Referring to Bangladesh, how would you imagine this country? Probably not too many Vietnamese know about Bangladesh, or if they ever heard of this South Asian country, it could be a country full of uncertainty, frequent traffic congestion and floods. But there is a very different Bangladesh - far away but so close.

Only more than 2,000 km from Vietnam, but because there is no direct flight route, traveling between the two countries is quite difficult. The long transit time makes us feel that Bangladesh is far away. But when you come here, in harmony with life and people, the country of Bengal brings an incredible feeling of closeness.

Loved the similarities

Vietnam and Bangladesh have similarities culinary when the main food of this land is rice. Although there is a slight difference in taste due to Bangladeshi people like sweet, spicy, salty and rich curry, if you want to cook Vietnamese dishes yourself, you will not have difficulty in finding vegetable ingredients, fruits, fish meat ... here.

In Bangladesh, people pay great attention to costume, wearing nice is a priority especially on holidays and festivals. The interesting and surprising point is that the traditional costumes of the people of Bengal, both men and women, are very similar to the Ao Dai of Vietnam. Women wear Saree, and Salwar Kameez - an outfit very similar to the Ao Dai of Vietnamese women. Men's traditional costume is Panjabi with the above motifs embroidered elaborately with colorful colors and also very similar to Vietnamese men's Ao Dai.

Every Tet holiday, Bangladeshi people are eager to shop and wear new clothes. At the end the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, shopping malls and clothing stores are open until 12 p.m. or 1-2 a.m. to cater to the shopping needs of standard residents for Eid-ul-Fitr, the largest and most important Muslim celebration.

Another interesting point and also a similarity with our country's Lunar New Year's custom, is that before the Eid-ul-Fitr festival, Bangladeshi people also eagerly exchange new money to celebrate the age of their relatives. Twice a year, on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Adha, you will witness and feel the bustling atmosphere like the atmosphere of preparing for Lunar New Year at Viet Nam home.

People flock to the street busy shopping and home decoration. Bus stations, train stations, airports are crowded and crowded with people returning home to reunite with their families and relatives. At this time, the capital, noisy and crowded Dhaka, suddenly became peaceful and quiet during the Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Adha holidays.

In addition, on holidays, Tet, foreigners living here will also receive gift baskets including fruit, dried dates, traditional cakes and typical spices from Bangladeshi friends. accompanied by the greeting card "Eid Mubarak", which means a good holiday season.

Vietnam in the hearts of Bangladeshi people

The gentle and hospitable Bengali people always have their special affection and respect and respect for Vietnam and President Ho Chi Minh. You can easily feel it through the affectionate eyes and tight handshakes from heads of state to ordinary people when you say, "I am Vietnamese".

In the minds of the people here, the image of Vietnam is associated with a resilient and indomitable people in the struggle for national liberation, a beautiful and charming country with many landscapes, an economy dynamic and growing rapidly. Bangladeshi people also experienced nine months of fighting for national independence (in 1971) with great pain and loss. Therefore, more than anyone else, they deeply feel the resilience and heroism of the Vietnamese people with the thousands of years of history of national construction and defense. Many senior leaders and Bangladeshi people could not hide their pride when sharing that they had directly supported Vietnam during the war against the US to save the country. From the President, the Prime Minister to the Bangladeshi politicians, scholars, and journalists are all passionate and pensive when talking about the days when both nations have been through hardship but pride.

In their stories, they always mentioned President Ho Chi Minh and General Vo Nguyen Giap. It was very emotional and proud to see the neatly and solemn portrait and statue of President Ho Chi Minh in the office of the Chairman of the Bangladeshi Communist Party. This is the moment when the people of Bangladesh attentively and passionately read the pages of his life, career and thought translated into Bengali with all love and respect.

It was very emotional and proud to see young Bangladeshi artists transforming into the role of President Ho Chi Minh and practicing diligently on the stage with the desire to portray the image of the Father of the Vietnamese nation to the most strongly spread his eternal declarations and truths to numerous local people and international friends.

That love and admiration is being extended from the past to the present and the future, from generations who have directly joined the streets to support Vietnam to young people who only know Vietnam - Ho Chi Minh through the pages of the book or footage.

Vietnam - Ho Chi Minh seems no longer a common name, but has been imprinted in the hearts of Bangladeshi people, becoming a symbol, model of inspiration and a strong motivation for the people here in the period struggled for independence in the past and in the present period when Bangladesh is trying to revive the country.

Out of the initially difficulty image of Bangladesh, the country of Bengal appears dearly and closely with two distinctive colors of green and red on the national flag. It is the endless and endless green of the rice fields, like the peaceful scenery of the Vietnamese village. It is the warm and warm red color of Bangladeshi people who are friendly and love Vietnam.

As the famous quote of the celebrity Tagore - a person who has a great influence on Bangladeshi literature: "A deep friendship does not depend on the time of acquaintance". The similarities, the affection and respect that the people have, are dedicated to each other as a pure source of nourishing the Vietnam - Bangladesh friendship tree that is always green and blooming.

Suddenly I remembered a sincere sentence from Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina: "Vietnam is always in the heart of Bangladesh".