Chronicle of Madness…. Football.

Sunday (12/28/08) morning was a regular day, I went about my morning duties and then decided to pay long due visit to Reunification palace museum, the museum was once a palace for the presidents of Vietnam and has witnessed several wars. Nowadays I try and spend Sunday afternoon at some historic place, last Sunday (12/21/08) I visited the Ho Chi Minh city's Museum and Zoo, it was a great visit, the museum displayed the great culture and heritage dating back centuries, they even have a mummy which is believed to be 3000 years old. After visiting Reunification palace I went for dinner, where Ray (one of my ex team leaders from Prudential) joined me, were having a quite dinner, as we were about to step out of the restaurant, we heard people screaming and shouting. Then Ray’s phone rang and after he kept the phone he had the biggest smile on his face, Vietnam won the 2008 ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup by beating Thailand 3-2 on aggregate. It was Vietnam’s first win over Thailand in an official competition since 1998 when Vietnam defeated Thailand 3-0 in the semifinals of same tournament, then called the Tiger Cup, though Vietnam lost 1-0 to Singapore in finals. It has been 49 years since Vietnam won a regional championship since the football team of South Vietnam won the Southeast Asian Peninsular (SEAP) championship in 1959. Football (Soccer) here is a religion, locals live and breathe football.
After hearing the history, I wanted to see how the locals celebrate and told Ray to take me to center of district 1, as we had anticipated, everyone and anyone in HCMC was going towards district 1 (the main business district), all streets were JAMED PACKED WITH PEOPLE AND MOTORBIKES, young, old, kids, even few physically challenged were there to celebrate the country’s historic win. Most of them were on their motor bikes and had Vietnam flags in their hands, some of them had empty bottle or cans and where using it as drums. The energy was electrifying, spirits high; everyone wore a big smile on their face. I was right in middle of the action; I was with Ray on his motor bike, surrounded with locals, who were shocked and happy to have a foreigner amongst them.

One girl came and tied a bandana, other gave me a Vietnam flag, after sometime one young boy came and gave me a banner / poster which he had made for me, it was in local Vietnamese language, it read “I AM FROM VIETNAM” J. I was so thrilled to be with them, celebrating their victory. So many people came and clicked pictures with me, in a short term of 3 hrs I gave 2 interviews to local news papers and had hundreds of pics clicked, they were all surprised to see me. Mostly foreigners stay on the footpath and distance themselves; however I have always believed in being with the locals and connecting with them via their culture. I have never ever seen such celebrations; it surpassed heights of craziness, madness, insanity…. It was something which cannot be described in words. I was lucky to witness and be a part of it. Thanks Ray for ride and for your pleasant company….
I reached home around 2am :(

For pictures click on the bleow link:
http://picasaweb.google.com/keyur.trivedi/ChronicleOfMadnessFootball#