Surf Like A Girl: Story Of India's First Female Stand Up Paddling Racer

I've often heard passing references to the term water baby but it's after my conversation with Tanvi Jagadish that I learned the depths of it. Jagadish grew up very close to the ocean; while it was organic that the geographical setting she was raised in influenced her love for adventures at sea, the stereotype-defined society she lived in didn't make it easy for her to do so. She did it, nevertheless. Today, Tanvi Jagadish is India's first female stand up paddling racer, and this is just one of the many titles this 24-year-old has earned along the way. 

At the recent National Stand Up Paddling (SUP) Championship, Tanvi Jagadish paddled her way to the championship title with a timing of 28:16.29 minutes, marking yet another record by beating last year's 30:32.63 minutes set by Tamil Nadu's Monika P.

 In conversation with SheThePeople, Tanvi Jagadish gets candid on her adventures at sea, her journey to becoming India's first female stand up paddling racer, the stereotypes she continues to wave off, and how she preserves the very place that gives her happiness.  

Tanvi Jagadish - The Ocean Girl 

Growing up in coastal Karnataka, Jagadish often spent her vacations with her grandparents in Mangalore's Mulki. Inspired by her grandfather and her brother, a nine-year-old Jagadish went paddling for the first time and that feeling lasted with her for long after. Jagadish, who initially started surfing and paddling sans her parents' knowledge, eventually gave away her secret - the journey thereafter only got tougher. While Jagadish's mother was apprehensive when it came to her taking up the sport professionally, they did eventually come around. 

"It was really my brother and my grandfather who backed me up in my quest to learn Surfing and Stand Up Paddling. My brother was a huge inspiration for me growing up. He was one of the few people who convinced my family to give me the bandwidth and support to take a chance at this."

Waving Through Tides And Stereotypes Parallelly  

Jagadish's pursuit of the sport professionally at just 14 required her to spend an umpteen amount of time in water, and that meant she wasn't living by the stereotyped standard of how a teenager should. "My family thought that my focus should be on education. Also because I was being bullied a lot for my appearance with my tanning and my hair getting hardwired, my parents really worried for me. I was teased always for my complexion, my surf clothes, and my choice of sports because everyone around me thought back then that surfing was only meant for boys. I found it hard to convince those around me that this was it, this was the sport for me. It took me an army (my brother, grandparents and friends) to help convince my parents." 

Jagadish took SUP as her main sport, a sport she also wanted to compete in internally as soon as she could. Jagadish has been a six-time stand-up paddling (SUP) national champion ever since she participated in the domestic championship in 2013. It was in 2016 in Fiji that she realised her long-standing dream of representing India on international waters (quite literally). "I wanted to compete internationally because it was always been my dream to make my country proud and bring more glory to it. I was eventually one of the first two athletes from India to go to the World Cup in 2016 and I will never forget that memory." 

Was there a life-altering moment during the first international partition? "Yes, there was a moment that humbled me. When I went to my first-ever stand-up paddling world cup in Fiji conducted by the International Surfing Association, I was crying during the race course because I was really nervous and it was a tough race for me. However, when I reached the finish line, I saw all the participants cheering not just for me but also for my country. They came together and put the Indian flag around me." recalls Jagadish. It was at that moment that Jagadish wholly learned what it means to be a sportsperson and why there's something beyond winning that sports give you. 

Jagadish soon after participated in the US Open in 2017 where she finished third place, and further made a lasting mark at the Asia Cup in China, Denmark's Paddleboard Championship, ISA World SUP and Singapore Ocean Cup. 

Surf Like A Girl

Jagadish's enthusiasm to see more women in surfing and SUP stems from her own training days when she practised in isolation with few to no girls around her on a paddle. She wanted to bridge the gap and given her myriad of achievements and experience, she's ensuring this with her school, Kadal Surf School, which she co-founded with her friend Rohan R Suvarna. 

In the hope that the sport catches up with more girls and women in India, Jagadish launched an event called 'Surf Like A Girl' where they bring women from all across the country to one place and organise training and competitions. Jagadish's school, located in Karnataka's Malpe Beach, also teaches stand-up paddle yoga to women and kids. 

“The ocean teaches you to live without boundaries. That's lesson 101. You're free, on the edge, eager and calm at the same time. That's what water sports do to you - they help you align your centre whilst navigating the harshest of storms and waves - much like life."

Jagadish's goals for Indian women in Stand Up Paddling are many but, as she says, they're all achievable. "We must have more girls participating in the Nationals and have a very strong Girls Team who will represent India in the World and Asian Championship."

Rivers And Resposibility

I recently spoke to a kayaker in Uttarakhand and we discussed the condition of India’s water bodies. She expressed how India is blessed with a variety of landscapes and rich geographical heritage, all of which we have taken for granted; something she is actively looking to improve on her part as a paddler who calls the Ganges her home. How important it is for all citizens to come together and keep our seas and oceans clean, now more than ever? 

That is one of the big reasons why I started school too. We want to spread awareness about rivers and ocean bodies through sports. I truly believe educating one another more about the role water bodies play in our lives will help us appreciate it more and lessen the pollution that has currently dominated India's water bodies to no end. I try my best to spread awareness about dumping plastic waste in the rivers and oceans; it's not just for marine life, it's also for the benefit of the fishing communities. 

Stereotypes attached to women taking on water sports in India

With many young girls training at her school entering the sport professionally, Jagadish is hopeful that India will see a rise in women surfers and paddlers in the near future. One of the ways to enable this is to get more female trainers on board, believes Jagadish, who has enough trainers on board. Kadal is also the first Surf and SUP school to be headed by a female instructor. 

"If we talk about ten years back, there was hostility around women taking up water sports professionally. Now this stemmed from many reasons including a lack of female trainers, safety issues, and certainly a lack of awareness and means. A lot has changed now. There's more awareness about the sport and so is acceptance - that's where all change begins."