Brazil Dairy - Day 4
The story from 14th May……
The day was Mother’s Day and it was free day as there was no Rotary Programs. I went to the Gym with Ricardo at 11 am after the breakfast. I noticed that most Brazilians like to keep fit and they do not mind the time of burning those extra calories. It was amazing to see that the Gym, a franchisee of Compania Athletica is one of the biggest and best equipped in Brazil. It is a well maintained gym and the entry is purely for members. I was introduced to the girl at the counter as an Indian brother of Ricardo and so was allowed inside. Ricardo is quite popular with the crowd there and it was fun watching the people exercise. The locker room is so neat and good that even the best banks’ will be put to shame. Ricardo’s number is 160 and we set burning for almost one hour.
Here I met Emerson and Andria who work with Ricardo. Andria’s body is so fit that I looked at her with astonishment and had a snap with her. The feeling that I got here was that living itself is like a ‘pooja’. Look at the commitment of these people in keeping the God-given body in good condition. There they are, leading a busy life in the fourth largest city of the world, spending most of their time on travel within the city, yet finding some time to keep fit. I though they are performing the real ‘pooja’ and chanting the right mantras.
Ricardo is a fun-loving person and everyone who sees him speak with the unspoken word, and that is a smile. Smile is an unspoken word that radiates warmth and happiness in your physical surroundings. After a work-out we proceeded to home where the other family members of Ricardo were already waiting to celebrate the Mother’s Day. There were Ricardo’s parents, sister and brother-in-law along with their two grown-up sons and a daughter, Diane’s mother and brother. It was a special re-union on the occasion of the special day. There were plenty of jokes, lots of drinks and variety of food for the special celebrations. I did not feel that I was from India and that I was their guest. I had the dictionary for help which I bought at Hyderabad and spoke to them in Portuguese as none of them except Ricardo could speak English and I learnt a lot of words on this day as I had shown them my family album and I had to explain to them everything that was in the photographs. The words that I learnt were vermilho ahhoz(akshintalu in Telugu), casamento(wedding), puberdade(puberty) and so many others.
They had so much of bonding like we have in India and each one was a friend of the other irrespective of age and relationship and yet there was lot of respect for the elders. I had the caiparinha and during the drinks, Ricardo offered the famous Cuban cigar ‘harana’ which I took just to feel how it would be. I realized that it was not to my liking.
After the lunch we watched a football (futebol) match between two Brazilian teams namely Paranas and the Corinthians on the TV. Brazilians are so involved in futebol that their excitement was more interesting to me than the match itself. Every Brazilian has his own club and he is very possessive of the team that he/she favours. There were shouts and hisses in tune with the proceedings of the match. Ricardo is a fan of Corinthians and to his toast, the Corinthians won the match 2-1 and I could see the happiness in his eyes which was akin to the glow of a 1000 watt bulb.
In the night, I was supposed to be taken to Serau’s house (Sultan’s host) for a get-together dinner with the GSE team but Ricardo said we will stay at home and watch Indiana Jones movie of Steven Spielberg and so I settled for it. All through the film, Ricardo was asking me if the Indians had food in the way it was shown. I had to tell him that it was not so and that Steven Spielberg’s imagination ran haywire. We had dinner while watching the movie and so the day ended at 11.00 pm.
I will always keep coming back to the name Ricardo because I have seen in him a practical, fun-loving and yet a serious personality which wants to always have the best in life. The previous day we went to the Carrefour supermarket and he wanted to buy a wine beaker for his best performing sales guy in the next sale review meet. We had to go around to 3-4 glassware shops as he couldn’t get the best and he believes in giving a rich beaker to his sales guy to make him feel rich which in turn will motivate him to save more money and also earn. He bought one at Reals 62.
On the same day when we were on our way to the downtown, he shows me a Japanese board and asked me if I could read it. When I answered in the negative, he says ‘’it’s very easy” and I ask him how? For which he quipped ‘’ for the Japanese”. Such is his instant and comical nature. During the lunch when someone asked him “Are you hungry?’’ he says “yes. I am always hungry and thirsty” indirectly meaning so many things in life. Great sales guy.
