Goa Standard Time

The best time to visit is when the tourists have left.

- SAUMYAA VOHRA

WHILE THE TOURIST side of the Sunshine State is thriving, lurking below the surface is the Goa of the locals. These are the native, "born-and-bred" gatekeepers of all that is sacred and unique about this ever-surprising region. Yet, the pandemic minted a new citizen: the work-from-home city dweller who jumped at the chance to switch gears right into susegad lane. Restaurateur Ashish Kapur and communications expert Srimoyi Bhattacharya both fall into this category, having only made Goa their base in 2020. "When I first moved here, I was told that if you survive one monsoon, you can survive it all," says Bhattacharya. "Yet it's the most magical time of the year; the greenness of the paddy fields, the quiet that settles upon it." Kapur agrees, adding that, "Goa has a whole world of wellness, veganism-healthy living that leans into nature-that isn't as talked about as its freneticism. And it's at its peak in the June-July showers."

A writer and co-founder of the Goa Arts and Literature Festival, Vivek Menezes belongs to a storied local family, as does Mackinlay Barreto, founder of the Local Beat, an ecotour agency. "There's so many versions of Goa: one for adventurers, one for party-goers, one for culture junkies," says Barreto, "But these experiences are heightened in summer. The crowds thin and everything is sparkling green." Menezes agrees, noting that people also forget that it is a centre of biodiversity: "It's amazing how fecund and fertile the Konkan is; it's simply exploding with fruit and flowers."

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