Travelogue: Rio De Janeiro

The sole peril of being sensitive to life experiences is becoming "cautiously optimistic". When you are let down by the grandest of dreams and plans; and find the most embellished moments of life in inconspicuous and undocumented events and things, you can no longer predict bliss or make a bucket list.

But if i had a bucket list, Rio De Janeiro would have definitely featured.

I am not a rogue traveller. I am as adventurous as a girl who spends most of her day sitting in front of a computer, check her locks twice and actively avoid public restrooms. So this trip was not about finding the best drinking party, enjoying local cuisine (as a vegetarian i can't) and being spontaneous. It was a well planned trip with safety as a priority. At one point in time, i even planned to cover the exposed circle at the back of my phone case that revels that i have a red iphone with electrical tape; But I of coarse, I could not act on this edgy idea as i am also the girl who do not do house hold repairs and do not have electrical tape handy in the house.

As a person born in Rajasthan and living in Arizona, the first trip i booked was an open jeep tour to the Tijuca rain forest. I fell head over heals in love with the concept of city planning where a man made forest is the heart of the city and people live around this forest harvesting the benefits of controlled climate, no flash flooding and no land slides. It is the largest urban forest in the world.

There were hardly any trees in the Botanical garden or on the roadside where the trunk of the tree was visible. They were all covered with money plants and other vines growing on them.

It was a treat to see the jackfruit and mango trees laden with fruits.

Christ the Redeemer: If a monument/place is marked as a "Wonder of the world" it will never disappoint you. the concept of a simple, majestic and conspicuous statue of God guarding the city is illustrative, classy, artistic and appealing even if you are a non-believer

A trip to historical downtown was a mixed bag. the history of the city was less robust then many countries in Europe and India. The highlight for me was Escadaria Selarón or Selaron Steps and the drawing/murals by Jorge Selarón. An artist wanting to give back to society by making art public, free and inclusive is the ultimate symbol of an evolved society.

Getting a vegetarian and vegan diet was a huge struggle. The vegetarian pizzas were disaster, subway provided no options of vegetarian sandwiches, Holy cow app was pretty ineffective and Indian food elusive. There was no options of tea available. Of coarse the fruits were fantabulous and if as a vegetarian/vegan you can eat them 3 times a day, you will be golden.

The flora of the City obvious and omnipresent. The green is interrupted by colorful and luscious orchids.

The best things about the city:

Gorgeously green landscape, magnificent beaches, green ocean

The not so good things about the city:

reputation of being unsafe(I was warned at the passport control desk when i landed in Brazil) language problem(be it road signs, contents of medicine, people in hospitality industry), food options

This trip for me was a bliss with a wonderful sister beside me and beauty all around.

I am seriously jealous of ...

• Those drivers that move from behind you into the next lane, in an attempt to over take you,  even though the sign clearly shows that their new lane is meant to end and merge back. Can you imagine how interesting their life must be to put in so much effort, just to return to their life with 3 extra seconds? 

• Professionals who go to work with a wallet and phone. I need a purse filled with chargers, moisturizers, cough drops and blah blah blah. Another bag full of lunch, snacks, silverware and cloth napkins as i refuse to pollute environment with the free plastic cutlery and paper tissues provided in the breakroom. As a hippie i also carry massive bottles of green tea and .... as a true hippie i also bring empty ones back as i don't trust my office's recycling. Oh and gym bag with change and shoes.

• Home owners who do voluntary upgrades to their house. There is a hissing sound coming from my bathroom and i can assure you i would have been half as scared if there was a snake in my bathroom. Like all fears, my fear of house maintenance stems from lack of knowledge.

• Women who wear heels. I feel incapable of rationalizing the amount of discomfort of wearing heels; they will have to make flat shoes illegal for me to wear heels.  Is't the whole idea of wearing shoes is to prevent your feet from hurting?

• People who can have a sense of direction. Coming out of the new mall's parking lot yesterday, the google maps threw "south", "east", "right", "left" so hard at me that i was more confused then when i watched the movie Inception. I just followed a black sedan hoping he/she was going to the same freeway i was trying to reach. So the best way to kidnap me is to leave a location unfamiliar to me, just before me and i will probably follow you to the house where you plan to hold me .

Confessions of a Serial Killer

 Yup!! This is the point where you squint and say "I always knew something was off about that girl!!"

I kill not because I hate them but because I love them. But they don't love me back!!

And yes I have a type. I can't resist chlorophyll.

And again yes!! It is because of my family. It is really tough to be born in a family where everyone has a green thumb. My mom still squeals like  a little girl when new flower buds show up. And my sister shares more pics of her the plants in her garden than the humans in her life. Dad takes his watering duties more seriously than his health.

I am the only brown sheep of the family. And I can't stop buying and killing plants.

I have killed because I left them out, I brought them in, they were small, they were big, I didn't give them water, I over watered, they were tropical, they were for  damn succulents, they were in water management pots, they were in terracotta pots, they were in clay pots, they were fruits, they were decorative, they were hardy arizona locals ... oh there were vines, there were shrubs and those miniature roses... aaarrrggghhhh!

I am currently in process of killing a jasminum whose pic made dad glee with hope" This is robust. It will live" .... sigh. oh i potted and repotted and changed soil and watered and moved it out and then moved it in .... and its pretty much gone.

