Surfing Swami says Vanakkam

CHENNAI: Looking at his supremely tanned skin and wizened smile, it would be a task to associate the 65-year-old American with a name like Narasimha Swami, or as everyone on the beach hails him, ‘Surf’ Swami. “That was just a name that came about after I started the surfing ashram at Mulki, near Mangalore,” he laughs the genial old surfer.Mulki is just 30 km from Mangalore where India Surf Club is situated. Jack, as he was christened in Jacksonville, Florida, has fond memories of battling waves at Mahabalipuram back in 1976; when he came to India first.His journey as a ‘swami’ began in the US, he says, but strengthened during his travels across India, “I stayed for a long time at Chaitanya Saraswati Ashram in Bengal before setting up my own in Mysore in 1994,” he says. “Baba Ramdev is a friend of mine,” he adds with a twinkle. Promoting the sport in India, he feels gratified that the demand for learning surfing had “skyrocketed” in India  in the last three years. “The best part is that close to 65 per cent of the 151 students we had last year were Indians. When we started we had only foreigners,” he recalls. Almost to the point of being forcible, the swami exhorts that with optimum training, surfing is one of the safest sports in India. “It’s not even close to being as dangerous as driving on the highways here,” he smirks. Humour aside, he explains how he infuses strong codes into his lessons. “My kids surf because they love the sport, they don’t drink, smoke or do drugs. Surfing is good, clean fun,” he says before heading out to attack the waves in the ‘legends’ category.