Waves and Boards

I wanted to write this blog earlier, but in the last few months I have been caught up with the waves. I picked up surfing this year, and I am thrilled by the sport. After my first trip to Thailand in June, I got a taste of surfing at Kamala Beach, Phuket. I cannot remember much of that experience, I caught 2 waves and the instructor took me to try some bigger waves deeper in the ocean. I was in Phuket at the beginning of the season so it was perfect to dip my toes in.

I was hungry for more and I took my cousin Amartya's advice and made a trip to Udupi in Karnataka to join the Shaka Surf Club. This was a place that had taken on the culture of surfing in India. The camp had a skate park where residents and friends could surf-skate and skateboard. The atmosphere was friendly just like any other camp environment with activities like kayaking, board games, skating,frisbees, and of course surfing. Everyone once in a while a musician would pop up and everyone would sing along.

Over the next six days I learned a lot about ocean waves. How waves come in sets, searching for the peak, how coastlines and beaches create all this fun. I had developed an appreciation for fluid dynamics and waves, with so many forces in play that create a beautiful swell that breaks evenly or a giant that crashes with a roar. Maybe I might start a project that dwells more deeply into fluid dynamics and waves.

I learnt a lot of safety lessons from surfing as well, in fact my first lesson was taught by a bloody lip on the very first day! I had surfed my second wave of the day, I felt ecstatic, I had forgotten all about the board that was tied to my ankle. In that moment the board had sneaked back between me and the next crashing wave. I turned around and immediately remembered thinking oh shit! The board was flat on the wave and was falling flat on my face. Now my first instinct after wiping out is to cocoon and surrender to the waves force and let them pass and then hang on to my board.

Thanks for tuning in.