india unknown

At the very outset I must apologize for the long break in writing my blog.
Often I may have the time but struggle to find the right mood to express a deeper feeling.

It is easy to misunderstand the attitude of the people of Goa.
But I feel it is not that simple to understand a culture and the philosophy of their existence. It is not fair to judge everybody with one’s own yardstick. I have used a word Sosegado which is actually the essence of Goan existence. I would like to elaborate on that before I progress further.

I had read somewhere many years ago, a Goan had described the actual meaning of socegado – I liked the passage and copied it at that time. I would like to reproduce it (though it is not my piece and now I don’t even remember from where I had collected it). But the description is unparalleled and I wanted to share it with everybody.

Moreover I believe only a Goan has the right to explain the meaning of the word.
He writes

‘The mystic of ‘Socegado’

The tourist on his first visit to Goa is bound to hear the word ‘Socegado’ perhaps several times a day, uttered by several people on several vastly different occasions. It is indeed a baffling word and to date, nobody has come out with a synonym for the word. A Goan would be puzzled that you need to explain ‘socegado’ for to the true blue Goan it is as elementary as the sun or the sea.

The nearest substitute would be’ leisure’ but admittedly it is a poor substitute. It falls grievously short of the splendid connotation of the Goan word. It denotes a sense of lethargy but devoid of the stigma of torpidity or sluggishness. It could mean ‘take it easy’ but without invoking the cardinal fault of procrastination. It is perhaps a little bit of both these attributes combined with a sense of timelessness that lifts it above the level of laziness.

It is an extremely practical acceptance of the impossibility of cramming everything into today coupled with a cheerful , optimistic consciousness of tomorrow to come. It is the Goan’s invariable rejoinder to any attempt to rush him into anything. It symbolizes the leisurely pace of life even to which the brakes are applied almost in toto for the afternoon siesta when all Goa slumbers blissfully.

When you can, with a clear conscience, leave the file in the tray marked ‘URGENT’ and take off to a ‘taverna’ or bar, savour your glass of local feni and breathe the atmosphere of relaxation then you are possibly coming closer to the mystery of ‘socegado’.

Incidentally, feni is a typical Goan brew made from the coconut palm or the cashew fruit. It is definitely not for the faint hearted, it is a taste to be acquired. It is said that once you do acquire the taste for feni, no other liquor can compare with its full bodied frothy flavour. And once a feni lover, always a feni lover. Then you have moved a further step closer to mastering the mystery of ‘socegado’.

Do not however try to force the pace, for that is against the very spirit of ‘socegado’.
It is tranquility and total willingness.
It is indeed the Goan way of life.’

What do you think, my friends?
Is’nt it very confusing and unrealistic in the context of modern world living.

But fortunately or unfortunately that is what prevails in the Goan society, good or bad, they love to enjoy life in their own way. Money is needed all right, but plays a little less role in their state of happiness.
It is indeed a different world all-together.

It belongs possibly to moon and possibly that is why moon looks so closer from there,
almost within telepathic distance.

Tilak Ranjan Bera | 28^th October’08