Brazil Way Ahead

I suppose it's natural for me to compare and contrast India with Brazil. My first impression as we disembarked from a TAM airlines plane into Galeao, Rio's international airport, and drove the 25 km to Niteroi a suburb of Rio, was wow! And Brazil deserves the "wow". Traffic flowed through well-designed and well-maintained systems of roadways and bridges, following traffic rules. No honking. No garbage swept against street curbs or piled up in corners. No beggars. No men relieving themselves in public.

It feels like India. Think Goa.  Think Poona forty years ago. Before it had to contend with an exploding population, a growing middle class that could afford cars but had no place to park them.