The surfer boys changing a city one wave at a time

It is said the world can be split into beach people and mountain people, and I fall squarely in the first category. 

I first encountered surfing in Australia, around 2012, when i went there for an event. It was their winter there and the water was so cold - I didn’t think I would try surfing again. But the next year I went to Atlantic City. The water was much warmer, and I started enjoying surfing. 

Yes, I love being in the water. The ocean is so vast, it makes us feel so small. We are just a speck in comparison. I am in my zone, when in water.

But surfing for me is much more than just being in water. I was attracted to the whole culture associated with surfing. The sense of community, the openness that surfers have, how they embrace people no matter the differences - all of this drew me to surfing.

Chennai, where I live, is blessed to be on the coast. I remember trying to see if there was any surfing. I was initially disappointed, but then I heard murmurs of a surf school being set up in Kovalam, where kids from the fishermen’s community were being trained to surf.

That’s how I came across Surf Turf. I love surfing there with the kids. They are all polite, communicate well, treat their guests and students with great respect, and are doing well in life. Many have won international competitions too. I can see the surfing mindset, of openness and of embracing differences, coming in here. Surf Turf and the Kovalam surfers transformed their village, and I can see the changes much beyond. At the Covelong Festival, with its focus on surf, music, and fitness, again started by Surf Turf, I saw a wide cross section of people participating with great enthusiasm. This is such a welcome change.

But back to surfing and the surfers of Kovalam. Let’s hear from one of them what surfing has meant for him and his fellow surfers:

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