“There is a pattern to daily life, combined with leisure. Nothing happened in a hurry, there was no need to have action all the time, and, time and work ethics have a different meaning.” To equate Susegad as laid back is a mistranslation, the Portuguese word means “quiet implicit peace of mind.”
This quote from the reprint of Katharina Kakar’s book Moving to Goa, first published in 2003, captures the vibe of South Goa. In 2002, her husband Sudhir and she moved to India from Massachusetts, USA. Sudhir had a house in Delhi, where they spent the winter. But they wanted a different life, to grow new roots, to exchange the buzz of the city for a place with air connectivity, the ocean, and an intellectual hub, and Goa seemed just right. They found an old Portuguese house in the village of Benaulim, in South Goa, which happens to be in our neighborhood.
Our neighborhood is a peaceful alternative to the North Goa hipster lifestyle of trendy restaurants and baristas. In comparison we have 100 year old “Old Bakery” owned by Shaeen Gomes, her parents, brother and grandmother who ran the bakery alone for 40 years following the untimely death of her husband 8 years into their marriage.
We offer unhurried breakfasts under trees and on balconies, endless sunrises, and sunsets on the lesser-known beaches of Goa. These homes still make their Urrak (Goan moonshine) and Fenni, long walks through villages and mangroves and the joy of doing nothing.
