Archive for South America

Seven things to make me happy!

January 6, 2012 / Backpacking Ninja / 4 comments
Yemanja

Three years ago, I spent New Year’s Eve amidst two million people at Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana beach.  As unbelievable fireworks lit up the sky, I watched the Cariocas all dressed in white, carrying candles and partaking in one of the age old traditions, or should I call it must-do superstitions of the night.  They jumped over seven waves and made seven wishes, before thousands of flowers were then thrown into the sea in honour of Lemanjá, the Queen of the Ocean, as the first spiritual offering of the year.

That wasn’t the end of the festivities, rather the beginning of a long wild night, where I got sucked into the Brazilian spirit of Cachaca drinking and samba dancing. Lively and loud, hardly an atmosphere to conjure up meaningful wishes, I reserved my seven wishes for later.  It looks like it took quite a while but I’ve finally decided on how I plan to redeem the wishes. Here they are and hope Lemanjá is listening -

1. Sometime in life, I want to teach Capoeira. I don’t know when. I don’t know whether I’ll be good enough. All I know is that I want to be able to share something I love so much with others and see the sparkle in their eyes as well.

2. I want to discover Africa. Not like a 2 week trip to some safari or the desert. I want to live in those small villages, wake up worried in borders, be lost in the wilderness for days, dance to the beats of drums and soak in the culture. Someday.

3. I want to delete all my social media accounts one day. Just disappear from the internet. (My blog is the only exception to this)

4. I will keep sending postcards in hope that someday, I’ll receive just as many. (I guess the problem is that no one knows my real address, but we can deal with that later. If they had the intention of sending me a postcard, they would’ve figured it out).

5. I will take my mom on a backpacking trip somewhere.

6. I will eventually work for myself or do something on my own.

7. This one wish – I want to keep reserved for a rainy day. Who knows when we go through that?

Category: Brazil, Life, Not Just Travel, Social Media, South America, Work / Tags:

Unexpected attractions make a City

August 24, 2011 / admin / One comment

Last weekend, I was just checking out Timeout London and stumbled upon something incredible – ‘Films on Fridges’. The name caught my eye immediately. How many of you guys are aware (for the ones not living in London) that there existed a 20 ft. mountain of fridges in Hackney, East London. Such unexpected attractions make a city. And sometimes, unfortunately, they disappear.

The project was inspired by the disappearance of this East London’s ‘Fridge Mountain’ – an enormous pile of discarded fridges which previously occupied the London 2012 Olympic site. Towering and vast, the largest ‘Fridge Mountain’ in all of Europe became a bizzare sculpture in the East London landscape.

When the site was cleaned up in 2005, no one really knew where the fridges really went. Recently, some of them have returned as a part of this film screening event ‘Films on Fridges’. The project has actually picked up fridges from Wales, used duct tape to put them together and created a memorable setting. Fitting with the Olympic theme, they are airing sports themed films here. Well, I don’t think they are really using the fridges as screens.

Either way, this just got me thinking about the unexpected attractions that really make up a city and what would happen if they were taken away.

Can you imagine Mumbai without the Dhobighat?

Or, Rio without Escadaria Selaron – The famous steps made out of tiles from around the world, created by a Chilean artist.

Think about these places in your cities and see how you can keep them alive forever. Remember – they are a part of the soul of your city.

Category: Asia, Brazil, England, Europe, India, London, Mumbai, South America / Tags: , , , , ,

Anthropomorphic image of Mumbai – Figure this one out!

May 31, 2011 / admin / 6 comments

I’m reading this book by John Malathronas. – Brazil – Life, Blood & Soul. No guesses why I would buy a book with Brazil on the title. Anyway, within the first chapter itself, I find myself closing the book and getting into a very deep thinking exercise. John says ‘every city has an anthropomorphic image’. Firstly, I had to go and look up anthropomorphic. Wikipedia – Thank you! Anthropomorphism is a term coined in the mid 1700s to refer to any attribution of human characteristics (or characteristics assumed to belong only to humans) to non-human animals or non-living things, phenomena, material states and objects or abstract concepts, such as god(s). I guess the definition really doesn’t matter. The author has written statements about 4 cities – London, New York, Paris and Rio. Here they are –

London is a City gent in a striped double-breasted suit, holding his chin up as he rushes by without an umbrella in spitting rain.

New York is a loudmouthed, overweight baseball fan, cap and all, who pushes you away from the salt beef deli queue as you fumble for your change.

Paris is a chic grand-dame, ex-model, ex-actress, her make-up dextrously applied, who walks her Pekinese in the Jardin de Luxembourg.

And Rio is a calliphygian (refers to shapely buttocks) copper-coloured beauty, as naked as Eve, dancing in stiletto shoes to the blast of beating drums.

All this got me thinking. Just got me thinking about what is Mumbai’s line. And, I wrote this on the tube ride back home. And, I’m not very happy with it.

To me, Mumbai is the Rickshaw driver who tells you his life story and is certain that he is going to make it big. Mumbai is also the Taxi driver who refuses to take you a short distance. Mumbai is the lady who worries about whether her son would complain about the cauliflower she plans to cook that night, the one that she chops as she is riding the local train back home, after a long day at work. Mumbai is also the bunch of rich women, who spend more time on manicures and designer shopping than with their kids. Mumbai is the dancer who doesn’t want to give up her dreams of Bollywood. Mumbai is also a group of 19 year olds who sneak into a club, drink and smoke and spend more money than what a Bollywood extra dancer would make the entire month. Mumbai is the serious business graduate in a pin-striped shirt, burning the midnight oil trying to make his variable pay. Mumbai is also the lucky son, who inherited his dad’s business, without knowing much about it. Mumbai is the young college graduate, who is working on his American accent to answer customer service calls from God knows where. Mumbai is also the lost artist, who blends into galleries even better than the champagne glasses. Mumbai is the girl who runs away from home, because her parents want her to marry someone she can’t imagine even spending 5 minutes with. Mumbai is the crazy lover, who would marry the guy and then find a boyfriend. Mumbai is the helpful uncle, who gives you directions, when you are completely lost in a new city. Mumbai is the painful shopkeeper who refuses to budge from his original price, when you pride yourself on bargaining. Mumbai is the kid who never gets tired, rain or sunshine, selling books in the traffic signal and making just enough money to afford one meal. Mumbai is everything and nothing.

