I recently heard about the Chinese concept called Yuanfen which
considers fate and destiny as two separate entities. Two people might be
fated to meet each other, but not necessarily destined to be together.
And how appropriate it is, that I came across the concept of Yuanfen
after having experienced it just a few weeks before. This coupled with
similarly empowering concepts like the denial of death, quantum physics
and the illusion of free will led me to believe that I am me when I'm
one with the universe. There is a stark contrast between being
disenchanted by the here and now and being completely ravished by it. If
you believe and you're willing to step out of your comfort zone, life
will begin at the edge of your comfort zone.
I
applied for tickets to the world cup last December. I never expected to
actually get tickets. I booked flight tickets to Brazil from New York
once I got the tickets. I recently got back from a trip to India which
was very disappointing due to certain events that transpired while I was
there. I thought of cancelling my tickets to Brazil as I was still
down, but somehow I din't. I had no plans of what I was going to do here
in those 2 weeks.
I am writing this post from Brazilian capital. Until the age of fifteen(lets say), all I was was a fat butt scratcher (not a scratcher of fat butts), which is ironic because I plan to write this post right out of my ass. But weak joke attempts apart, it has been a brilliant couple of weeks here in Brazil. I have gotten deeply philosophical over the last couple of days, thanks in large part to the amazing events my consciousness has been subjected to during the trip. Some of the words below were randomly scribbled by me when I felt like it.
Its very hard to put into words what my exact feeling is.
Check in time at JFK - Officer was a Spain fan and I asked him if Iker should be dropped after the 5-1. These were his words.
Casillas- I don't know how you say, in Spanish, retirement is pure victory
Met 4 dudes from Gauetamala in El Salvador - garrottas ass shakin gesture
wearing blue Brazil shirts going 2 Rio no tickets
Smiling at strangers - ola, oi
Certain joy of traveling alone which can't be put in words
Destino final
Peruvian
guy Walter briones, who I met on the flight from Salvador to Lima, girl
near ichita asks are you drunk, I think I'm wasting my time , runs
diamond business in Lima. Learnt the phrase 'Mui Bonita'
No cash, Ecuador guys buying jersey from a store in
quitto called cheapest jersey in town. A guy from the government paid
for my cab to the hotel and an additional 50 reals. Walked to the
estadio with 42k fans, Dutch with their band, Aussies with their
kangaroos, just realized why they're called socceroos. Crazy game. Sat
next to a guy from Porto Alegre , had crazy conversations about the
local teams gremio and internacional. Mexican wave to perfection, saw
crazy goal by Cahill(maybe the goal of the tournament) and the Aussies completely lost it after the penalty
conversion , Dutch won , walked back to the hotel, garrottas , 70 yr old
guy dribbling the ball on his head at the city center. Somehow bought a
power adaptor from an electronics store for seis(its spanish, not portuguese) reals, found out the
location of the bus station and now on the bus to san paulo.
Still had no cash, so called up Bofa using google
talk, but went to supermarket to get cheap biscuits , suddenly I had 700
dollars from 20. Got expensive food, toured sau paulo today, met
tourists from Colorado, two brothers from chile, one of whose's
girlfriend is coming to Nyu next year. Took selfies at banespa
observatory, went to Terraco Italia by subway, met a beautiful Brazilian
girl, to whom I asked the location of Terraco Italia, she said this is
Brazil and after 15 seconds smiled and I said " ohh you were joking :)"
and then she smiled. Went to Terraco Italia which was closed, so got
back to avenida paulista and asked directions to another beautiful girl
to Skye bar, went to Skye bar and now back to hotel.
Took the 5
hour bus to Rio De Janeiro. Booked a hotel online, never realized it was
in the shadiest part of town. I actually heard gun shots, but somehow
woke up the next day. Started my tour of Rio with the Copacabana beach,
went to the Santa Teresa neighborhood of Rio and visited the famous
steps, saw local guys playing football on Sunday. Had a fantastic lunch
buffet at Copacabana, went to the Santa Marta favella, which happens to
be the place where Michael Jackson shot his famous "They Don't care
about us" video. It was amazing to discover the lives of people living
in the favellas, their priorities, their outlook on life, the dangers as
well as excitement of drug dealing, the crazy parties and the infinite
supply of weed. Went to visit the Redeemeer in the evening, was
completely blown away by the view. Met English footballers Daniel
Sturridge and Jordan Henderson on top. Went to Sugar Loaf the next day,
met one of the nicest and prettiest girls named Leila, who is a broadway
actress in Rio and was kind enough to show me around the place. Got
back to Copacabana and the Fifa Fan fest on the beach to watch Brazil
beat Cameroon 4-1 followed by crazy celebrations all through the
night(Even Fred scored!). Caught crazy views of Copacabana from my sea
facing room.
Went to the Fan fest again to watch Uruguay beat
Italy 1-0 and the Suarez bite with 100k fans, most of whom had more than
1 serving of alcohol. Left for Brasilia the next day and had a 20 hour
bus ride from Rio. I met an extremely nice old lady in Rio, who I spoke
to for about an hour before the bus left, even though I couldn't speak
Portuguese(everything from how Fred sucks to how Indian people have
great facial features). Lots of time for contemplation on the bus about
what is really important in life, what is life, what is importance, what
is what and so on. Got to Brasilia to watch Portugal play Ghana at the Estadio Nacional. Saw Cristiano Ronaldo take one of his trademark freekicks with the patented run up. It was great to see the sheer desperation of both teams who were in with a chance until the very end. I am guessing this trip was worth it.
So understand,
Dont waste your time always searching for those wasted years
Face up, Make your stand
And realize you're living in the golden years
