World Water Day Special: In conversation with surfer Ishita Malaviya

It's been eight years since she first got on a surfboard and she has no regrets whatsoever. Not the fact that she ignored comments about how dark surfing was making her skin, nor the fact that she and her partner sold practically everything they could to buy their first surfboard. The journalism graduate relocated from Mumbai to Kodi Bengre, a fishing village in Karnataka, and set up The Shaka Surf Club when she realised that there was no way she could go back to Bombay and take on a nine to five job after having gotten a taste of the surfing lifestyle. She has since become an ambassador of the international surfwear brand–Roxy, travelled around the southern coast of India with incredible women long-boarders to film Beyond the Surface (which screened last year and is now live on iTunes), surfed in Hawaii, California and Australia and even had breakfast with Jack Johnson. “I've realised that if you just focus on one thing for the rest of your life, things start to happen. Last year was just incredible, it was like the magic; a celebration of life,” she tells us.

“I'm blessed”, says the 26-year-old. “Surfing has helped me simplify my life. I know that no matter what circumstances come and go, I will always have surfing. It's a lifetime commitment. It teaches you to stay humble and keep growing. I intend to spread surfing, without creating exclusivity around the sport, but rather with a sense of community,” She's looking forward to big wave season (April-May), a month before the monsoon starts, when the biggest waves hit the west coast of India.

To Ishita, who didn't have too many surfing role models to look up to,  travelling by van through April 2013 with a team of free-spirited female long boarders “felt like being part of a sisterhood and brought an element of magic to my life. They are all so inspiring in their own ways  and firmly believe in the impact you can make as an individual by staying positive, living healthy and uplifting each other. They are non-competitive. It's like finding family you never knew you were missing.”

The women she travelled with have raised the bar for her, “not only in terms of physical agility and grace, but in terms of how they live. They are not just surfers, they are soul-surfing ambassadors of the ocean”. Liz Clark–who was recently declared National Geographic adventurer of the year surfs, works near the South Pacific Islands and kayaks solo to remote islands–is an inspiration. As is yogi Kate Baldwin. “Environmentalist and feminist Lauren Hill's belief that one person making a small change can have a large impact inspires me to continue doing what I do. Emi Koch has a big heart and through her organisation Beyond the Surface International, she puts her passion for surfing into working for children and motivates us to continue our work with kids”. Ishita and her partner Tushar plan to launch a photography workshop for kids to give them a creative platform to air the challenges that they are facing. “I was a big fan of her videos and pictures online,” says Ishita of Crystal Thornburg-Homcy, producer, director and environmentalist, who was responsible for bringing all these women together and bringing Beyond the Surface to life.

Life at Kodi Bengre is much the same as when we last talked about it. The regular beach clean-ups still happen. The village kids still come to the club to surf and now that exams are round the corner (so they can't always come),  they have taken to skate-boarding to keep their balance in check. While there are still too few girls who surf, one of the little boys' mum did try her feet at it, so things are clearly looking up for women in the water. They have not made much progress in terms of forming a national surfing team, but that could change anytime...

Read about other women who live, breathe and dream water:

Diver and marine conservationist Nayantara Jain http://dnai.in/cCvo

Under-14 Nationals swimming medalist Ariesa Mongia  http://dnai.in/cCvm

Award-winning sailor Rohini Rau http://dnai.in/cCvs