Another Brick In The Wall.

Today was a real revelation in 'My Life' you may say. I was preparing a CD for my Brazilian Mother with all types of Indian music as her Christmas gift. Youtube, Youtube to Mp3 convertor, me and a fast download speed started working in harmony (pun intended) to get that CD done. What followed was magic.

I started my Youtube search with Ajay-Atul. Found some of the best music which also depicts Indian culture quite well. No surprises, quite expected. I don't know what caught me but suddenly I turned to Indian Classical music. That's when I was absolutely astonished. We have the most peaceful music Ever. My first search took me to Anoushka Shankar playing the sitar. That's when I knew that my CD was going to be a great gift. Ustad Zakir Hussain, Pandit Ravi Shankar, Taufiq Qureshi, Amjad Ali Khan, Kishori Amonkar, Pt.Hariprasad Chaurasia, Shivkumar Sharma....... I did not stop! Listen, download. Listen, download. That's all I was doing. I was in some other world while doing it. Then, I turned to some fusion. Shakti, Prem Joshua, Baba, Advaita brought me back to earth with some real fusion. Where was all this before? Why wasn't I listening to this tuff before? I don't understand anything about 'Sur and Taal and Raagas and all those details'. But they often say, Music is a language which everybody understands. That is true.
I got my preferences of Indian Classical music as well. My favourite raaga is Hansadhwani, without a doubt. Also, I prefer instrumental music rather than vocals. (Maybe because I don't understand a thing about sur) I won't listen to Indian Classical all day. I know that. I am not a fan of Classical music as such. If given a choice between Indian Classical and Coldplay, I WILL choose Coldplay. But, If given a choice between Indian Classical and Heavy Metal, I will choose the former. Just because it is more peaceful than anything I have ever heard (and Brasilian life is all about peace). It tells stories about nature, about this wonderful world we live in, about the people we have around, about life, love and peace. All of this without words.
It's not only about the Classical range but also the culture our country has! Lavani, Gondhal, Dhol-Taasha are some of the 'genres' I have added in the CD. Just Maharashtrian. I am not very sure about adding Punjabi, Gujrathi, Rajasthani or even South Indian stuff. Ganpatichi Aarti commences the CD while Jana Gana Mana ends it.
Just as I thought that this was the end of my Musical day, there was more to follow. Just 2 days to Christmas. The church beckoned. There was a performance by the church orchestra. Might have been a 30-35 piece Orchestra. A 23 year old conductor began the proceedings. Violin, Cello, Double Bass, Trumpet, Tuba, Saxophone,  Drums, Piano, Xylophone, Harp... They had all the ingredients to put up a great show and put up a great show they did. This was the first time I ever heard a live harp and it was one of the best things my ears have perceived. By the way, the theme was the birth of Jesus Christ and the show was called, 'Who is the boy?'  The evening was a great one. I could not help myslef from smiling at the musical excellence I had witnessed. All's well that end's well. And hell yeah, All is well !

One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.  -Bob Marley.

 That sums up all I have written. :)

The Perfect Week.

    11-18 December. I experienced something which I was very lucky to experience and maybe will never experience in my life again. That 'something' is called 'The Perfect Week'. Everybody has had perfect days, two days, three days, max. 7 days of pure perfection is something to savour.

 *I'm trying to keep it as brief as possible, so I can fit the whole week into one post'

Pandharpur!

