When Goan politician Vijai Sardesai pronounces the word susegad – soo-saay-gaad – it rolls languorously off the tongue. Susegad is the word for Goa’s relaxed, laidback culture, and Sardesai has pledged to protect one integral feature of it: the siesta.

Government elections are not due till early next year but Sardesai, leader of the Goa Forward party, has decided to put his best foot forward (not too energetically) by declaring that if he wins and becomes chief minister, he will make a one-hour siesta any time between 1pm and 4pm mandatory.

The unusual election pledge has stirred up some interest (nothing too strenuous, though) and comes at a time when many Indians from outside the tropical paradise, who have bought shops and businesses here, have been committing the outrage of keeping their establishments open during siesta time. They even work on Sundays.

For Goans, this behaviour is deplorable. When you could sit in the shade near a palm tree, have a chilled beer, followed by a lunch of fish and rice and a nap, why on earth would you be stupid enough to want to work?

Sardesai, 51, insists on a daily siesta, even during a “hectic” (by Goan standards) election campaign. He switches his phone off and he is not the only one. The toilet may be blocked and the laptop may have conked out but only a foolish person would try to find a repairman during those sultry, soporific hours.

“The siesta is part of susegad and susegad is the chilled, easygoing identity of Goa. With outsiders failing to respect the ritual, I want to make it a law. For us Goans, it is the quality of life, not the quantity of money, that matters. We love what we have,” said Sardesai.

He cited medical research showing that a power nap can improve performance and memory, lift the mood, make people more alert and reduce the chances of heart attacks.

“The siesta relaxes you. I find that if I skip it, I feel tired, I can’t function. And then I can’t enjoy my evening, so what’s the point?” he asked.

A misfit because she works “24/7, 365 days of the year”, property broker Lisa Waheeda Sousa knows the unspoken rules. “It is considered the height of bad manners to disturb someone between 1pm and 4pm. The feeling is ‘why work when you can relax?’ People are content. They don’t want to be part of the rat race,” she said.

If Indians love to holiday in Goa, it is not just because of the sun, sea and sand but because of this distinctive culture. It was ruled by the Portuguese for 400 years (susegad comes from the Portuguese sossegado for quiet). Goa became independent only in 1961, 14 years after India won its independence from Britain.

The state’s Portuguese villas and cuisine, Catholic churches and susegad culture offer an appealing alternative to the noisy, crowded cities in other parts of the country.

In fact, seeing how Goans enjoy life, many Indians might envy their relaxed attitude to coping with heat and humidity.

Sardesai feels there is no point fighting the weather. When the sun is blazing down, the body, full after a good lunch, instinctively obeys the injunction to lie down. “It is so hot and humid, a siesta makes perfect sense,” he said.

Then he remembered his trips to England, where his daughter is studying, and adds: “It’s also nice when it’s raining.”