Sad, happy... "Tet tickets"

(Baonghean.vn) - As the clock ticks down towards the end of the year, the train stations, bus stations... are packed with people with many emotions, looking forward to returning home to reunite with their loved ones in a hometown that has been on their minds all year long.

That was the moment when the city streets suddenly seemed to narrow for the hustle and bustle of people going back and forth. It was also a familiar road, the intersections with red lights still stopped, but today they suddenly felt strange, not belonging to me. Because at that time my heart was pounding for a trip home... Would I be in time for the bus, in time for a ticket for the last day?

That is the mood of those returning. Those in the countryside are eagerly waiting. Ms. Vu Thi Duyen, from Thanh Tung, Thanh Chuong, has two children studying at a university far away, one in the South, one in the North. Both children have part-time jobs and this year they have to stay until near Tet to return: "Because the family is struggling, the two children have to try. The one in the South booked train tickets online, but heard it was still difficult so they bought tickets on the black market, the one in Hanoi is simpler, he said that on the day of returning, just go to the bus station, catch a bus, endure the crowd and after 6 or 7 hours you will be home." The children have not returned yet, but the mother's anxiety has been in her heart since months before Tet, when watching TV she sees talk of train and bus tickets.

The trains leave the station carrying heavy burdens and worries to get a train ticket for Tet.

In a story over a cup of coffee on a cold windy afternoon, Mr. S, a man who has been wandering for 10 years with many ups and downs, to the point of "not having money to return home", now has his own car, is the owner of a business in his hometown, confided in me about his unforgettable memories: "Tet in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City - PV) seems not to be for people living in this city, because everyone has a hometown to return to. I also have a hometown, but I and many others have to stay in this city, during Tet, because my meager salary cannot be saved to cover the travel expenses for the journey back thousands of kilometers away".

One night in the last days of 2007, when the scent of Tet was very near, he was helpless when he could not sit on the trains running to the North. He had to wander alone on the Saigon train station, mixed in with the stream of people seeing them off "even though I was not seeing anyone off". He just stood there as if he wanted to send out the words of impermanence that the train carried out there.

There have been 3 "Far away Tets, the red color of the scent of a foreign land" (poem by poet Van Hien). "I miss the cold with the raindrops flying like water droplets, only resting on the shoulders and hair of those who come to wish me a happy new year on the morning of the first day of the new year. I miss hearing the New Year wishes, just normal words, the sincerity of my hometown people emanating from the eyes that always follow me during the years far away from home."

He remembered the image he saw at the Saigon train station of a woman "with a heavy accent from her hometown" about 30 years old, stuffing her luggage into a large bag. Her hands were holding a plastic car and two children's shirts, her eyes shining with happiness. "Perhaps she was thinking about the joy of her children waiting for her in her hometown, after months away from home working as a mechanic, she would bring them new clothes to wear before the 30th of Tet."

Until the whistle blew, breaking the lingering feelings of those leaving and those staying, the waving arms, the hasty farewells to each other, he told himself: Witnessing and hearing the farewells on the platform before the journey, can also ease the painful feeling in his heart. The train slowly rolled into the quiet night. Those leaving and those staying could no longer see each other. The people seeing each other off began to leave the platform with their own feelings. "As for me, I just wanted to stand forever in the corner of the waiting room to look towards the North. There, at this time, my father was lying on a hospital bed. And then, I and many other "immigrants", still unable to get used to the sunlight on the yellow apricot blossoms, still let our steps wander aimlessly towards the station, our eyes following the license plates of 37, together bursting into tears when the fireworks welcoming the new year glowed red at Nha Rong wharf"...

Also on a late afternoon at Vinh airport, by chance at Vinh airport, I met Mr. Nguyen Van Thang, from Hung Nguyen, working at an agency under the Ministry of Science and Technology with headquarters in Hanoi, but he was assigned to be in charge of the branch in Ho Chi Minh City. Traveling between Hanoi - Vinh - Ho Chi Minh City for him is like... a daily meal. He said: "Going to meetings, seminars, briefings, signing contracts... is always scheduled for me every day, when the time comes, I get on the bus, do the boarding and disembarking procedures, go in and out of the airport, without any emotions or thoughts, except in cases where the plane is late, or due to the weather I cannot land at Vinh airport and have to go to Noi Bai, which is very time-consuming. However, on the last day of the year, holding the ticket in hand, preparing to board the plane to go home, my heart still flutters with a feeling of uneasiness, hard to describe".

He remembered that the day he left home and returned home for Tet for the first time, he could not sleep at all the night before. All the hardships of queuing to buy tickets, jostling at the train station, bus station, theft, delayed flights... did not make him miss home less. "Fortunately, those difficulties have gradually passed, and now when I go back to my hometown or on a business trip, I can choose the means of transport as required. I can go by plane, bus, train, or even my own car. Where there are conditions, people organize trips for people to go back to their hometowns to celebrate Tet, pick them up properly, serve them wholeheartedly and thoughtfully, avoiding the situation of illegal buses, prison buses, and forcing customers in a hundred ways. I am very busy with work until the day before Tet, and I go back to my hometown alone, so I often choose the last flight for that reason. And it's not just me, many fellow countrymen in Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai, Binh Duong, Vung Tau... all choose that trip. By chance, we shake hands and congratulate each other, and promise to gather in Ho Chi Minh City after Tet to discuss investing in our hometowns. No matter how difficult or easy it is, we have to do it. If we can't do it, how will we talk to our neighbors, burn incense to pay respect to our ancestors, it's hard to say clearly...".

Every year, Mr. Thang returns to his hometown at least twice, on the 15th of the 7th lunar month and during the Lunar New Year. Although he is nearly 60 years old, every time he returns for Tet, he feels like a child again. Every time he returns, he sees many changes. Relatives and neighbors are no longer hungry, and if they are, the local authorities find ways to ensure everyone has Tet. Not only returning to visit their birthplace, visit relatives, visit graves, and pay respect to ancestors, in recent years, he and his business friends have also visited and wished Tet to the Party Committee, government, and people of the localities where the agency cooperates with, thanking them for creating favorable conditions in terms of mechanisms and policies to attract investment, creating favorable conditions for supporting site clearance, training local workers, and paying attention to security and order. In addition, Tet is also an occasion for organizations to congratulate business partners, close customers, visit families with meritorious services, the poor... "We return to have a homeland, have affection, to cooperate to move forward, to gain more spiritual strength to move forward in the new year. The more difficult and distant it is, the more we have to return. The more successful we are, the more we have to return to the poor places where we left. Having lived in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and many other big cities, I know that Tet cannot be as joyful as in the countryside. On normal days, there are traffic jams in the city, and on Tet, there are traffic jams in the countryside, because most of the vehicles, big and small, all go back to the countryside. The roads, vehicles, and people are bustling, making Tet in the countryside, which is already colorful, even more bustling and attractive"...

So, the story surrounding the ticket will be a very long story, with those who jostle to buy it, those who cannot buy it and have to stay and watch regretfully, those who can freely choose the most modern means of transport for themselves... but most of all, it is the deep, sacred longing to return to the homeland. And then, holding that "passport" in hand during these last days of the year is filled with so many emotions...

TV