The other day, I received an email from Hotmail (yes, I still have a Hotmail account that will turn 30 years old in 1995), containing some photos from years ago. One of them shows me at a kart racing club in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, closing the tour of the American Punk-Rock band, or more precisely, Krishna-Core, with Hinduism-related oriental influences.
The Shelter band first visited Brazil in 1997 on a tour lasting about 15 days, covering cities such as Salvador, Rio de Janeiro, Porto Alegre, Curitiba, Sao Paulo, Santos, and Belo Horizonte. At the age of 19, I was the band's official translator, thanks to an invitation from dear Cacá Prates, a friend of my dad's with many rock and roll road stories to share.
According to my sister Mariana, I am a bit like Forrest Gump. I've had so many interesting and crazy experiences in my life, but I think this one ranks in the top 5 of the "Best Moments of My Life" parade. Not only because I traveled around Brazil on a tour when the band exploded on MTV, but also because of the spiritual and literally transcendental experience I had at the band's first press conference in Rio, held at a Hindu temple in the heart of Rio's largest city forest. This experience was a mixture of joy and gratitude that I had never witnessed before. After dancing to the Hare Krishna rhythm, I felt as if I had left my body and floated through the hall as if I had three days to sing and dance. Upon returning to my physical body, I found myself in tears along with my dad and the temple manager. No, there were no drinks or drugs involved. It was pure ecstasy and the power of music itself.
That was just the first day of this incredible experience, filled with other moments on the rock and roll road – in this case, in airplanes. João Gordo (the lead singer of a well-known punk rock band in Brazil) laughed at me because the Shelter's singer asked me to translate a speech against violence during the concert in Santos, resulting in me receiving a spit from an outraged fan. We visited Hare Krishna temples in each city and sampled their delicious food. I formed a dear friendship with the bass player, who loved listening to cassette tapes of Brazilian rock bands he received from his fans and who was just as afraid of planes as I was. I almost missed the bus with the band once because the security guard mistook me for a fan. I shared many laughs with dear Silvia (RIP). I enjoyed having hotel rooms all to myself. And yes, I even had some quarrels with the lead singer (yes, the guy above, with whom we took this picture after one of those quarrels).
Thank you, my old friend, Hotmail, for reminding me. Thank you, life, for these moments. Another one checked off the list, and another Forrest Gumpian story to tell.