Tanghulu Delight

Shikha S. Lamba

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Orchid extravaganza amidst a Mandarin haze, families stroll, look and contemplate. The breeze carries smiles in technicolour, little hands waving metallic swirls, pinwheels racing with the wind, the children’s squeals and laughter exploding loudly. I walk to the stalls, already overwhelmed with customers, intoxicated by the sweet smell of narcissus, inviting me to do more than just glance. Long-stemmed gladioli, peonies, peach blossoms and solanum mammosums, flower fairs create a sensory overload I enjoy.

I settle on the gladioli, paying for six red and six pink auspicious swords to be placed in a corner of my home when I first see her. She rolls right next to me, a stripped woollen hat on her head, hiding scanty white strands of hair, one arm clutching a bright red Fai Chun and a small bamboo plant on her lap. Her long grey skirt reveals thick stockings under it, and her feet are enclosed in black open-toe sandals; I see her well-clad in multiple cardigans, and I’m happy for us both that the coldest day in Hong Kong has the sun shining brightly on the city.

She barely stays at the stall for a minute before gesturing for her aid to move along. I walk on, eyeing more plants to buy on my way out. I mentally make a note of the succulents since I can’t manage to keep mine alive for more than a month, and find myself giving into the idea of a kitchen garden again, ordering a pair of mint, basil and lemon mint plants. The lady minding the stall wears a broad smile as I ask her to put aside four Marigold pots, four beautiful white orchids, and two potted peach blossoms for me as well.

The aroma of the food hits my nostrils before I can see the stalls past the people. The charred smell of sausages and meats, Siu Mai and dim sum, egg waffles, and fish balls in broth, the redolence of local street cuisine attracts many shoppers who happily huddle around, pulling meat off sticks and popping fresh dumplings in their mouths.

I see her again, the woollen hat giving her away from afar, her wheelchair placed securely in an open corner by the Tanghulu stall. I wouldn’t have expected such an indulgence from a woman her age, wrongly assuming that candied walnuts and sweet sesame balls were more appropriate. With puckered lips, sucking gently on a strawberry, she takes a small bite of the sugar-coated fruit, one hand still holding her Fai Chun and the other the bamboo stick laden with sweet fruit, all the while balancing the plant on her lap. Her lips glisten as the sugar melts against her mouth; she continues nibbling, oblivious to the noise and crowds around her. A trickle of fruit juice escapes as she chews, and the middle-aged lady pushing her wheelchair promptly pulls out a handkerchief to gently wipe her mouth. I watch her, my lips extending themselves before I realise I’m staring at an elderly woman in a wheelchair with a smile on my face in the middle of the Victoria Park Flower Fair. The moment breaks only when I’m shoved aside by people trying to make their way through.

In front of me, a mother appears hassled, holding on to her cranky toddler, and my own kids are yelling out for me to join them at the Mochi stall. I glance at the lady in the wheelchair one last time as her mouth continues to make its way down the stack of fruits on the stick. I tell myself she seems well taken care of, and I realise that that makes me strangely happy even though we don’t know each other.

I catch myself smiling again, watching the contented look on her face, savouring the sweetness of the sugar coating she obviously seems to enjoy so much. I walk away feeling contented, for reasons that have nothing to do with food or flowers.

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Shikha S. Lamba is a jewelry designer and poet living in Hong Kong. She is the co-editor of an online magazine, Coffee and Conversations. Shikha’s poetry and visual art has been published in journals in Hong Kong, US, UK, Bangladesh, Indonesia, The Netherlands and India. Her poems and photography have previously been nominated for Best of the Net and the Pushcart prize. She admittedly lives a big portion of her life online and can be found on most social media sites for her writing, jewelry and magazine.

Website: www.shikhaslamba.com
FB: Shikha Lamba
IG: @shikhaslamba and @shikhaslambapoetry (for Poetry)

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