Inception.

This blog post is about my trip to Rio from 6th Feb to 10th Feb 2012. Generally, blogs which describe a trip are supposed to be informative and detailed.. I, on the other hand, am going to make this one more to the philosophical side.

Rio De Janeiro. Three beautiful words. In portuguese they mean ' The River of January'. I always had, not exactly a dream but, an attraction towards this place. Mainly because of the statue of Christ. I went there by plane.. the first time I laid my eyes on this city, I was fascinated. Fascinated by the sheer beauty Rio offers.. It was a sunny day, the sun beaming on the blue waters of the sea.. Amazing. We checked into our hotel and after the general 'Getting to know each other' session, we went to have dinner. We were back in our hotel by night and then we went to the roof of the hotel where they had a swimming pool. We met some Dutch tourists there and after a cultural and intellectual exchange (about football) it was time to go to bed. Here, I HAVE to mention that from the roof, you could see the Christ. Just the Christ in clear white light. That is one of the best sights in the world. The son of God with his hands spread wide looking over the city of Rio de Janerio, protecting the people. Watching the statue gave me a sense of motivation, a sense of security and the best of all, the feeling of a dream coming true with every passing moment. Then, I was off to sleep before I knew it. I was sleeping in one of the most beautiful cities in the world.. That is a feeling to savour.
   The morning was a lazy one.. We had to change our hotels. So, after doing all that, our group was off to the beach. The Copacabana beach. The most famous beach in the world. It meant a lot more to me just because of the fact that I love the beach in general. My first step on the white sands was an unforgettable one. I took off my slippers and I let my foot just sink in. *Chup* Beautiful. Just Perfect. I walked towards the water just to discover that it was really really cold! Many people had doubts whether to get in or not. I had my mind fixed. Cold or warm, I don't care.. I'm going in. The water stopped being cold after a while and then it was wonderful. Imagine a light blue horizon in front, white sands behind you, calm yet strong waves crashing into you and you just breathe, one breath after the other, your heart beating a bit faster than normal, close your eyes and let Rio win you over. I, have experienced serenity. Peace of mind. Peace of body and peace of soul. After all this soul searching and feeling serene, I went to enjoy. Swimming with friends, taking pictures, eating french fries and taking a walk till the end of the Copacabana beach helped me pass the time. We arrived at mid-day and it was already four by now. I decided to indulge myseld in a game of football with some strangers until half past four when it was time to leave. I left Copacabana in happiness, hoping to return some day. We got cleaned up after frolicking in the sands and the immense amount of salt the sea posseses. I slept for a while, until it was time to go have dinner. We were supposed to go to have a Samba class but that got cancelled for some reason. So, we went shopping to a little market-place near the beach. The day ended with a good-nights sleep.

Third day in Rio already. Todays schedule was a trip to the centre of the city. The first place we went to was a place with called the Selaron stairs. It was filled with various tiles from all over the world. India had representatives too. Tiles with pictures of the Ramayana and some other tiles with Sai Baba, Durga and Shiva were also there. That place was filled with colours and diversity and some unforgettable idioms. Next, we went walking towards the Theatre of the city.. We passed by a statue of Mahatma Gandhi and Mahatma Gandhi Square. The statue and the name because some peace treaty between India and Brazil was signed at that place by Gandhiji. It was nice to see India and Brazil be so attached to each other and being an ambassador of the country in Brazil, it makes me even more proud and happy to have come to Brazil. Moving on, we saw the theatre, an old church and also went to a Victorian styled restaurant to have some sweets. Later, we went to see the Maracana stadium! THE MARACANA STADIUM. We could not enter the stadium because of ongoing work for the 2014 World Cup (Maybe I shall enter the stadium in 2014 with 80,000 other people!) Then, we went to see a favela. As soon as I entered the favela, I remembered Mumbai. The exact same smell, the same things. I was back in India for a while. Every house or rather shack had a TV, a washing machine and a microwave. There were little children scampering around and old people just chilling. We went to an opening where three 'ripe' men came out without shirts, one with a coke in his hand, set-up a table and started playing cards. Pretty nice life, I thought to myself. That is Brazil for you.. No matter how bad the situation, these people always know how to make it better, how to enjoy it, get positives out of it. I, too have learned that now. A good thing to learn, isn't it? Then, we were going to a place called Pao de Açucar, which means Sugar loaf. It is at a height of about 2100 metres and you can see almost the whole city of Rio from there. I did not find that place VERY interesting.. It was just for the view. Dinner at a pizza place followed. The exchange students had planned a small party for a Finnish girl who was turning 18 tomorrow. We danced until 1:30 and then went to sleep.
4th and the last day in Rio already. THIS was the day I was waiting for. It was time to visit the most magnificent place in Rio. Christ the Redentor. My dream. We got out of our hotel and a brief bus journey took us to the place. We sat into a tram which would then take us to the statue. We reached there and everyone scattered around. I was on my own from here. I took the two escalators and I say the most grand, the most magnificent thing I had ever seen in my entire life. It did not seem like a statue anymore. It seemed like a real man. I just thought to myself, ' My God. This makes everything worth it. EVERYTHING. Right from filling in the application forms to going away from India to coming here. It was worth it.' Watching that thing from so near made me shiver. I could see the ENTIRE city of Rio from this place. Whatever the people do, wherever they go, whenever they need help... Jesus is watching. Literally. I thought of a man, about to commit suicide... He sees Jesus, with arms wide open and thinks to himself, ' No, this is not going to happen' His mind filled with peace, his heart full of hope, he starts his life all over again and ends up dying a happy man. Christ The Redentor is not merely statue... It's much more. He protects Rio de Janeiro. Later, we went to Ipanema beach to have some more fun and see the sun dying on Rio. I was in the water, watching the sun going down. Just relaxing my body.. Getting rid of all the pain, all the sadness and I was ready to be a good man after this trip. I am a changed man now.. I have evolved and I love it. Everything in me is changing for the better and I have this wonderful country to thank.

On a parting note, I feel that Rio de Janeiro and me are very similar. We have some wonderful things e.g Rio has Copacabana beach, I am a caring guy... Rio has Ipanema beach, I am fun-loving... Rio has the Christ, I am a peaceful soul... Rio has Maracana, I am a enthusiastic person. Yet, Rio has the favelas, a lot of drugs, corruption, robberies... Me? Haha.. I have my bad side too. 85 % is good but the remaining 15 % needs to be worked on... If the people of Rio can, why can't I? This, concludes my blog about the most beautiful country I have ever seen.