Last week's BRIC and IBSA conferences brought some of the world's highest profile heads of state to Brasilia. Among all the fanfare, Brazil reserved the heartiest handshakes and the largest front page spreads for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. This was at least partly due to the two states' burgeoning political and economic ties, with India-Brazil as the one common partnership in both these emerging forums of vastly different nations, but there is more to it than just that. Over the last year Brazil's public has developed something of a cultural fetish for all things Indian and Southasian, but their fascination with the region doesn't point to any real understanding of the subcontinent's realities.
When I first came to Brazil three years ago, I got nothing but hazy stares if I answered Nepal when asked "Where are you from?" I tried "Close to India," to at least point people to the correct part of the planet, but the conversation usually stalled there as people did not know what to make of the region. Not so since last year, though. Nepal still doesn't figure on most Brazilians' maps, but say anything about India and you're sure to get a bright smile, a 'haare baba' and a 'bhagwan ke liye'.
Hardly the most common Hindi vocabulary, but that might be expected considering its unusual source. Caminho das Índias (loosely translated, The Road to India), a whirling, colorful novela (soap opera) inspired in no small part by the extravagance of Bollywood, had Brazilians glued to their TVs for much of last year with its heady mix of exotic locations, forbidden loves, and Bollywood music. A R Rahman blared in the markets, Brazilian woman sported bindis, and all my friends here wanted to know if I knew how to make chai (to their delight, I do). Set in Rajasthan but acted by a Brazilian cast who liberally intersperse their Portuguese with tidbits of mispronounced Hindi, the novela's plot revolves around two torrid romances: the first of a Dalit man intent on marrying the daughter of a Brahmin family, much to her family's indignation, and the second of an Indian businessman engaged to his Brazilian sweetheart, again in defiance of his family's wishes. Having watched only a fraction of the 200-plus episodes, the entirety of the tangled plot is beyond me, but suffice it to say that in typical soap opera style, drama ensues.
As Brazil's novela crazed millions – whose lives are a far cry from those of the glamorous urban-elite protagonists of most of these shows – should be keenly aware, novelas do not thrive on realism. Audiences tune in for escapist entertainment, which the producers gladly provide, with only the most beautiful actors, the most pleasing visuals, and the happiest of endings making it onto the screen. Caminho das Índias is certainly not a documentary, nor does it at all purport to be. That said, the series' producers at TV Globo went to great lengths to lend the series a certain affected authenticity. The plot touches on themes that would not be at all out of place in an Ekta Kapoor production: caste conflict, arranged marriage, generational clashes between the conservative old and the modern young, even the oh-so-cliché saas-bahu quarrels. Sizeable parts of the novela were filmed in India, and the sets and costumes, though a tad garish, are convincing. Down to the ban on on-screen kissing, it's all spot on. Turn down the Portuguese dialog on the clip below, and no one would blame you for thinking you're watching a scene from the latest Bollywood blockbuster.