A country is like a big canvass with different colors sometimes splashed pompously on the foreground or playing gently in the background. Its an intricate gossamer of people, traditions, food, language, religion, culture. A traveler catches fleetingly the different hues to paint a picture of his own. Or rather in the digital world, aim his camera to shoot the moment and with a satisfied grin admire his 'good shot'- a picture of his own. Each picture is an individual version of images captured, experiences and anecdotes, traditions and customs observed. We humans are masters of generalizations and we try to distill the observations, pick out the similarities and come up with a ‘general perception’, a ‘general character’! Whether these general perceptions reflect the true ‘identity’ in someway is debatable. I bring with me different impressions of Brazil after spending a week there, and here I have my own story of Brazil- the one i saw, i heard, i experienced! Not a general impression of the cities I visited but a personal account of them :)
The strongest impression will have to be Brazil's striking resemblance with India. As we drove in from Rio De Janeiro airport to our Hotel, the sights, the roads, the houses, the small shops, the two wheelers, the 4 wheelers shared a kinship with sights in Indian cities. One of my fellow Indian friends could see striking similarities with Vizag. I haven't been to Vizag, but then I myself was misty eyed when we hovered over the hills of Rio before landing, they reminded me of the hills of my hometown. The city had its own way to establish a familiarity, yet again it had its own distinct flavor. The hotel was just 5 minutes walk from Ipanema beach and as I stepped down from the bus, I flinched at the strong smell of the ocean and fishes. Surprisingly it was just these first five minutes, for the remaining three days that we were in the city, I wasn't conscious of it at all. I had succumbed to the city, the sights, the smell. I wasn't an alien there for long. Food was next on the agenda and I knew this was going to be tough, given my vegetarianism. I had to make my peace with salad and margarita cheese pizza for the rest of the stay. Fortunately there were beans without meat at some places. My non-veggie friends were in for a treat for a week, relishing all the delicacies. I am pretty sure some of my friends back in India would have happily traded places with me for nothing else but to experience the food!
I want to avoid using the word, 'strong' as I have already used it twice in the above paragraph but I am afraid anything else would just sound weak, when I am talking about the 'joie de vivre' of Brazilian people. Right from the hospitality of the person serving your table to the person surf boarding on the rough waters, there is an energy that is hard to miss. You can establish an instant comradeship because you can sense a frank openness and a certain warmth. I feel such a comradeship comes only when there is an underlying feeling of trust and equality. I am afraid i'm contradicting my own rant against 'generalizations' but every country has a perceptible culture of its own. In US i have sensed a culture of professionalism and personal integrity, in Brazil it was a comfortable informality in the society and an energetic vibrancy in people. The people looked so comfortable on the beaches playing, relaxing, swimming, surfboarding. One glance around and you could understand 'comfortable informality' & 'energetic vibrancy', the rough Atlantic waters provide the perfect backdrop to put things into perspective.
We did the touristy things of visiting the 'Christ the redeemer' and the 'Sugar Loaf mountain'. It was good to feel the green mountains around. They work as charm for me, and feeling them around makes me strong and connected. We visited the Favela's ( slums in Brazil). A city always lives with its contrasts and the Favela's represent the alternative reality of Brazil. Meandering through the narrow lanes of the Favela an Indian and a Pakistani can find a common topic to talk . But then a 'favela' is just an incidental similarity when there is so much else that is common culturally.
One of the social activity was to visit a very famous bar in Rio, it was a magical world all together. A small place from outside which was huge inside, with three floors filled with people, music, food, drinks,dancing, random bric-a-brak. There was a vibe around which was distinctly 'Rio' relaxed and comfortable soaking in life with all the music and dancing around, & some drunk dancing too!
The fun things now would take a back seat for a while as we go about the business circles, with presentations and lectures. The business atmosphere in Rio also had the same relaxed informality and we in our business suits stood apart as jarring outsiders. This was a financial services company that we visited and they had their own company songs for morale boosting. The offices were small with people sitting together in close proximity, perhaps that's how things work there people really enjoy working in close company :) (reminded me of certain awkward sitting arrangements back in Deloitte). They had there own team songs as well!!! (again recalling- pyar baat te chalo). This incidentally means that I have experienced certain amount of Brazil in the people around me even before coming to this country :)
I will have to talk about Sao Paulo in the next blog. Its a different city with a different feel to it. For now its-
I love Rio!
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