This characteristic feature of metropolitan life is widely in evidence for any city dweller who chooses to stay back in the city without becoming part of the mass exodus which takes place on the eve of the festivals.

During the spell of work abstention, primarily due to the mass exodus of large number of the city dwellers, a dramatic change takes place in the whole urban panorama. It is as if a magician, by exercise of his magical powers, throws the city life into a stupor. The once bustling city centres, throbbing with intense activity and energy in diverse fields lose much of their hectic pace; most shops and commercial establishments keep their shutters down. Except for limited movements of motor vehicles and rickshaws, the main city roads look somewhat deserted with the disappearance of the jostling crowds and horrendous traffic jams that used to bedevil the daily life of the citizens.

Such a departure from the normal pattern of city life proves so attractive to one normally exposed to the furore of civic life that one feels like attempting to experience a dose of unusual peace and tranquility of the city environment a day or two after a big festival. This is possible if one takes a solitary ride on a rickshaw or a car through the previously congested roads like, the Mirpur Road, Elephant Road, Shahbagh Avenue, Topkhana Road, North-South Road, etc.

This picture is, of course, a transitory one staying only for a day or two after the end of the big festivals. The city life is reactivated gradually as more shops open, more vehicles ply the roads and the city dwellers after enjoying their holidays in their respective village or mufussil town homes trickle back to the city.

Some may feel that most city dwellers take a relatively long time to resume their normal activities after enjoying the holidays following the big festivals. Whatever be the substance of this feeling, the reality of the situation is that a vast majority of city dwellers are village-based. Having had their roots in the villages, people engaged in various occupations in the city, make a bee-line in large numbers for their village homes, resulting in temporary abstention from their work.

There is a positive aspect to this phenomenon. The deserted city roads and the stalled business activities of the city dwellers are soon enlivened with people returning from their villages imbued with renewed zest and enthusiasm. From this angle, the so-called culture of work abstention, which is transitory in nature, has a great socio-economic significance for the city dwellers.

This year, the official holiday span turned out to be long as usual. One would have thought that the holidaymakers would be thoroughly satiated. Yet, though the holidays were officially over, attendance at government offices and also that of the semi-autonomous and fully autonomous bodies remained so low as to render most offices inoperative.

When the holidays began this time, the banks also closed down, further intensifying the holiday mood. That was why despite the fact that the small span had a break with offices being open on a single day in the middle, it was the holiday mood which reigned supreme, not work.

When such a large segment of the city population go missing, it profoundly affects other sectors. Knowing that a huge number of customers in government and non-government establishments will not be there, many shopkeepers, for example, do not feel it worthwhile to come back from village home and open their establishments for a limited number of customers. As a result of the temporary lull in activities in commercial fields, there are, of course, some consumers who greatly suffer for failing to meet their various needs. Even kutcha bazars are not fully in operation, there are many consumers, particularly belonging to other communities who suffer for lack of opportunities to meet their daily needs. Even in cases of need for medical attention for a sick patient in an emergency, non-availability of suitable transport or ambulance during the holidays could create a critical situation.

There are some persons with strict attitudes who feel that empty desks at public offices reflects laxity of discipline on the part of the employees and is a poor commentary on the government or other concerned authorities.