Japan And Brazil Through A Traveler’s Eye

Japan And Brazil Through A Traveler’s Eye

                                                                                       -George Mikes

Japan And Brazil Through A Traveler’s Eye

Summary:

This is a tongue-in-cheek account of the writer's travel; in Japan and Brazil. The excerpts talk about some practices unique to these two countries. First, in the excerpt titled Manners', the writer talks about his visit to Japan. 

         Upon arriving there, he is impressed by, the extremely well-mannered people. He also notices that, since the country is a very small one in terms of area, the people there have no privacy, even to talk on the phone. But people respect others' privacy by not listening to their private talks they compensate for their lack of privacy by showing courtesy. 

Next, the writer comments on the habit of the Japanese to bow to everyone. This act of bowing is very dignified but the writer finds it difficult to learn the right manner He bows either too low or does not bow at all. He learns that there is a hierarchy in bowing: who bows to whom, how deeply and for how long. If two Japanese bow, neither is to straighten up before the other stands erect in front of him. 

       The Japanese manage this without difficulty and even the smallest difference in rank, standing, age, social position will be subtly reflected in that split second one man's bow is shorter than the other's. There are clears cut rules in the family too, as to who should bow to whom. There are bowing girls who bow to all and sundry; coach conductors before they check the tickets; and the writer mentions that even a deer bowed to him before it snatched the food-bag from his hand. Even at the bus-stops, people bowed to each other in dignity, but the moment the bus arrived, all dignity was thrown to the winds and people pushed one other in their hurry to board the bus. With regard to eating soup, the writer says that noise has to be made while eating the soup in order to show appreciation. However, when a foreigner does make noise, the Japanese hostess might look at him with contempt.

         In the next excerpt 'Traffic in Brazil', talking about footpaths in Brazil, the writer say’s that they are very beautiful, well-decorated places, reflecting the sense of beauty of the citizens. The Brazilians do not hurry about at all, as along as they are walking. They amble around leisurely. But the same citizens, when they are behind a steering wheel, are entirely different people. They drive murderously fast, and target pedestrians who dare to step off the pavement. They compete bitterly with their fellow drivers, cutting in, from both sides and forcing them to commit many crimes. But there is no hostility or ill will between the drivers or between them and the pedestrians. They smile at one another, just like they smile at the pedestrian they forced to run for his life.

   The writer says that the main roads in Brazil are so crowded that the traffic that pedestrians find it impossible to cross from one side of the road to the other. He narrates a humorous occasion where a person, on seeing his friend on the other side of the road, asks with surprise how he managed to cross over, and the friend replies that he could be there only because he was born on that side.

Japan And Brazil Through A Traveler’s Eye

Comprehension I

1. 'Exquisitely well-mannered people' refer to

a. Indians

b. Japanese

c. Americans

Answer. b. Japanese

2. What behavior substitutes privacy in Japan?

Answer. Courtesy

3. The reference to public telephone suggests:

a. How overcrowded Japan is

b. How Japanese respect privacy

c. How busy Japanese are

Answer.  b. How Japanese respect privacy

4. Why is called 'quaint?

Answer. 'Quaint' means old fashioned and yet attractive. Bowing is old fashioned when compared to the practice of shaking hands. In Japan, everybody keeps bowing to everybody else, with the ceremonious solemnity of a courtier, yet with a great deal of natural and inimitable grace. Bowing is more formal and more oriental, and also infectious.

5. Hierarchy in bowing demands

a. youngsters bow to their elders.

b. wife  bows to her husband.

c. sisters bow to their brothers.

Answer. all of them

6. What is the sign of appreciation in eating soup?

Answer. When eating soup, one must make a fearful noise as a sign of appreciation. Otherwise, the host/hostess will be offended

7. How are pavements in Brazil decorated? What does it tell us about the people there?

Answer. The grey pavements in the streets of Copacabana are often decorated with beautiful black mosaics — a unique type of decoration. It tells us that only a people alive to beauty in their surroundings and who have plenty of time for contemplation during their meditative, ambulatory exercises would take the trouble to decorate the pavements they walk on.

