Imagine buying something and not having to pay for it. If that kind of business interests you, the Jonbeel Mela (fair) in Assam is just the place for you.

Held every year during winter at Jonbeel of Jagiroad, a township near Guwahati, which is only 32-km from the city, Jonbeel Mela is host to one of the most spectacular and popular fairs in Assam. Jagiroad is on the National Highway 37.

Few days before the mela, tribes and communities like Tiwa, Karbi, Khasi, and Jaintia of Northeast come down from hills with their various products for this mela. On the occasion of the mela a big bazaar or market is held here where these tribes exchange their products with local people in barter system, which is very rare in civilized modern society.

These people are happy because they got a great deal at the Jonbeel fair
Photo: via BBC.com

You might even catch some of Uber Desi’s friends from the Khasi tribe at the fair, but I digress. From all accounts, currency of any denomination or nationality is forbidden at this fair.

From wild tubers to crabs, fish and fowl, you can get it all here – but not for money. The annual Jonbeel fair, 60 km east of Assam’s main city of Guwahati, is unique. It is perhaps the only bazaar where any currency is forbidden.

But like all too-good-to-be-true deals this one comes with a catch also, they have a barter system for their transactions.

‘People here have been practicing the traditional barter system for ages. Monetary transactions are considered a taboo,’ Nagen Barbaruah, a tribal elder, said. The three-day fair ends Sunday with a traditional bonfire lit by the local tribal king, 14-year-old Dipsing Deo Raja.

Good luck trying to haggle with him.

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