Fondue. So Fond of you! ;)

It all started on a Sunday. I was going to leave for a city called Campos do Jordao with my second host mother, my aunt and my Taiwanese brother. Fun times ahead, eh? There were. Half of the day went in travelling. We also stopped in the 'Pandharpur' of Catholics called Aparecida do Norte where they had an ENORMOUS church. We continued on our journey after having lunch at ADN. (Yes, I am lazy.) We reached CDJ (Lazy, again.) at about 5. Believe me, it is THE most beautiful place. Tucked in amidst mountains, temperature ranging from 15-20 degrees, houses designed as you saw in fairytales and there was a little train running through the town. What more could one ask for?! Nothing. But, there was more! The chocolates here come second only to Swiss ones. It was just heavenly. We sat down at a restauraunt, a street side restaurant for a little chat which lasted almost 2 hours! So many stories to be told! We went to the hotel to have dinner. The dinner was an UNFORGETTABLE one for me. Just because of two tiny details. The waiter gave me nine pieces of cutlery. NINE.4 Forks, 3 knives and 2 spoons. Secondly, when he lifted the lid off my plate, he said, 'Bon Apetite'. I could not stop myself from grinning that time. I mean, he said Bon Apetite! That made me feel so royal!! *Blush* The first day of my perfect week came to a peaceful end with a good nights sleep.

 

2nd day began with a quick breakfast and then we were off to Tarundu (I hope I remember the name properly). That place was a ranch where they had a lot of activities. I ended up doing Tirolesa from almost 150 metres high. Was scary as hell. Then, I did some jumping on the trampoline, ice skating, horse riding the orbitball (twice), ate french fries and drank a lot of water. Almost 6 hours of adventure filled activites. Doing the orbitball twice apparently was a mistake because I started feeling dizzy and uneasy later but a little nap brought me back to normal. Dinner and Sleep concluded the day.

Matter zhaala re!!

3rd day began with waking up late. Going for a drive to the highest point in Sao Paulo, then to the governor's house. Reached home at 4. My laptop wasn't back yet, so I watched some TV. Just chilled for the rest of the day.

4th day, I woke up really late. Ate. Went for a little walk.Roamed around a bit, listening to music. Feeling happy about myself. Reached home a tad late. Was fine though. Slept like a log.

5th day, Woke up late again. Had to go to football, got ready. Was the last day of this year. Played a game, had LOADS of fun. Got to know that the club had a party tomorrow. Bought new headphones and greeting card for christmas, roamed around a bit today too. Got home at 6. Prepared ham sandwiches with some grape juice when my parents arrived with Pastel (My favourite food in Brasil) and my laptop (My best friend in Brasil). No need to tell how the rest of my day went. (The answer is, Laptop)

With my American Dude

6th day. I woke up at 8 in the morning to attend the party of my football club. Oh My!! What a wonderful world this is. I went alone to a family party but ended up having loads of fun! I played football with unkown people and made friends. Those friends included 40 year olds as well. I then went to see the games of the 5-7 year old kids. Football games. They were superstars that day! Proper coaches, proper jerseys, parents shouting Go Go Go.. Kick, Pass, look there, look here, what are you doing?!... With all the energy they had. I was standin between the parents of Joao and some guy from 'M'. The parents of Joao, especially the mother cracked me up! She was like,'Go Joao, Go Joao' All the time! While shouting she suddenly stopped and asked here husband, 'Where is Joao?' Oh! There he is.. Go Joao Go Joao!! SO FUNNY! Joao's team managed to win and I was happy for Joao as well. *Smiles*. I reached home for lunch and in an hour had to go to A mexican girls house to hang out with the other exchange students who were visiting the city. We went to a park which had Hippo's, lions, panthers and such animals. I even saw a Tapir, a baby Hyena and an Anteater! We talked a lot, joked a lot, laughed a lot... Just had a good time. The three guys who had come from Sao Paulo were going to stay at my place. We got home at 12. Chatted for a little while and went to sleep really late.

7th and the final day. Woke up late. Naturally. Had lunch. Watched Liverpool win 2-0. I had to go to the graduation of my aunt which was a big event and the whole family from my mothers side was there! The ceremony was nice and later we went for a Barbeque. We went back home at 8. A little 'Thank You' to God and I was under my blanket in no time. What followed was a nice sleep.

    I call THIS 'My Perfect Week' because it was flawless on the important aspects of life.

Family Ties :)

    Friends. Check.

    Family. Check. 

    Football. Check.