8. What happens when leisurely people in Brazil get a steering wheel in their hands?

Answer. When leisurely people in Brazil get a steering wheel in their hands, no speed is fast enough for them. Onlookers would be inclined to believe that gaining a tenth of a second is a matter of great importance for all of them all the time.

9. Who do the drivers look out for when they are driving? Why?

Answer. The author says that the drivers look out for pedestrians. As soon as a driver notices a pedestrian step off the pavement, he regards him as fair game: he takes aim and accelerates. The pedestrian has to jump, leap and run for dear life.

10. What distinguishes war between drivers?

Answer. The war between drivers themselves is murderous but good-tempered. They cut in, they overtake on both sides they force you to brake violently and commit all the most heinous crimes of the road and twenty times every hour. But they smile at you the same time: there is no anger, no hostility, no mad hooting.

Japan And Brazil Through A Traveler’s Eye

Comprehension II

1. Why is bowing in Japan a complicated process?

Answer. The author found bowing very difficult to learn because the act involved lot of intricacies. Either he bowed too deeply or not at all. He bowed to the wrong man at the wrong time. Either he clasped his hands too tightly in front of him or not at all. Bowing in Japan has a complicated hierarchy: who bows to whom, how deeply and for how long. If two Japanese bow, neither is to straighten up before the other stands erect in front of him. The Japanese manage it without difficulty and even the smallest difference in rank, standing, age, social position will be reflected in that split second, ore man's bow is shorter than the other.

2. Why does bowing, a natural practice in Japanese culture, look so 'quaint' and puzzling to the author?

Answer. Being a European, the author feels that bowing is more formal and oriental than shaking hands or kissing the cheek. It is also infectious. What makes it look so 'quaint' to the author is the fact that foreigners cannot get the bowing exactly right. They bow to the wrong man at the wrong time; they do not clasp their hands in front of them which is bad; or they do clasp which is worse. The Japanese, on the other hand, manage to show the subtlest difference in rank, standing, age and social position in the degree and duration of their bowing. The writer found it very difficult to understand these intricacies.

3. Do you think the author is finding fault with/making fun of the culture of bowing in Japanese and speeding cars in Brazil.

Answer. The author is finding fault with bowing in Japan only to a slight extent because he finds it difficult to understand how much to bow, for how long, and whom to bow to. He makes fun, in a light-hearted manner, firstly, of the baby who bows from a majestic height, having been tied to its mother's back; next, of the two conductors on the coach, who bow in both the directions and then start checking the tickets. 

He certainly makes fun of the deer which he feels bowed deeply to him before snatching the little bag from his hand. He pokes fun at the Japanese he compares the deer to the people in the bus-stop. A bit sarcastically, he says that the deer is a true Japanese. Both of them, the deer and the people, first bow ceremoniously and later behave violently. The deer jumps at the author and snatches the food-bag from his hand. The people, as soon as the bus arrives, push each other, tread on each other's toes and shove their elbows into each other's stomachs.

           With regard to finding fault with and making fun of the speeding cars in Brazil, the author does both. He does joke about the way the drivers target pedestrians stepping on to the road, but describes vividly how horrible the experience can be to a pedestrian. He also remarks that, with the increase in the number of cars on the roads, the life of pedestrians is becoming more hazardous every day. 

Similarly, he finds fault with the way the drivers compete with each other. However, he finds it funny that the drivers can smile, in a good-humouredly manner, at each other and at pedestrians whom they have terrified out of their skins. While finding fault with the heavy traffic that does not allow pedestrians to cross the road, the author uses humor to deal with the situation by saying that a fellow should be born on the other side to reach there. Otherwise, there is no possibility of crossing the road on the main streets of Brazil.