I know its easy to blame it on the desert, but then succulents should have lived. I can blame it on the sun, but some of them have been house plants that never left the insides of my home. I blame insects but i have the best organic neem oil protection ever made. So, I have stopped blaming and embraced my killer instincts.

I go through the garden section/nurseries , checking and buying only the plants i have not killed yet as if the others are conquered territories.

An addiction is seriously problematic if while confessing and acknowledging, you actually get inspired to act on it. So while penning this blog I went and bought 2 new plants. Please feel free to ask me in two weeks, how they died.

Death and other cursory contemplations....

Since last few days, my head has been buzzing. While navigating through the changes in my life I have been excited, exuberant, nostalgic, apprehensive, confident, bothered, optimistic, sad; sometimes concurrently, with a 'to-do list' continuously running through my mind.

It made me recognize the compulsiveness of thoughts and consciousness and life.

So what happens when we die? how does this all stop? will we notice the stillness and silence? will it be dark and lonely? Will it transform into something or it will just be absolute like squishing a bug?

While we struggle to navigate through life, dealing with death is an absolute curve ball with no concept or precedence.; at least not something we remember even if the concept of reincarnation is real and we have experienced it before.

No wonder, all religion and numerous rituals assure/maps/exploit the unknown, promising a "life" beyond life. "From riches and servants being buried with the pharaohs in the pyramids" to "a feast served to members of a particular caste in Hindu culture" to "a complicated system of karma and reincarnation in buddhism" to " a promise of 72 virgins" to "Saint Peters and the gates of heaven and hell" to "burning fires in hell"... and many more notions/fear/concepts of afterlife are known to shape a lot of life decisions for many.

I have my doubts.

Humans lack imagination. Even though we have seen the body disintegrate after death, we still propose that the soul survives to seek and enjoy the pleasures meant for flesh and blood.

So what does death entail?

We don't know. And we will not be able to tell when we know. But may be the better scenario will be that we don't know about it when we know.

Point of No Return?

I really like to rationalize my decisions and stay open-minded about my choices. Several years ago converting from a non-veg-craving youngster to an animal-loving-vegetarian adult was one such choice.

Restaurant Menu's and travel shows repeatedly highlighted what experiences I was missing as a vegetarian. When Anthony Bourdain says you are making a mistake, you are forced to ponder. You also notice the handful of dishes you can eat at each restaurant while you meat eating friends browse through booklets of options. When at Emeril's, they have to cobble you an entrée from their side dishes, it hurts.

But an animal dying for my dietary convenience still did not seem worth reverting my decision.

Then an amazing revelation happened last week. I ordered the veggie Quesadilla at my office cafeteria; one of the two vegetarian options. The second being a veggie burger which is so dry and hard to chew that you wonder if its incorporated with the pieces of the same packaging it was sold in. 

My veggies cooked next to all possible meats on the grill. There was chicken , steak , turkey breasts and more steak. I had no objection to sharing the grill. But the chef was extra sloppy that day.

My ninja cook sliced and diced and sautéed and tossed the different piles of food ... with little respect for boundaries. I did not complain, complying to my own need to "Play it cool" and " be an open minded person"  who should not make fuss over self-imposed preferences. 

I collected my order and got me the usual side of buffalo sauce and returned to my workstation to eat.

To my surprise, my food looked as suspicious as a politician's good intentions. Every brown bit looked as much like a piece of sautéed meat as it looked like a sautéed bell pepper. The smell seemed "meaty". It became mighty clear that I should have not observed the "grill action" with such close attention. 

To my horror, my crossover to the "grassland" may be more permanent than earlier appraised. Though I am still respectful of everyone's choices , I think I should accept that being vegetarian is less of a choice for me, now.

One more reason to wish that there is no Zombie apocalypse. 

Aabbbabbaaa

I am seriously questioning the definition of good communication skills!!!

I am pretty sure Aabbbabbaaa is my toddler Nephew's favorite word. And I have never understood, loved, effectively entertained, got entertained and connected with someone like I do with him. Just a few mins with him washes away my stress like some good iced tea can wash down bad, greasy fast food.

Despite his limited vocabulary he is fed, cleaned, entertained as per his will and specifications. He melts our hearts, makes us smile, tell us when he needs attention, approve and rejects our desperate attempts for his giggles, choose his nursery rhymes and effectually guides us to serve him better.

He makes me wonder if there is anything like an effective communicator.

We speak incessantly. We learn multiple languages and accents. We ruminate over completed and upcoming conversations. We pre plan responses to a phantom conversation or arguments. We try to access people and situations based on the words and their tone. Even with a plethora of words, most relationships, personal and professional, suffer with miscommunication and misrepresentation of our true expression.

May be speaking, with intent, finesse, consideration is over emphasized.

May be like in my nephew's case,  the key of good communication is to communicate with the people  who are willing, receptive and excited about what you want to express. May be while we over stress on what and how we communicate, we miss finding an audience who is compassionately wanting to hear us. May be this is why romantic relationships, managerial initiatives and political arguments fail.

Though we cannot have completely receptive audience with predictable reaction till we become successful dictators with very creative ways to vanish unfavorite people , we still owe it to ourselves to hang out with some kind-hearted and open-minded audience. Or we can be mindblowingly adorable like little Aaron.