If you can think of what could be Mumbai’s line, let me know. If you have a picture for Mumbai, send it to me. I’ll just keep adding it here and hopefully, I’ll get back to finishing that book.

Category: Asia, Brazil, England, Europe, France, India, London, Mumbai, New York, North America, South America, USA / Tags: , , , ,

Nothing so chic about Favelas

May 30, 2011 / admin / 5 comments

Where did that come from?

Someone who knew that I craved for my dose of Brazil every once in a while recommended this place in East London to me. Favela Chic. Honestly, I was a little apprehensive in the beginning. Something about sugar coating the reality of Brazil isn’t something I enjoy. Anyway, I decided to head there with Roy and my cousin Dhruva on Sunday night, when I found out that ‘Afrikan Revolution’ was playing there.  Live band with some Rasta people on the Djembe didn’t hurt.

Anyway, as described by View London, Brazil is synonymous with samba, sunshine and sexiness, and Favela Chic injects a saucy shot of this Brazilian energy into Shoreditch. This East London hotspot is a venue with soul, which is why it has fast become a sizzling favourite among a sea of nondescript bars and clubs serving up designer wallpaper and house music.

Do I agree? Yes, I do agree about the sea of nondescript bars and clubs serving up designer wallpaper and house music. And, the rest is history.

You can look up definition of Favelas. You can listen to Brazilian music. Your mouth can water thinking about what people eat and drink in Brazil. And, you can dream and about the smells and sounds and senses that make up Brazil. And, for someone who has visited Brazil and soaked in the place, Favela Chic is a bloody disappointment. Maybe it is a real harsh call after one visit. Just something about the place put me off.

A comparison is unfair but for what its worth, these are the reasons -

1. The actual Gringo : Latin american buff ratio was in you know who’s favour. There were more short dress high heel drunk chicas (obviously not interested in the music or the dance) finishing crates and crates of Coronas and just uploading pouted lip photos on Facebook with some bunch of guys. The crowd just wasn’t what I expected.

2. The Caiprinhas were not perfect. Something about the brown sugar missing. You can’t call yourself a place with Brazilian soul and make lousy Caipirinhas.

3. The place was trying too hard. Crushed brown paper bag meets blackboard with gold frame meets a random Jesus Christ frame meets benches meets records hanging from the ceiling. Best comparison is people spending hours trying to get the out of bed look with their hair or restaurants refurbishing to make the place look more vintage and stuff.

4. Live music to me should be live music. You just blame Favela Chic for that. Somehow, music has changed so much. Its just the times. There is too much of DJ whoever whatever meets a great live band and f***s it up.

5.  They say they have Brazilian cuisine, French style and London attitude. Obviously, the cocktail wasn’t very well presented.

Anyway, to me, anyone who would consider using the word Favela should think about the character that goes with it. Here, I’ll leave you with what I think is one of the best descriptions of a Favela, from one of my favourite artists in Rio – Selaron from Chile.

Favela Chic – am I going back there?

Maybe. The bartender was a mean ass juggler and I loved the way he juggled the limes, the bottles and the glasses and moved every bit like someone who would be in one with the music and Brazilian way of life. Maybe I’ll go back when there is a real Brazilian gig and I’m sure I know what I’m getting.

Category: Brazil, England, London, South America /

17 to London Bridge

April 28, 2011 / admin / 2 comments

Have been taking bus No. 17 to London Bridge. Ya ya… when you say London Bridge, everyone thinks I’m this tourist in my own city and its a thorough joyride. Nope, its work. My office is a stone’s throw away from London Bridge. Between the consistent announcement ’17 to London Bridge’ all the way from Caledonian Road to the final stop, I tend to overhear a lot of early morning conversations on the bus. Kind of like Mumbai train people watching.

The one this morning was the one totally worth blogging about.

2 little boys enter the bus. School uniforms, big school bags et all. Must be 7 or 8 years old.

Boy 1 : Did ya see Messi’s goal? Legend.

Announcement: 17 to London Bridge. Her Majesty Pentonville Prison.

Boy 2: I heard about it from my Dad. I was out.

Boy 1: I recorded it.

Boy 2: My recorder broke down.

Boy 1: You could come over and we could watch the second goal. The first one was ok but the second one.

….. more about Messi and how great he is….

Announcement: 17 to London Bridge. Kings Cross.

Boy 2 suddenly: You remember the time I dribbled all the way to the other side and scored a similar one.

Boy 1: Wasn’t that Max?

Boy 2: No, it was the day Max wasn’t playing. It was just Chad, you and me.

Boy 1: Right… ofcourse.

….. more about Max not being around enough…..

Announcement: 17 to London Bridge. Ludgate Circus.

… I’m wondering how just 3 boys land up playing the game….

…. more conversation….

…. then the revelation…

Boy 1: Did your PS3 crash? I heard there were some network issues and it got hacked.

Reality : 8 year olds spend more time on their Play Stations, even when there are such beautiful open spaces.

Announcement: 17 to London Bridge. St. Paul’s Cathedral.

Boy 1 and 2 jump out of their seats and get out of the bus.

Thanks for the morning entertainment.

Category: Argentina, England, Europe, London, South America / Tags: , ,
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