sugarcane juice being pressed on the spot. Children darted through the crowd with balloons bobbing in the air, wooden toys clacking as they ran.

The girls had already scattered into clusters around the stalls, their chatter mingling with the hum of the fair, while the boys lingered together at a distance.