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Good morning, VIETNAM
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Once upon a time, a little country brought a superpower to its knees
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Rajan Ekambaram: `The Americans are now making amends.' — Photo: Murali Kumar K.
THE QUAGMIRE Iraq is for the U.S. brings to mind how little people from a little country, Vietnam, checkmated the most powerful military in the world every minute for 15 long years. Rajan Ekambaram, an executive with a private company, who was on work there recently with his colleagues, paid a visit to one of the legendary tunnels which hid the Viet Cong, America's unseen enemy.
"We travelled to Cuchi, some 40 km from Ho Chi Minh City, where much of the war happened. The guide asked us to locate the tunnel from within which the Vietnamese fought. He pointed to a radius of only six to seven feet. We looked around for sometime guessing it could be under the grass. We couldn't locate it.
Hidden door
"And then from nowhere, the guide unlocked a wooden door from under the grass. It was shocking: we couldn't see it. Five feet below the door, we saw the tunnel. You have to get down into it. It is small. They say it was made to suit the Vietnamese because they are small-made. Once inside, we saw the tunnel opening suddenly into a kitchen, bedroom and a hall. We could actually stand there. Otherwise, you crawl. The hall was where strategies were worked out. The Viet Cong would stay inside during day, plant mines at night. The morning next, the Americans would walk over the tunnel. And what? Get bombed out. They couldn't see the mines. Nothing would happen to the tunnel, the guide said, that ran all the way to Cambodia!
"Also, the tunnel is designed in such a way that if one cooked in the kitchen, smoke would emerge kilometres away. Classic deception."
Interesting talk about the tunnel and Iraq. "Apparently Saddam invited the Vietnamese to help build a similar tunnel. It is said he'd promised to import a lot of rice to help them and that he wanted to win the war like the Vietnamese did.
"The guide then showed us the guns. We were thrilled. Where in the world do you get to shoot from an AK-47 used in the Vietnam war?"
Women also fought in that war. "They, like the men, wore fatigues designed specially to carry food, water and fighting equipment — a minitent that would help them sleep. You see wax models of them.
"The guide showed us iron spikes covered by grass. You couldn't see them. And the Americans couldn't. The soldiers walked right onto the spikes. Where do you think they got the iron from for the spikes? From the remains of the bombs the Americans dropped on them!"
And if five lakh or more Vietnamese perished for 50,000 Americans, the Americans never had a chance. "No one can win a war when guerrilla war is fought like that. Even a GPS won't help. It didn't help the Americans.
"The memories are still there. Families who have lost a daughter, father, son, wife or husband survive... The loss is still felt. And just after the war, unemployment was high and women were forced into prostitution."
Moving on
But Vietnam is moving on. "The younger lot, including women, are looking at other professions. They want to learn. And also learn English. They consider not knowing a barrier to progress."
"Ho Chi Minh City is one example. It may not be a Mumbai or Delhi. Closer to Coimbatore. It has big buildings, not like the IT ones yet. But it has a whole lot more two-wheelers than here. Buying one could cost about Rs. 80,000, because they probably import and assemble. Ho Chi Minh City's District One (there are seven districts in Ho Chi Minh City) is very posh. Outside, agriculture is widespread; farmers work hard. You know they are not well off by the houses they live in or by what they wear.
"North Vietnam is poor, and so is Hanoi, the capital. Ironically, the Americans are now making amends. They assist in different ways. Vietnamese students are now coming to the U.S. to study."
As told to PRASHANTH G.N.
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