Surfing is riding the local wave, thanks to ripple effects of pandemic and social media influence

April 23, 2022 Editor Ripple 0

The pandemic is a big factor driving this surge, at multiple levels.

Synopsis

​​With demand increasing threefive times, we have added more rooms, facilities and trainers,” says Rammohan Paranjape, veteran surfer and instructor at Mantra. Paranjape, also vice-president at the Surfing Federation of India, estimates that the number of surfing schools has doubled to 50, from before the pandemic.

Scrolling through Instagram early last year, one post by an influencer caught the eye of Aparna Harikumar, a software engineer in Kochi. “They had put up posts of surfing in Varkala (near Thiruvananthapuram). That’s how I found out there was an option to try surfing in Kerala at all,” says Harikumar, 29, who enjoys travelling and trying out adventure sports, experiences she regularly shares with her 17,500 Instagram followers.

That first trial

BY

ET Bureau

7 mins read, Last Updated:

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