Surfing Swami a.k.a Swami Narasingha departed from this world on Jan 2nd, 2020 amidst his dear disciples, followers, and well-wishers at his spiritual dwelling near Mysore.
Surfing Swami established India’s first surf club – Mantra Surf Club in 2004. Swami was one of the early members of North Florida’s first surf club, Oceanside in 1963 and was among the pioneers of surfing on the East Coast of the United States. Forty years later He pioneered many aspects of surfing movement in India along with his students with the aim of making surfing a recognised sport in the country.
Those who knew Swami, know him as a person who was always enthusiastic about surfing, ocean and holistic living. His energy in water was infectious and He always carried the spirit of Aloha. He deeply cared about the ocean and well-being of surf communities. In 2014 Surfing Swami singlehandedly began the work of the Surfing Swami Foundation[SSF], funding all its activities personally.
Surfing Swami has immensely contributed towards the growth of surfing in India by establishing the surf club/school model [Mantra Surf Club] back in the early 2000’s, he was also instrumental in establishing of Surfing Federation of India, the National Governing Body of Surfing in India and created other ventures such as Surf Adventure Enterprises, Thundermonkey Surf Gear Pvt Ltd, India Surf Tours Co. which setup the template for surf industry in India. Surfing Swami and his work has been widely recognised in over 300 news publications and magazines around the world from The Washington Post, BBC, Surfer Magazine, India Today, National Geographic, Lonely Planet, Sports Illustrated, Der Spiegel, The Inertia, Redbull Media, Economic Times, The Guardian, The Telegraph UK and many more.
We are deeply saddened by His untimely demise, it will take us a long time to come to terms with it. He has left a great void in our lives which will probably never be replaced. His legacy will be honoured and continued by all his followers and well-wishers at Mantra Surf Club & Surfing Swami Foundation in the near future.
We would also like to thank each and everyone who’s been part of His journey and ours.
Once more, the local youth of Mulki & Mangalore came together to make this effort of contributing to the environment. The event “Mantra Beach Clean-Up” was held on 7th & 8th of December 2019 & was a success with over 150 people helping Cleanup the beach. The event was organized by Surfing Swami Foundation in association with Mantra Surf Club to promote Beach cleanliness & Ocean Awareness among the youth.
50 NCC cadets from Narayan Guru School cleaned the beach on 7th & 100 Students from Alva’s college & came in on 8th to do the same. We briefed them about why this trash ends up here on the Beach, How to segregate them into Recyclable Waste of Glass, Rubber & Plastic.
Why it is important!
When people actually clean the beaches they realize why we should be more aware of the Consumption of One-time use/disposable materials & where we should dispose of our daily waste.
It was Humbling to watch everyone from NCC Students to College youth picking up the trash and cleaning up our environment. After 3 hours of picking & segregating, we had successfully cleaned the beach and disposed of the trash to Recycling. Everybody had a sense of contribution to a Social cause and a feeling of satisfaction when they were returning from the beach. There was also a Surfing demonstration in the waters where surfers were catching waves and encouraging people to learn this exciting sport of Surfing and becoming comfortable with the ocean. After coming back there was Refreshment provided by Surfing Swami Foundation. The Clean-up was embraced & cheered by many local people around Mulki.
Our Supporters
This event was supported by Bolas, Novigo solutions, Semnox and CodeCraft without whom, executing on this Social cause would not be possible. Sincere thanks to Mr. Gangadhar Poojary to lead all the NCC cadets with discipline, Thanks to all the Volunteers from Semnox group lead by Mr. Raghu Saligram. We would also like to thank Mr. Gaurav Hegde, Director of SSF & constant supporter of these events. Kudos to Team Mantra for making this event possible.
The event aimed to keep our environments clean & bring awareness to the Local people regarding Ocean awareness & Waste management. Surfing Swami Foundation plans to continue hosting such monthly events to protect its pristine beaches along the coastline of Karnataka.
We heart-fully extend our gratitude to all the Students/Teachers of Alvas College & Narayan Guru School & to all the other volunteers who turned up and especially Mantra Surf Club for being the backbone of these Cleanups.
Recently, 25 students from Shri Ram Global School from Bangalore (OMR Branch) visited us. The students learned surfing, kayaking, stand up Paddling and a lot more fun activities. We would like to thank the administration for taking such initiative and introducing young kids to sports and activities like these. It’s always good to start sports like surfing at a very young age. In a country like India where water sports are still a growing sport, it was nice to see these kids embrace the ocean and surfing.
This is the second time the school has brought the students over to Mantra Surf Club. We would like to take this opportunity to appeal to other schools and organizations to take a similar step. Surfing is an amazing activity and helps kids in more ways than just physical fitness. It helps kids to have patience, focus, build team spirit and a lot more.
Beat Plastic Pollution while Surfing!
