An do is Indian in Vietnamese. Than Gia Vu is Thanjavur! That day I had been to Hoan Kiem Lake in Hanoi to take part in the celebrations, lots of floral decorations, serial lights, bikes everywhere many a families, men carrying their kids on their shoulders and beautiful butterfly like girls fluttering in all directions, but be careful and watchful guys! Otherwise you may get gently pushed down into the crowd that like it happened to my friend Abishek Misra and his Samsung Note was barted away for a cup of ice cream!!
The country loves to eat and drink outside every day. Freely flowing green tea during day time and burgundy golden beers after the sunset. Zamil my saudi company has factories in north and south Vietnam. Hanoi in north and Saigon in south.
After reunification of Vietnams, Saigon became HCMC- Ho Chi Minh City. I went there first time in 2011, looking for a Hindu temple to pray when Aakash joined medical school in Bharatpur Nepal. I was curious to know if Sai baba was in anyway connected to Saigon; was pleasantly surprised to see him in Dandayuthapani temple in HCM. Crazy me landing into right destinations by my not so right and baseless google searches.
During years 2011 to 2014 almost every alternate month I was flying from Ha Noi to HCMC until I got transferred to our Dong Nai factory, 50km away from HCMC. In the middle of year 2015, Radhika and me had to say good bye to Zamil and return back to India. After that I almost forgot Vietnam meandering back in Saudi for three more years and the last two years in India.
Back in Oct 2019, I got an opportunity to join another steel company in HCMC. The day I joined, I regained the Vietnamese hospitality, the beer culture while my colleagues enjoyed the sea food and meat, I'm happy with my tofu, boiled spinach and garlic rice.
Year 2020 arrived with a surprise to Vietnamese, they could no longer drink and drive anymore. First time in the history, bikers need to be sober when they reach homes in the evening. The business activities slow down every January looking with TET the Vietnamese lunar new year around the corner to arrive by the month end. Its nothing but the other name of Chinese new year!
But the word China is dreaded and forbidden in Vietnam, similar to Pakistan in India. During the TET holidays we drank a lot, back to back sessions. Our friend from China had arrived in Wuhan by this time. We were joking at each other "you are the virus" while considering corona as just an internal affair of China. I had a short trip to Africa by January end, Radhika and Ashika arrived in HCMC by February 1st week nobody bother to check us during our flights.
With my wife and daughter, I was roaming around freely in HCM while Ashika was enjoying her Cafe Sua Da while Radhika got engaged with her newly discovered You Tuber passions. I asked Ashika if she could extend her stay with us until March, but she stuck to her original plan to return to Melbourne by 25th Feb, which I think now was a right decision.
By March 2020, Corona has become a global nuisance. Europe has started melting under the covid's heat. We stared hearing about covid cases in Hongkong, Singapore, Bangkok and Philippines. The other Sunday evening, my assistant Phuc a Vietnamese Catholic called me in Zalo with the breaking news! Corona has arrived Vietnam shores, his friend's sister was in the same flight with the air hostess tested positive upon arrival in Tan Son Nhat Int'l airport HCMC. Air hostess became F0, Phuc's friend's sister F1 along with 250 passengers. Phuc's friend the F2 met Phuc in Church for evening chorus making Phuc F3 with no symptoms or infections what so ever. We asked Phuc to self quarantine to be in the safe side for two weeks time and he started working from home until end of March. Later the F1 girl was found negative for covid test which otherwise would have upgraded to F0 status.
Infections found left and right in Hanoi, Danang and HCMC. Ten thousand people quarantined in north Vietnam. Some foreigners, pilots landed HCMC infecting some in Buddha bar, Indian restaurant with areas near airport and district one becoming hotspots. Too many public announcements in my apartment, security checking temperature, offering sanitizer at the main gate. There was even an emergency assembly announcement one day morning 5 am that made us running down from 7th floor.
From 1st of April, we declared lockdown for office started work from home extended twice until month end now. Tri ky the busiest local restaurant opposite to my balcony is silent since ages after one of its waitress was found positive on 16th March. Radhika and myself come out of our apartment once in two three days to buy groceries and milk from Vinmart down stairs.
Couple of days ago, we had a long walk to the co-op mart supermarket crossing the deserted Gia Dinh park which otherwise stays packed with evening walkers and joggers. Business appears almost normal in HCM with a steel building getting erected near our place, banks shops open and bikes still on the road. All restaurants, bars, pubs and massage centers are closed until further notice. Govt has registered 268 positive cases until now with a majority declared cured.
There is a talk to relax the lockdown with social distancing, mask and sanitizer to continue, to resume local buses, trains and flights by early May downgrading the covid status. All said and done, life in Vietnam will not be the same anymore in same lines with bitter and sad pessimistic mindset sowed by the virus in two hundred plus countries across the world.
