(Bemvindo na Bissau)
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| The Central Place(Praca) - Eneida Marta Live |
I have always loved being in Guinea Bissau. Despite the pitiable city roads and poor infrastructure - it is a city that is bustling. One wonders what all the activity is about. Yet the market is bustling, the traffic is never light. Well dressed and fashion conscious girls thronging the market place. The many Bars are full and loud. The good but few Restaurants are relatively expensive, and yet full and lively.
Weekends in Bissau are inevitably fun - but that doesnt mean to say that week days aren't. A great meal with Super Bock or Caipirinhas or some simple yet nice portuguese wines in the company of a few business friends.... Business is soon forgotten. The discussion is always about the food, women, politics and life in Bissau.
Off late I've procured a motorcycle in Bissau. The book 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance' beckons me to read it once again, from cover to cover. The only recollection I have of the cult book is the reason for the authors love for bikes - being the true contact with air from the places you pass. You get to interract one-on-one with the environments of neighbourhoods that you pass by. Unlike the car - where you are boxed in - protected and yet alienated from the real world.
Twist the throttle and my 160 cc Apache is away.
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| TVS RTR 160 Apache My Bissau 'HORSE' Is a well know brand in Bissau |
In my few years in Bissau, I have possibly eaten some of my best meals of my life, in this country.(I quickly must add at risk of being thrown out of home, Jamila's cooking still is honestly the best - here I refer to eating out.) My first thought of eating on a weekend, and thoughts move to savouring the crude and labourious, yet rustic and delicious 'Ostras'. 'Ha Ostras' - the signboard says - informs us that river Oysters are available (But that could possibly have been the case at the time the sign board was written.). Thus a follow up enquiry is made which results in the gleeful affirmative response - that they indeed do have them. River Oysters grilled over a wood fired open smoky grill - with 'Malageta com Limao'. Any Malayalee (from Kerala /India) or a Tamilian would know Malageta - a derived word or a genuine similarity - we have no idea - Ground Green chillies with Lemon. Oyster splitting knives , a little towel, A dustbin (or a simple carboard box) and the instant the 'prato' or huge bowl of Steaming grilled Oysters are put on your plate - we get to work - ensuring that not one of the few hiding oysters are missed. The constant clatter of empty oyster shells dropping into the waste bins and the constant tabla like hammering on Oysters by each 'speculator', as though were mining and looking for gold, with the din of the chatter around the table - makes this a very memorable outing in Bissau. You could ride the scenic well paved 50 kilometres to Mar Azul just past Quinhamel, enjoying the beautiful settings of the river or drive down to Prabis and sit under a tree and enjoy this un delicate delicacy. Certainly not for the weak stomached and neither for hygiene concerned tourists. But for the adventurous, an experience of a life time.
Two weeks ago we rode to Quinhamel and wasted 'quatro pratos' of Ostras at Quinhamel. Accompanied by our Brazilian friends, Ary and Orion ( duly chrstened Ari NAIR and Ori NAIR - the long accepted surname for any quality inspector of Cashew) and we were joined by Portuguese friend Lolita and the loud but funny Marcus Petrovski Bragga - a Portuguese with a strong devised Russian accent. My riding partner Kaushik on his horse too. Two bikes and two cars. A wild ride back with the NAIRs taking turns at riding the bike. We rode back in a hurry to watch the finals of the Brazilian Football league - Corinthia versus a name I cant remember - at the Adega de Loueriro, one of Bissaus best Restaurants if I may say. Small, yet rustique. Simple terracotta decor, and slow yet charming service. A friendly place owned by Miguel and his mother and Brother Hugo. Excellent grills and portuguese rice with 'feijao' (beans). The portions are huge. Sleepy portions we call them. Food so good that you cant stop and when you stop you cant get up!! The Adega is always full as was on this occassion. Full with many Brazilians - both males and females. The NAIRS had invited two very charming Brazilian friends to watch the match together with them. Very soon one of them was being hit hard on by Petrovski, the Portuguese maverick!! An instant dislike of two nationalities speaking the same language - fills the air! But that is a private moment and shall not let it tamper with this blog!
Many days have passed and our Brazilain friends have got closer. Theyve visited Bissaus famous 'Ilhas' - the amazing archipelago of a number of islands. Bubaque and Rubane are already unforgetable places to vist. We're already planning an overnight boat trip ..if of course 'yours faithfully' can organise a boat!!
Stangely enough, my good friend John 'Tiger' missed the rendezvous' and finally got to meet the Brazillians just last week. Am sure he regrets not having accepted invitations earlier.
I've learnt a lot about Brazil in the last few weeks. Family life in Brazil seems similar to India. Work seems to take Brazilians away from their families. The Brazilain economic boom is apparently evident in Sao Paolo alone. Yet they are a fun loving and very friendly people wanting for a chance to laugh. They spend hours calling families at home. The emotions are private.
The Brazilians are here in Bissau for various reasons. Ari and Ori Nair are now joined by Ricardo and Napoleon (We have christned them PILLAIs). They represent Brazils largest and probably the worlds largest processor of Cashew. Iracema is the single largest automated processor of Raw Cashews. The Nairs and Pillais are here to ship out thousands of tons of RCN(as Raw Cashews Nuts are commonly referred to). On the other hand, the other Brazilians Leia, Maria Fernanda, Andrea, Jaqueline, Sincha, Ricardo etc are all here on a Brazilain Government Social Work Programme to build a school. The Cashew Buyers and the Social Workers have hit it off wonderfully.
But the Brazilains are not here to just buy the Cashew Nuts in any form. Representing a nation that has very stringent phyto sanitary laws, they have taken Cashew buying to a new level. Open jawed Indian buyers are aghast that any exporter from Guinea Bissau will actually take the trouble to sieve every bag of Cashew to remove vegetative foreign matter. And thats not all. All sieved clean cashew, must then be bagged in 60Kgs bags. Last year when we worked with George Chen and Glorias Chinese / Moroccan / Portuguese /Indian team on Cashew - we thought that was unique. This year has been uniquer (if one may use the word).
Ary Nair and I seem to have hit it off very well. We both like design and machines and thus our Cashew sieving project is moving ahead because of our warped mechanical minds. We both like Music Video and Food too. Both are kind of reserved enough to not exploit the female phermones that fill the air - though the desire is evidently there!! Jealousy looms a weighty veil as the more bohemian Brazilians and Portuguese corner the seemingly RWA Brazilians. Public yet reserved evenings are now spent with the group at discotheques in the evening listening to lilting soulful Bissau Guinean or Cuban music.. And speaking of Music, lifts my spirits - as last night - I have had one of the best musical evenings of my life. A live show by one of Bissaus own - at the Imperio Praca - the central park. A show that was washed away the previous evening with the first rains in Bissau. Eneida Marta singing her Bissau Guinean soul to a packed central park - in the foreground of the old dilapilated Presidential palace. 8 Brazilians and One Indian, and scores of other residents of Bissau enjoyed some very original and lilting yet thumping music in the honour of Wives of Bissau.
The Bike, The Good Food, The Music among others - raise a tempting voice - 'Come Back to Bissau' it says. The Simplicity of it all is very powerful. And I think - the More simple it sounds, the more complicated it will get.
Ram
Luanda, Casa de A Lopes, Bissau
