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A
slice of fried snake meat, a glass
of foaming pink snake blood, milk
with added snake venom!Folks competing
to have these delicacies. These
sights from the Hwashi market at
Taipei still remain bright in my
memory.
It was on a very hot day in summer
that I reached Taiwan, the land
declared to be the `real China’
by Chiang-Kai-Shek. I spent many
a day to film the beautiful and
exotic sights in and around Taipei.
The famous Chiang-Kai-Shek memorial,
a prominent landmark, is a must
for visitors. The people of Taiwan
have built a befitting monument
for the founder of their nation.
The weather was terribly hot, and
the scorching sun strong enough
to exhaust you throughly. On one
such evening, after a day’s shooting
tour, I was relaxing in my room.
The hotel staff asked me if I had
visited the Hwashi market. I had
heard a lot about the
Hwashi market which has been in
existence for the past few centuries.
The place, which was a forest long
back, was also the dominion of snakes
of various kinds. The Hwashi market
was established there much later.
It is for its snakes that Hwashi
market became famous. In fact, Hwashi
is known as the `snake corridor’
of Taiwan.
The hotel staff gave directions
to reach the market, which is located
at the focal area of Taipei town.
It is a lively scene of activities.
The stalls in the market open only
by sunset, and remain busy till
sunrise, making it more or less
like our temple grounds during festivities.
The greater part of the market consists
of ready -arranged stalls; with
the crowds bustling along. There
are among the crowd natives who
have come for shopping and tourists
curiously observing the scenes around....
Musicians singing and playing traditional
musical instruments, balloon sellers
and what have you!
I walked filming the scenes at the
market. The first few shops were
those that sold ornaments and curios.
The food shops were the next. In
front of each food stall, there
were people with megaphones, advertising
its special cuisine. There were
large crowds before each stall.
With great interest, I entered one
such stall. To my horror, I found
big jars of coiled snakes, immersed
in some sort of a yellow fluid.
There were smaller ones too, kept
in trays. The very big ones were
displayed within cages.
Snakes were hung on one side of
the shop, like snake-gourds in a
vegetable shop.
The crowded people before the stall
were bidding for their choice of
snakes. Once the deal is over, the
shopkeeper takes hold of the snake,
and folding it like a rope, cuts
it into two. The streaming gush
of light red blood is collected
in a tumbler and is handed over
to the customer, who enjoys his
drink of `snake juice’ over a magazine.
Without much delay, the shopkeeper
brings a plate of fried up snake
meat- which is relished by the customer.
The business in the stall is hectic.
People eagerly wait to buy snake
meat, snake blood and milk with
added snake venom. The scene is
more or less the same before each
food stall.
Though it is
said, `while in Rome, be a Roman’,
I didn’t have the nerve to try any
snake dishes. With this regret heavy
in my mind, I returned to my hotel
room.
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