Without the tourists, buses laden with noisy children on school excursions, souvenir shops, and seafood restaurants, Mamallapuram would have been a quaint fishing village whose inhabitants listened to music as they mended their fishing nets on hot afternoons. But a sport that the locals picked up from foreign tourists has transformed the historic seaside village. It’s difficult to trace the first villager who picked up the surf board in Mamallapuram. Today, almost every youngster there surfs with passion; some have gone on to master the sport and even make a living out of it.
“They’re all my boys,” says Mukesh, pointing to a group that surfs behind the Shore Temple. The 29-year-old runs a surf school in the village — a dream of many in Mamallapuram. With his long, bleached brown hair in a pony tail, laidback gait, and an attempted drawl, Mukesh represents the typical Mahabs surfer. “I started surfing nine years ago,” he says. “I picked it up from two Australian friends who came here.”
Mukesh’s father was a fisherman who went to sea on a catamaran. But Mukesh’s surfing skills took him in a completely different direction. “I signed up for an instructor course at the Surfing Federation of India,” he explains, adding that he’s a qualified surfing instructor and rescue scuba diver. He trains people from across the country. “I’ve surfed in a lot of places in India. But Mamallapuram’s beach setup is one of the best. The waves here are perfect for surfing — the result of a combination of the Shore Temple’s position, sand, wind, and water,” he says.
He makes around Rs. 25,000 a month. “If I go to sea, my earnings will be unstable in comparison. And as a surfing instructor, my life is not as risky a fisherman’s,” feels Mukesh. Santhosh, a fisherman’s son, learnt to surf using a wooden board four years ago. Every evening, after work at his brother’s sculpture shop, he would plunge into the waves to ride them. “I later saved money to buy a second-hand board,” he says. The 27-year-old is now employed by an Australian to shape surf boards.
“ Semma happy aidum ,” says Shanthan, of the feeling of riding a wave. The 18-year-old surfs for fun. But he also has another target in mind: surfing competitions. “If I win, I will get a cash prize or even a new surf board worth Rs.20,000,” he smiles. Gopi, a 25-year-old fisherman who learned to surf by himself, also wants to become a big name in the competition circuits. “I’m always in the water. If not for work, to surf,” he grins.
The best thing about surfing, feels Mukesh, is a sense of liberation. “You forget your problems when you’re out there. For the moment, nothing else matters but the waves. It’s just you, your board, and the sea,” he says. “It’s only when you come to land that all your thoughts rush to the mind.” He also says that he gets to meet different kinds of people, learn new languages and make a lot of friends. “I know a little of German, French, Russian, and Spanish,” he adds.
Surfing has brought various cultures together — in Mamallapuram, it’s common to find local fishermen with foreign girlfriends and vice-versa. The sport has also brought down alcoholism amongst fishermen. Gopi says that he tended to drink whenever he had free time. “But now, I don’t drink much. Where is the time?” he asks.
Also, involvement in a sport makes one conscious about their well-being. Mukesh says that surfers tend to eat healthy, and drink and smoke less. “We have to be fit. Our body has to have the stamina to keep going. So we keep off from alcohol.” He adds: “After all, surfing itself can get addictive.”