The students also helped us with cleaning the beach. We told them about the adverse effects of plastic on the environment and how we can contribute towards cleaner oceans. They picked up the trash and segregated them into plastic, glass and rubber waste. This was later sent to the recycling plant.
The beach clean up programs are regularly organized by Surfing Swami Foundation and supported by Mantra Surf Club. We aim to encourage more schools and organizations to participate in such activities. The kids will learn about waste management in the early years and this helps to create a cleaner environment going forward.
Surfing India – Surf, Kayak, and Keep the beaches clean!
We would like to once again that Shri Ram Global School for taking the initiative to make this happen. We hope to see more schools and organizations come forward to do this. Here are some pictures and a small video compilation of the students and teachers surfing, having fun and helping with the beach cleaning.
The event “Mantra Beach Clean-Up” was a major success with almost 150 students and adults from colleges and institutions nearby. The event was organized by Surfing Swami Foundation in association with Mantra Surf Club to promote Beach cleanliness & Ocean Awareness among the youth.
The Cleanup started at 7.00 AM as students from Alva’s college & St.Aloysius college came in early to pick up the trash and we briefed them about How this trash ends up here on the Beach, How to segregate them into Recyclable waste of Glass, Rubber &
Plastic and Why we should be more aware of where we dispose of our daily waste.
It was amazing to watch everyone from Students to adults and even small kids picking up the trash and cleaning up our environment. After three hours of picking & separating, we had successfully cleaned the beach and disposed of the trash to Recycling. Everybody had a sense of contribution to a Social cause and a feeling of satisfaction when they were returning from the beach. There was also a Surfing demonstration in the waters where surfers were catching waves and encouraging people to learn this exciting sport of Surfing and becoming comfortable with the ocean. The Clean-up was embraced & cheered by many local people around Mulki.
This event was made possible by our Sponsors ORB energy, Shakti Enterprises & Kalbavi Cashews without whom, executing on this Social cause would not be possible. We would also like to thank our special guests Prakash Kalbavi from Kalbavi cashews, Mr. Sudhakar (Panchayat, Vice president, Hejamady), Mr.Yatish Baikampady (CEO of Panambur beach tourism development project), Mr. Gaurav Hegde & Satya Shamanth Kumar (Directors of Surfing Swami Foundation), and Mr. Kiran. Kumar from Mantra Surf Club for their constant support.
The aim of the event was to keep our environments clean & bring awareness to the Local people regarding Ocean awareness & Waste management. We thank Team Mantra & Surfing swami foundation for their constant support. Surfing Swami Foundation plans to continue hosting such monthly events to protect its pristine beaches along the coastline of Karnataka.
We heart-fully extend our gratitude to all the students/teachers of
St. Aloysius college & Alvas college, all the volunteers who turned up and especially Mantra Surf Club for their constant support.
The Surfing Swami Foundation had handpicked the potential surfer kids during the “Mantra Grom Search” for further training. They were trained and closely monitored by Mantra Surf Club in Mulki, The aim of this training was to help them progress under the supervision of surfing coaches for competitions. Coaches helped these kids set their goals and help them understand the Judging criteria.
Finally, the time has come and the boys were thrilled when they got the news that they will be participating in the annual National Surfing Competition. This was their dream come true for them. All the time they had put in for training, traveling up and down to Mulki, and balancing their education, family, and poverty was not easy.
Covelong Point Surfing Competition
Covelong point festival was a great learning experience for all of our boys. It didn’t matter if they won or lost. Our aim was to give them exposure to competing in the big leagues. Surfing against some of the best surfers in the country. This was the opportunity that they had been waiting for. They kept the Surf spirit high and would always wake up early for the sunrise practice session. They would Read the waves and current, Discuss new maneuvers, fine-tune the turns & everyone was always keen on observing and learning new tricks & skills.
The stand out performance was from little guy Subramani, who made it to the semi-finals of the U16 category. Subramani recalls “This is one of my best days so far. The local competitors did not make it easy. I learned a lot from this competition. I will train harder for next year and will finish on the podium” says Subramani with a little cheeky smile.
Overall, They gave a tough competition to all the participants and really put their skills to test at Kovalam. It was a sight to watch all the boys cheer each other on. They proved to us that no matter what the results are, they will give their best in the process to get there. In the end, it’s all about putting your feet back on the ground and starting again.
The boys also tried their hand at weight lifting and CrossFit sessions at CultFit, at the festival & won goodies & t-shirts from Cult-fit & GoPro.
Supporters
This wouldn’t have been possible without the generous support from all quarters.
On behalf of Surfing Swami Foundation, We want to take this opportunity to thank Mantra Surf Club, for their help in coaching these kids for free, and each and everyone who have supported through their financial contribution. Gaurav Hedge, Shaili Seth, Deekshit Rai, and Henry Britto.
