As almost every gal going through quarter life crisis, I realized that Life. Is. Too. Short. I’ve had enough of the whining and marinating in a perpetual state of confusion. It’s time to take the bull by the horns and navigate my life toward the destination of preference at the speed of choice. “Paddle my own Canoe” as the old saying goes… So I drew up a bucket list of 10 items and got to work at accomplishing them one sucker at a time. At the top featured a long standing fantasy- to learn to surf. In no time I planned for a 4 day lesson at The Bay Of Life and flew all the way from Bombay to the Kovalam Beach lining the coast of Tamil Nadu. As simple as that!
Day 1 : My lazy self led me to believe that the first day would be majorly spent on land, learning about the water current, safety measures, yada yada yada. The kind of thing sham coaching classes do to prolong the course without having to actually teach anything. But not The Bay Of Life! My Coach- Selvam was super cool. He pushed me into the deep end right from the beginning. (Only as a matter of speaking. Relax) Of course, he sat me down on the clean sand and illustrated on it the aforementioned basics; but after those 10 odd minutes- Geronimo!
First I got into the deep and learnt to deal with waves of different sizes. It is at this point I realized that I had left my contact lenses in. How else could I be able to see so clearly under water? Ha! Once Selvam was convinced that I am infact, The Little Mermaid personified, he handed me the surf board. I named her Sofia… At first I was so pumped about the whole thing that I missed my cue to pop up on the board and remained laid out like an idiot. The water of course waits for nobody and did it’s job like it should. It was like hopping on a free ride to the shore… Weeee! Thereafter, I got down to business.
A good hour and a half in, it was all up to my Beatrix-Kiddo-esque reflexes, zen state of balance, woman’s instinct and of course – shutting of the eyes before hitting the water so that my contact lenses didn’t wash ashore! Ah the feeling! The wind trying its best to blow through my wet hair, cat fish racing me to the shore on either side of the board, the beautiful blue view all around and the bubble of energy swelling in my veins and in the waves under my feet.
Being one with nature trumps sitting on my arse from 9-5 at a desk and staring into a computer any day. Life man, LIFE! … One minute I’m holding on to it like Kate Winslet on the big door in Titanic, and the next minute I’m rockin’ it like Kate Bosworth! I loved it so much that all I did the first 3 days was hone the craft, however basic it seemed.
Day 4 arrived but my sore thighs had refused to leave. I wanted to master the angling like you see on ESPN but had to throw in the towel and bid adieu. I still fulfilled my wish and am amped about Surfing Lesson Part 2 (and No. 11 on my bucket list) – learning to pearl, aerial, tackle backdoors and overheads and the most important part of it all – look good while doing it! Gotta go Pro babe.
Yeah I endured bruises all over, acquired a tan that is over staying it’s welcome and blew the dough from the piggy bank. But it was one gnarly experience that left me with a salty yet sweet taste in my mouth. No more aspirations of shacking it in the urban jungle. I’m a former City Chic who is a bona fide Beach Babe with the biggest Blue Crush.
