During those 100 years, many generations of Pleiku people have been attached, studied and grown up. And of course, in each person's heart there are deep feelings for this small but peaceful and warm land.
In many stories, like pieces of time spliced together into a consistent chain about Pleiku, this land has left a deep emotional mark on many people from far away. Some people return to Pleiku many times, as a way to relive their youth, in the difficult, fierce but memorable and worth-living days.
I have witnessed friends sitting for hours just to recount those days. When the nation’s resistance war against the US was at its fiercest, in Pleiku, military airports, posts, barracks… rumbled under the marching boots. But then mixed in with that were red dust, green pine trees, soft slopes like scarves in the mist. No wonder the poet Vu Huu Dinh, after visiting his girlfriend in 1970, wrote “There is still something to remember” about Pleiku at that time.
Some people also return to Pleiku to expand their horizons into the past. They borrow motorbikes and go down to the village to find the pristine and peaceful Central Highlands that once captivated them. Pleiku has both mountains and hills, fields, towns and Jrai villages.
In an effort to preserve the traditional cultural values of the Pleiku people, it is not difficult to find spaces that bear the distinctive cultural imprint of the indigenous people, full of charm. In the early mornings of Pleiku, being able to sit leisurely with a cup of coffee under the rustling pine trees in the middle of the city, in the chilly air, is an incomparable happiness.
As for those who were born, grew up, and are attached to Pleiku, it is difficult to describe the love they have for this highland land. I have friends who are old, who belong to the first generation of intellectuals in Pleiku, who have spent many years passionately dedicating their youth and intelligence here. They know every street corner, every alley, every shop… Every event that has ever happened, they know by heart.
Occasionally, when I have time, I really like to sit and listen to them retelling old stories in the middle of the Pleiku land and sky, quietly hidden in the mist and clouds all year round. I was once deeply moved when a friend texted me asking for some photos I took of Pleiku in the mist, to illustrate a post on social media. Because I understand, only with deep love can one write such heartfelt words and remember every moment of Pleiku like that.
And even me. There have been opportunities to choose to live somewhere else, but Pleiku has always been a priority choice, I even always think that I was born to be attached to this land, not anywhere else.
I am like a link between Pleiku of the old years and a modern Pleiku. I go back and forth between the past and present through the stories of my friends. People from far away, people from the heart of Pleiku, meet at a common point, which is the affection for the small town of Pleiku with all the passionate love.
And a hundred years from now, perhaps people will only be able to imagine what Pleiku was like in the past through pictures and books. But I believe that this land will always bring people a feeling of peace and tranquility.
Source: https://baogialai.com.vn/pleiku-mien-nho-post330328.html
Comment (0)