A touching scene at Kalakkadai ****

Was at "Kalakkadai" , the wholesale market in Penang over the weekend, and saw the sweetest scene. There was this matronly Indonesian woman, haggling in a charming combination of Indonesian – Malay – Hokkien with the Chinese Ah Peh vegetable seller. The woman had this cute baby straddled to her back in a cloth hammock like contraption. They were standing in the congested lane between the stalls, and just then I saw a burly, rough looking Bangla worker approaching , pushing a cart laden with assorted vegetables. He carefully pushed the cart between the people and the heaps of vegetables and as he neared the woman, stopped behind her. I watched as his sweaty face broke into a smile. He made faces at the baby, tickling him with his calloused fingers. The baby gurgled and squirmed. And as this was happening, another vegetable cart, pushed by a large sized man approached. The cart was unable to pass as the Bangla worker was blocking it – while he played with the baby. The large sized man stopped his cart, and waited. He smiled as he watched the Bangla worker tickling the baby, cooing sweet nothings in Bengali. Eventually, the lady sealed the deal and moved on, with her cute baby. The two men continued on with their work, pushing their respective carts along, thankful for the break, and the respective memories it brought back.