EDITORIAL
Goa needs to strengthen what makes the state distinctive by addressing the flaws
There have been a series of news stories mentioning the “Bangalore virus” and suggesting that Goa could be an antidote to this. Ankit Vengurlekar, a founder and entrepreneur, has been making news by contrasting the lifestyle in work-focused Bengaluru with the “more relaxed approach in Goa”. He has argued that Bangaloreans often reduce their identity to their profession. Goans, on the other hand, in his view, tend to prioritise “life beyond work, leading to healthier relationships and fulfilment”.
It may be flattering when tiny and struggling-to-catch-up Goa gets favourably described. That too for something most people here would take for granted, without even seeing it as one of the local strengths.
It could be that this reflects a holidaymaker’s view of Goa, or what people have come to expect of it. On the other hand, it is also possible that this partly reflects the local reality. Vengurlekar has described life in India’s wannabe Silicon Valley city as being obsessed with what people work as, salaries and job opportunities. As he put it bluntly: “People could be at a funeral or a birthday party, and still talk about work”. This reduces all to “just workers”, often at the cost of relationships, health or overall well-being. Contrarily, Goa has managed to ensure “work is just work, a small part of an otherwise wholesome life”.
To a large extent, the argument is understandable. What is being called the “Bengaluru virus” refers to a high-pressure urban culture situation where professional identity dominates social life. Likewise, networking blurs into leisure, and constant productivity talk creates burnout. Choosing Goa for a slower, more balanced lifestyle can be a rational response to hyper-competitive metropolitan environments, more so for founders or creatives who are seeking mental space, lower stress and better work-life boundaries. The approach is more about rejecting a culture of overwork and status signalling.
Yet, those living here might also see this as romanticising Goa while oversimplifying Bengaluru. It won’t stop the queues of young Goans who go to the nearby Karnataka state capital for their jobs. A slower pace can also sometimes reflect weaker infrastructure, limited career ecosystems, fewer specialised services and constrained opportunities, especially for young professionals without financial cushions.
Goa’s infrastructure challenges are real: public transport gaps, healthcare capacity, waste management and seasonal employment fluctuations. Besides, innovation hubs like Bengaluru exist precisely because dense networks of talent and capital accelerate ideas. So, one man’s (or woman’s) “virus” can be another’s opportunity. This is about trade-offs: lifestyle versus scale, serenity versus dynamism, or even whether one’s economic security allows for opting out of high-pressure ecosystems. (However, Goa’s work culture is also slowly changing.)
Is Goa a remedy or corrective to something stressful like urban burnout, hyper-competitiveness, overwork culture or social alienation? Is Goa truly a cure, or is that just a romantic projection? Can one get calm versus chaos and balance here versus the hustle elsewhere?
Undeniably, it is perspectives like this that remind Goa of what it has in its favour. Some of them say they can feel the “positive vibes”. Some came here during or post-pandemic and liked the place. Before real estate prices suddenly shot up, many bought their piece of land and, not surprisingly, they preferred the villages. Interestingly, they too feel for the environment when hills and eco-sensitive areas are destroyed.
