JOIN USMulki, a sleepy town located between the coastal cities of Mangaluru and Udupi, has emerged as a favourite destination for surfers not just from across the country but also from abroad. It all started when Jack Hebner, popularly known as ‘Surfing Swami’, started the Mantra Surf Club or ‘Surfing Ashram’ — India's first surf club — in 2004. Quite interestingly, 72-year-old Jack and his associate Rick Perry were members of North Florida’s first surf club, Oceanside, and were among the pioneers of surfing on the East Coast of the United States in 1963. Jack’s interest in spirituality brought him to India more than 5 decades ago. While in pursuit of spirituality, Jack decided to look for a suitable place to stay in touch with his favourite pastime. This search led him to Mulki, where he started a centre to popularise this sport and train people in it.
A group of surfers led by Jack toured across India for about 5 years before selecting Mulki, which he felt is very appropriate for surfing, and setting up an ashram here, which is named Kaliya Mardana Krishna Ashram. Jack says that physical fitness, confidence and courage are the basic necessities for learning surfing and experienced instructors should be there to guide the activity.
“Surfing isn’t just about getting into the water and catching a few waves, it’s about something much deeper than that. It's about a spiritual experience. For many surfers, the spiritual experience of surfing led to seeking higher enlightenment, a type of surf yoga,” Jack says, while pointing to the fact that surfing has many health benefits too.
More than a pastime
In the beginning, though the club attracted surfers from different countries, local people were not very keen to participate in this sport. Situations have changed over time and now, the place has gained popularity among Indians too. Even though foreign enthusiasts are more in number, the number of Indians participating in the sport has increased substantially over the years.
On the other hand, many local enthusiasts who are trained here have achieved success in the field. Tanvi J, a resident of Surathkal, first visited the club along with her grandfather when she was just 6 years to sing bhajans. “I was terribly scared of water then and I never thought I would surf,” says 16-year-old Tanvi, who has won many medals in surfing contests. Another talent is 16-year-old Sinchana Gowda who comes here over the weekends from Puttur, which is about 100 km away. She started surfing 2 years ago and has won accolades from international judges. Another enthusiast Deekshith Suvarna, who learnt surfing here is an International Surfing Association (ISA) instructor now.
As Mantra is India’s first surfing club, many surfers of the country are trained here and some of them have taken it up professionally and set up surfing clubs. Take for instance, the Shaka Surf Club in Udupi, started by Tushar Pathiyan and Ishita Malaviya, who are also the members of Mantra. Tushar and Ishita, both from Mumbai, began to learn surfing with Mantra in 2007, when they were students in Manipal. Both started enjoying the sport so much that they would regularly go for surfing in groups. Their growing enthusiasm resulted in the formation of their own club. “We had to sell almost everything at home to buy one surf board,” recalls Tushar indicating that it’s an expensive sport. Later, they learnt necessary skills from other professional surfers. Today, Ishita is arguably India's first, and only, professional woman surfer. Though initially only foreigners used to visit the club, of late, the proportion of foreigners and Indians is 50:50, says Tushar, who teaches local villagers free of cost. “In fact, 15 to 20 kids from the fishing community have become very good surfers,” he claims. Comparing surfing with yoga, he feels that surf connects people with nature.
Surfing hotspot
Situated in the coastal village of Mulki, at the confluence of River Shambhavi and the Arabian Sea, a day at Mantra Club goes thus — prayer at 5.30 am, meditation at 6 am, leaving for the sea (crossing River Shambhavi in a motor boat) between 7.30 am and 8 am and surfing till noon. In the evening, they go for stand-up paddle (SUP) in River Shambhavi, kayaking, bodyboarding, wakeboarding, swimming, volley ball, meditation, yoga, entertainment and environmental awareness documentary presentations. “In addition, the surf club members teach swimming and surfing to the children of migrant labourers, who stay in the neighbourhood,” says Shamanth Kumar, who joined the surf club when he was just 8 years old in 2001. Many such kids have benefitted from the home schooling arrangement at the surf club which facilitates them to learn surfing even as they study curriculum. Many of these kids have become professional photographers or graphic designers. Some work as instructors at the surfing club.
Meanwhile, Surfing Federation of India (SFI) vice president Rammohan Paranjape, the only professional surfing photographer in India, feels that Mulki is one of the best places to learn surfing in India.
Up in the coastal line in Gokarna, Cocopelli Surf School (CSS), recognised by the ISA, is run by Sandeep Samuel, a professional snooker player from Chennai. After travelling widely across India, he found Gokarna to be a paradise for surfing and compares Gokarna with Indonesia. Though initially only foreigners turned up at his club, of late many locals, specifically kids accompanied by parents, have been taking up surfing. He has trained many localites free of cost too. A recognised international judge for surfing, Sandeep is also associated with Mantra. The CSS remains open between September and April. However, he feels that October to May is the best time for beginners.
All the 3 surfing initiatives in the State attract over 1,000 enthusiasts every year. While surfing is a multi-billion-dollar industry abroad, it was virtually unheard of in India till a few years ago. Thanks to the efforts of Jack and others, coastal Karnataka has emerged as a surfing destination.