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People display contrasting patterns of behaviour. Substantiate in the light of’Japan and Brazil Through A Traveller’s Eye’.

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In this lesson, there are two excerpts titled ‘Japanese Manners’ and ‘Traffic in Brazil’ chosen from George Mikes’ book titled ‘The Land of the Rising Yen’ and ‘How to Tango’ respectively.

In the first excerpt, the writer gives his comments about the Japanese habit of ‘bowing’ and how they manage to respect each others’ privacy even though they are living in an overcrowded island.

In the second excerpt, the author tells us in a humorous vein about their time consciousness and their craze for driving cars recklessly. However, he makes his travelogue memorable by highlighting the contrasting patterns of behaviour of the people of Japan as well as the people of Copacabana in Brazil.

While describing the Japanese, George Mikes tells the reader that within fifteen minutes after a tourist has landed in Japan, he or she will come to the conclusion that the people of Japan are an exquisitely well-mannered people, who live on a hopelessly overcrowded island. Then, he justifies his opinion by telling the reader how the people respect each others’ privacy by being courteous enough not to overhear a telephone conversation even though they happen to pass by a telephone booth or a counter. Next, he describes the ‘bowing’ mania of the Japanese people. Though he describes their bowing patterns in an appreciative tone, he concludes his write up highlighting a contrasting behavioural trait of the Japanese.

In a humorous tone, he tells the reader that the Japanese people who bow with such ceremonious serenity even at bus-stops, exhibit flippant behaviour almost immediately. He tells the reader that as soon as a bus arrives, the bowing gentlemen become savage-like, push each other aside, tread on each other’s toes and shove their elbows into each other’s stomachs to get into the bus.

Similarly, in his travel write up titled ‘Traffic in Brazil’, while narrating his experiences as a tourist walking through the streets of Copacabana, he comments about the time consciousness of the local people. He says very casually, “Nobody hurries in Brazil”, then he adds “it does not really matter whether you reach your destination an hour too soon, a day late, or not at all”. Then he narrates how the people decorate the grey pavements in the streets with beautiful black mosaics. Then referring to their walking style he says, ‘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.

We should note that though he appears to be appreciating the aesthetic sense of the people, there is also a tone of satirising the sluggish walking style, or the lethargic attitude of the people.

Almost immediately he juxtaposes a contrasting pattern of their behaviour. He tells the reader that the very same leisurely characters when they get behind a steering wheel, drive very fast and are reckless. He says, “gaining a tenth of a second is a matter of grave importance for all of them all the time”. The reader cannot but infer that the people of Copacabana are very lethargic only while walking but are reckless while driving a motor car. Thus, in both the essays we find George Mikes highlighting contrasting patterns of behaviour of the people.

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