ISHITA MALAVIYA IN KARNATAKA, INDIA. PHOTOGRAPHED BY TARA MICHIE.
“But now all the kids in the village surf with us. Before‚ none of them were even swimming. They’re conscious of the environment and know how to rescue people from the water. That's the kind of change I want to see.”
the camp now offers a place for visitors to stay in the otherwise remote location, with tents and a beach shelter where travellers can enjoy barbecues and bonfires in the evenings. Pathiyan is keen to set up a Shaka Surf Club in India’s other surfing states, such as Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Malaviya, who grew up in Mumbai, was inducted into the surf lifestyle after visiting the Surf Ashram in Karnataka, founded by American surfer Jack Hebner and run by a group of surfing devotees who have since become known as the “Surfing Swamis”. “We couldn’t afford to stay at the ashram and the lessons were too much for us,” says Malaviya. “But we made a deal with them to bring groups of students from the university in exchange for a group discount. That’s where we came up with the idea of the Shaka Surf Club.” For the next two years Pathiyan and Malaviya shared one surf board between them, learning to surf by watching videos and picking up tips from the Swamis. “We’d take turns; when Tushar was in the water I’d just sit on the beach and clap,” says Malaviya. By the time the couple had graduated from university in 2010 they were completely smitten. “Our parents were like what? What is surfing?” says Malaviya. “They said, you can surf, fine, but don’t expect us to pay for it.” The growing community of surfers in India (Malaviya estimates it is only 200-300 strong, excluding travellers) has steadily been catching the attention of pros from around the world. In 2013, Malaviya was joined by a group of female surfers, including Crystal Thornburg Homcy from Hawaii, who travelled there to see and really make a feature length and long documentary about the scene. “But Tushar and I made a trip along the coast in order to meet other surfers at all the different spots and we asked if any other girls were surfing and they just said no.
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india now
Now, Malaviya and Pathiyan give lessons to all travellers and most importantly to them — the local villagers in Manipal. Over the new year they also opened a surf camp — Camp Namaloha that they hope will support their work to build a sustainable surfing community that’s shared and enjoyed by Indians as well as tourists. While the Shaka Surf Club already runs surf lessons and hires boards, the process of putting together the first Indian surf team. Last December, with the help of Quicksilver India, the pair released a short documentary: A Rising Tide. It tells the story of surfing in India and features many of the key characters who have contributed to its development. “Indians are terrified of the sea,” says Malaviya, pointing to the thousands of drownings that occur in the country every year. “But now all the kids in the village surf with us. Before, none of them were even swimming. They’re conscious of the environment and know how to rescue people from the water. That’s the kind of change I want to see.” According to Malaviya, too many Indians think of the ocean as a “dumping ground”. “I want people to have a healthier relationship with the water,” she says. “Once you start spending time in the water also in you develop a respect for it — you want to keep your beach clean.” Of course, finding ways