Mahin Tandon, all of 13 years, uses a skateboard to go from one room to the other in his house.
The skateboarding bug bit him almost a year ago after he saw some characters skateboarding in a popular TV cartoon series. “I was hooked to watching skateboarders on YouTube and the television and wanted to learn more. I attended an event organised by Holystoked, a Bengaluru-based skating collective at a skate park on Sarjapur Road. I loved the sessions and signed up for classes. It has been almost a year and I skate board everyday. I enjoy it since it ensures that I am away from screens and able to develop an exercise routine.”
Mahin is among the many individuals, cutting across the age and gender divide taking up skateboarding and heralding the emergence of Bengaluru as the skateboarding capital of the country.
Vijayan TP, who manages a surfboarding club in Kovalam in Kerala says, “Bengaluru is one of the main centres for surfboarding in the country. Events such as the world skateboarding day that was recently conducted in Freedom Park ensures that the community stays in touch and gets a forum to showcase their skills.”
Abhishek S. was an early convert to the skateboarding craze. He is now a trainer at one of the skate parks managed by the Holystoked collective and a founding member. He says, “When we started out a couple of years ago, there were only a handful of skateboarding enthusiasts in the city. We were one of the first crews to set up a collective and spread awareness about the sport. We wanted to provide people another avenue to relax and have fun, instead of pub crawling or partying every day. Our efforts ensured that Bengaluru became the epicentre of the sport in India. We helped create skate parks in Sarjapur and Hedge Nagar.”
He adds, “We have students from all age groups. One of the advantages of the skate parks is that they offer an opportunity for skaters to meet up and hone their skills in a common space. We also conduct many events in these parks. With narrow roads and broken pavements, Bengaluru is not very skateboard friendly and such spaces offer an opportunity for the public to reclaim spaces.”
Abhishek feels that a good skateboarder needs to be passionate and eager to learn. “You do not need to be a sportsperson to become a good skateboarder. It is safe and a lot of fun.”
Talking about the origins of skateboarding in the city, Poornabodh Nadavatt, a trainer, the brains behind many pan India skate boarding events and a Holystoked co-founder, says, “It was in the stadiums of Bashwesar Nagar that we learnt about skateboarding. We got the first skateboards after Decathlon opened its store in the city.
However, we have found it more comfortable to create our own boards. When we started with Holystoked, we were a small group. Now, there are more than 1,000 students across the city and the numbers are growing every day. We have helped in setting up skate parks in Bolivia and many other countries.”
Poornabh adds, “I hope that one day skateboarding replaces cricket as the top sport in the country. The lack of bureaucracy ensured that talent gets noticed and can be nurtured. It is a sport that does not need an expensive kit and can be picked up by anyone.”