The day was Mother’s Day and it was free day as there was no Rotary Programs. I went to the Gym with Ricardo at 11 am after the breakfast. I noticed that most Brazilians like to keep fit and they do not mind the time of burning those extra calories. It was amazing to see that the Gym, a franchisee of Compania Athletica is one of the biggest and best equipped in Brazil. It is a well maintained gym and the entry is purely for members. I was introduced to the girl at the counter as an Indian brother of Ricardo and so was allowed inside. Ricardo is quite popular with the crowd there and it was fun watching the people exercise. The locker room is so neat and good that even the best banks’ will be put to shame. Ricardo’s number is 160 and we set burning for almost one hour.
Here I met Emerson and Andria who work with Ricardo. Andria’s body is so fit that I looked at her with astonishment and had a snap with her. The feeling that I got here was that living itself is like a ‘pooja’. Look at the commitment of these people in keeping the God-given body in good condition. There they are, leading a busy life in the fourth largest city of the world, spending most of their time on travel within the city, yet finding some time to keep fit. I though they are performing the real ‘pooja’ and chanting the right mantras.
Ricardo is a fun-loving person and everyone who sees him speak with the unspoken word, and that is a smile. Smile is an unspoken word that radiates warmth and happiness in your physical surroundings. After a work-out we proceeded to home where the other family members of Ricardo were already waiting to celebrate the Mother’s Day. There were Ricardo’s parents, sister and brother-in-law along with their two grown-up sons and a daughter, Diane’s mother and brother. It was a special re-union on the occasion of the special day. There were plenty of jokes, lots of drinks and variety of food for the special celebrations. I did not feel that I was from India and that I was their guest. I had the dictionary for help which I bought at Hyderabad and spoke to them in Portuguese as none of them except Ricardo could speak English and I learnt a lot of words on this day as I had shown them my family album and I had to explain to them everything that was in the photographs. The words that I learnt were vermilho ahhoz(akshintalu in Telugu), casamento(wedding), puberdade(puberty) and so many others.
They had so much of bonding like we have in India and each one was a friend of the other irrespective of age and relationship and yet there was lot of respect for the elders. I had the caiparinha and during the drinks, Ricardo offered the famous Cuban cigar ‘harana’ which I took just to feel how it would be. I realized that it was not to my liking.
After the lunch we watched a football (futebol) match between two Brazilian teams namely Paranas and the Corinthians on the TV. Brazilians are so involved in futebol that their excitement was more interesting to me than the match itself. Every Brazilian has his own club and he is very possessive of the team that he/she favours. There were shouts and hisses in tune with the proceedings of the match. Ricardo is a fan of Corinthians and to his toast, the Corinthians won the match 2-1 and I could see the happiness in his eyes which was akin to the glow of a 1000 watt bulb.
In the night, I was supposed to be taken to Serau’s house (Sultan’s host) for a get-together dinner with the GSE team but Ricardo said we will stay at home and watch Indiana Jones movie of Steven Spielberg and so I settled for it. All through the film, Ricardo was asking me if the Indians had food in the way it was shown. I had to tell him that it was not so and that Steven Spielberg’s imagination ran haywire. We had dinner while watching the movie and so the day ended at 11.00 pm.
I will always keep coming back to the name Ricardo because I have seen in him a practical, fun-loving and yet a serious personality which wants to always have the best in life. The previous day we went to the Carrefour supermarket and he wanted to buy a wine beaker for his best performing sales guy in the next sale review meet. We had to go around to 3-4 glassware shops as he couldn’t get the best and he believes in giving a rich beaker to his sales guy to make him feel rich which in turn will motivate him to save more money and also earn. He bought one at Reals 62.
On the same day when we were on our way to the downtown, he shows me a Japanese board and asked me if I could read it. When I answered in the negative, he says ‘’it’s very easy” and I ask him how? For which he quipped ‘’ for the Japanese”. Such is his instant and comical nature. During the lunch when someone asked him “Are you hungry?’’ he says “yes. I am always hungry and thirsty” indirectly meaning so many things in life. Great sales guy.
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