    Fun. Check 

    Feeling good about myself. Check.

You don't need anything more to be perfect. Perfection is quite achievable. Another thing Brasil taught me. :)

Viva La Futébol.

A nice Saturday morning. Woke up at 6:30. Got ready and before I knew it, we were off to São Paulo. The group was full of 7-9 year old kids. I considered myself a volunteer ( though I really was not) We reached the museum at about 9. The museum was in a stadium called Pacaembu. It is the home ground of Corinthians. My first trip to a real football stadium. I was extremely excited, even more than the little kids with me but I was ‘too mature’  to show  it.

After completing the formalities we entered the museum. Official footballs used for the World Cups from 1970-2010 greeted us. Then, there was a 3D screen which had the great Pele welcoming us into the museum. The first exhibit was overwhelming. A dark room with  hanging glass screens with Brazilian greats on them. Garrincha, Pele, Socrates, Zico, Romario, Jairzinho. Wow. Impressed.  Later, there were kind of boxes in which you had to stand and could choose between some of the important moments of Brazilian football. E.g.  The Roberto Baggio penalty miss in 1994 with Brazilian commentary (It’s a whole new thing).  Then there were more boxes which were made like a radio and you could tune in to famous Brazilian commentators. Wow again.  

This next exhibit is my favourite of all time. Surely. A dark under-construction stadium with the smell of soil filled with screens. The  celebrations of the supporters. Makes you feel like you are in a real stadium. Hearing them chanting their songs, watching them lighting flares, screaming at the top of their voices made the hair on my arms stand. The vibrations sent shivers down my spine. I could have stayed in that room for the rest of  my life without getting bored. My utmost respect to the man who concieved the idea and a big hug to the man who created this thing. That room gave me the most amazing feeling of my life. It’s probably the only thing that can give me this feeling. I know it.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XDajXhGL_I&feature=relmfu (Imagine this in a drak room, with full bass, vibrations on your feet. What you can imagine is just the beginning of what I experienced.) Here is more. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXmB0xENsDo 

The following exhibit was all related to the World Cup. They had blocks with TV's on all sides. 360 Degrees. Each block was given two World Cups's. For e.g. 1970 and 1974 were in one block, 1978 and 1982 in another.. So on. I experienced an amusing experience at the 1982 World Cup block. Brasil needed 1 point to qualify for the Semi-Final's. They were playing against Italy.Now Italy had a striker named Paolo Rossi who was involved in drugs, mafia matters and all the wrong things before the World Cup. His selection for it was a shock to most people.. All of the people to be honest! This guy, Paolo Rossi pops up and scored thrice against Brasil. His first goals in the tournament. Final Score 3-2. Brasil out of the World Cup. Mind you, The Brasilian team of 1982 is regarded as one of the best teams to grace the football field. Now, a woman behind me randomly comes up and says, 'O esse filho da puta Paola Rossi né? Deveria ter morrido, Babaca' I was laughing SO hard on hearing that. The sentence translates as,' This son of a bitch, Paolo Rossi, isn't it? Should have died, asshole'. Now, leave all the abuses and stuff. The love for their team is what amazes me. I mean, A woman randomly walks up to you and abuses a guy. That's passion. Passion for football. Absolutely amazing.
Moving on, I watched a REAL football stadium for the first time. Estadio Pacaembu. The home stadium of Corinthians. (Who went on to become the champions this year) They were going to have the championship game the next day. If they had won or drawn against Palmeiras the next day, they are the champions and they did exactly that. Too bad. Nobody I know likes Corinthians. Me neither. The following activities were general fun. They had virtual football, then the info of ALL the teams in Brasil. All info that too. They also had a place where you shoot a penalty and they measure the speed of your kick. 88 kmph, I got. Not bad.

That was the last of it. At 11, we were out of the museum. Too bad we couldn't stay for longer. This is one of the places where I can spend a full day without getting bored. A musuem which I will never forget.           Viva La Futébol.