Japan And Brazil Through A Traveler’s Eye

Comprehension Ill

1. Bowing in Japan is quainter; more formal, more oriental.' Do you agree?

Answer. The author, George Mikes, says that bowing as a form Of greeting, is neither less nor more silly than shaking hands or kissing the cheek, but it is quainter; more formal, more oriental. As the author, himself a European, describes later on, bowing in the right manner takes some time to learn: either you bow too deeply or not deeply enough; you bow to the wrong person or at the wrong time; you do not clasp your hands in front of you which is bad; or you do which is worse. The Japanese have a complicated hierarchy in bowing: who bows to whom, how deeply, and for how long. 

When two Japanese bow, neither straighten up before the other stands erect in front of him. They manage this without difficulty, and even the smallest difference in rank, standing, age, social position will be subtly reflected in that split second one man's bow is shorter than the other's. In many cases, there are clear-cut differences in position but no difficulties in following them because there are the basic rules inside the family: 'the wife bows to the husband, the child bows to the father, younger brothers to elder brothers, the sister bows to all brothers of whatever age.’ The Japanese followed this practice of bowing in all places - girls at the top of escalators, conductors on coaches and people at the bus stop.

2. Describe how traffic in Brazil leads to humorous observations.

Answer. The writer first describes the habit of pedestrians not to hurry at all in Brazil. They do not bother whether they reach their destination hour too soon, a day late or not at all. He then contrasts this behavior with their behavior when they get a steering wheel in their hands. Then no speed is fast enough for them. They drive as if gaining a tenth of a second is a matter of great importance for all of them all the time.

                  The author says that drivers care about pedestrians. The care they show is in the form of targeting pedestrians who step off pavement, as if punishing them for doing so. The moment the driver sees a pedestrian step onto the road, he aims at him straight and accelerates his vehicle. The pedestrian has to jump, leap and run for dear life, Later, the writer reminds us humorously that both the driver and the pedestrian — hunter and prey smile amicably at each other.

   Thus, the pedestrian's life is becoming more hazardous every day.

              The author refers to the rivalry between drivers. With other drivers, they are murderous and overtake on both sides, cut in and force the other driver to brake violently and commit all the most heinous crimes of the road, and twenty times every hour. But they keep smiling at the other drivers. There is no ill-will, hostility, anger or mad hooting. The writer describes a particular place called Avenida Presidente Vargas where, if one tried to cross the road, it would be almost impossible. Looking at the traffic, one would also wonder: how can crawling traffic proceed at such terrifying speed? As hour after hour passes, without a ray of hope of the opportunity to cross, one may witness a scene, something like this: a man, on your side of the Avenida Vargas suddenly catches sight of a friend of his on the other side and starts waving to him, at the same time looking completely mystified: "How on earth did you get over there?" he shouts across, trying to make himself heard above the traffic. The other fellow is surprised by this naive question and yells back: "How? I was born on this side!"

3. What aspects of our social life, do you think, would appear quaint and odd to a foreign tourist?

Answer. India consists of a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic and multi- lingual society. Different customs and traditions are followed in different parts of the country. This variety itself would puzzle many foreigners. Many other things would appear odd to a foreign tourist: our manner of greeting with folded palms; our sitting down cross-legged and eating with our fingers; our innumerable languages; our different ways of dressing, our festivals, our ways of worship etc. 

Many shameful habits coming from even educated people might make foreigners disgusted with Indians: our tendency to speak very loudly everywhere; urinating and spitting everywhere; our ways of jumping the signal and driving without following any rules of the road, (nowadays driving on the footpath, upon the dividers too); our tendency to litter all places; jumping queues; jaywalking on the road; talking to strangers in a familiar tone and intruding upon everyone's privacy. 

The recent aspects of our social life like: frequent rapes of women of all ages; sexual molestation and harassment of women on streets; drunken driving; gang wars and frequent rioting would put any nation to shame.

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