Breeze in Brazil

Brazil meant Pele for me. In my class three Malayalam text book, the stories of Pele and Brazil made me secretly dream of travelling to Brazil. The tapioca on my plate smells of the Amazon. I discovered the journey of tapioca, in Belam, the port city in the Amazon state of Para. The morning sun had a rare intensity in the Amazon. In the afternoon, the shower and breeze down the harbour made rivers in Belem dance. When the sun and the rain got into a fierce embrace in the afternoon, the elderly mango trees on the streets smiled. The story of Belem began in 1615 when the Portuguese discovered the port and thus began the globalisation of the flora and fauna; the journey of rubber, tapioca and vegetables across the world began in the port of Belem.

One of my most memorable travels is the boat journey through the Amazon river, made possible by my friend Shaji who lives in the Amazon with his beautiful Brazilian partner Ely. It is the stories of Latin America and Africa read during teenage years that induced the wanderlust in me. Even after travelling to more than 120 countries, what makes me excited is the exploration of the world, discovering the beauty of nature, people and habitat. Brazil has all these and a lot more.

In the last month in Sao Paulo, I spent time learning about the melting pot of cultures that is Brazil in the Migration Museum in Sao Paulo. The ancestors of Pele were brought to Brazil as slaves from the African continent to work in the sugar plantations. Now, those of African origin constitute around 8 percent of the population. Brazil was known for its sugar. And then gold. Brazil is also known for its natural resources and the richest biodiversity in the world.

The Amazon is amazing as it has the most biodiversity in the world. It is the sheer diversity of nature and people in Brazil that makes the country unique. A population of 208 million consists of almost all races in the world, from indigenous tribal people to around 48% people of European origin and 43 per cent of people of mixed origin. The largest Japanese population outside Japan lives in Brazil. And there are millions of people of Arab descent too.

It all began when Pedro Alvares Cabral from Lisbon landed here in April, 1500, to export Brazilwood. The first Portuguese settlement was in 1532 and by 1534, Portugal colonised Brazil. Brazil became independent in 1822 and became a full republic in 1889. After many years of military and authoritarian rule, Brazil is now a federal republic with twenty six states.

(John Samuel is an international  traveller, and researcher on internal relations, public policy and governance)