Susegad

It means 'relaxed but not lazy'. Some say that it means to kill effort at all cost.

When you land in Goa you don't take too much time to reach the Susegad mode. All it takes is ordering one meal at any of the shack type eateries around. They say five minutes and mean twenty-five. So you wait and wait for your food to arrive, fret and fume while guzzling beer till you reach a stage where you have that glazed look that everyone seems to have around here. The waiters around you can't understand your hurry. 'Where you want to go men?' is the question in their minds. Not that they would ponder on that question too long. The moment that question completes itself in their minds, they have forgotten it.

So, back to your glazed state. When you have given off a few burps courtesy the beer, the food arrives... most of the times it's some prawn starter (what Chrys orders in Goa is very predictable... prawns, prawns and some more prawns). One bite of the food and you are in Susegad mood. Now you keep ordering some really delicious stuff with names like Rechad, Xacuti and Vindaloo (spelt differently in every menu so I don't know which one is right). At some shacks every stuff tastes the same irrespective of the name, but some rare eateries have amazingly differentiated tastes. But being susegad means not caring about such piddly things. You just eat what you get... as long it's the fresh catch of the day- which it almost always is- you don't need to worry about an upset tummy.

In between meals you can float in the sea, frolic in the pool or generally take a nap at the nearest available bed/chair/lounger under an umbrella. Some over-enthusiastic honeymooners may do what all honeymooners do... NOT what you think... I meant shopping. You could also hire a scooter and drive around aimlessly, waving at the local children, smiling at the local adults, barking at the local dogs and meowing at the local cats. Or you could get duped into going in search of dolphins (which almost certainly will not show themselves to you) or parasailing (for TWO whole disappointing minutes) or water-scootering (mind-the-rocks-or-I-will-take-the- damage-money from-you-men). But all that is too much trouble.

Susegad men!