Learning the Susegad Way

Susegad – derived from the Portuguese word ‘sossegado’ for ‘quiet’- often used to describe the relaxed and laidback attitude of Goans (people residing in Goa, a former Portuguese colony in India)

Hello friend,

It was 9 pm. I was behind the schedule in delivering a script.

Sipping over a cup of tea, I was in the deep work zone.

That is when the electricity went off. For the fifth time that day.

I cursed out loud in the empty room.

I had already spent nearly 5 hours without electricity that day and was frustrated.

“Enough of this “chill” life. I cannot take it anymore,” I muttered to myself, probably the 50th time in the last 2 weeks, as I looked at my laptop with 18% battery.

I tried calling an electricity complaint number but there was no response. I asked a local community group on WhatsApp if there was any prior notification of a major outage.

A kind lady replied to my message which honestly felt like a gentle scolding to my frustrated message,

“This sort of thing is quite normal during the monsoon. Many trees fall and damage the electrical wires. They try their best. This is Goa life during the monsoons.”

Getting a gentle, indirect lesson in Susegad

I couldn’t help but smile in helplessness as I saw a heart reaction to that message with my “smiling tear” emoji.

How simple she made it sound!

This was another, slightly unsexy version of ‘susegad’– the slow living of Goans.

I am still adapting to Susagad in the past 2 months after I shifted to Goa.

Instead of honking horns on roads, I usually wake up to the sound of birds (usually an extra enthusiastic crow!).

Food delivery and 10-minute grocery delivery apps don’t work here.

So, in addition to cooking my meals, I also make grocery lists and plan my weekly visits to a supermarket.

I look forward to those visits as the drive is pleasant with lots of greenery and most importantly, without any traffic.

Much to my relief, even the dogs seem to practice Susegad and are quite laid back, refusing to chase any vehicles here! 😀

The biggest change is the quality of sleep I get here irrespective of the time I go to bed.

My average sleep in June and July was in a solid 7.5-8 hour zone with over 90 sleep score on my fitness tracker. I don’t remember getting a score of more than 60-70 or more than 5-6 hours and usually interrupted sleep in Mumbai.

So, as I sat in darkness with my laptop slowly dying in front of me, I realized that it was not a big deal.

This is after all the Goan life during monsoons. This is what it is right now. This is Susegad.

And maybe, it is exactly what I need at this point of time in life to undergo a period of deep rest.

I feel I can get used to it for the rest of my life.

But, maybe it is still too early to judge that. 😀

I will keep you posted!
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Thanks for reading as always! 🙂

Until next time,
Love,
Ved