The Kallialay Surf-School and the INDI Surfboards

Juan and Samai, the brothers who started the surf school in Auroville, arrived in 1995 at the ages of 11 and 10 respectively. Within a year’s time, they were introduced to the surfing world by the Auroville surfing pioneers, André, Patrick, Jacky, and Andy. At that time, Repos Beach was a lively Sunday afternoon destination where, in a self-made surf shack behind the community kitchen, a dozen surfboards were contested by youngsters eager to get to the waves.

Samai recalls those days: “Boards were very hard to come by, one could only get a board through someone who travelled to a surfing destination.” Originally, they had only one highly-coveted board that was exchanged and used by many.

By the year 2000, the two brothers were fully hooked to the sport and 14 members of the makeshift surf club raised some money to go on a surf trip to Sri Lanka for 2 weeks. Upon their return, fuelled up by their trip’s success, they began to raise money for a skate park, another sport that had caught their interest when they started surfing. Many Aurovilians may remember the loud youngsters skating on the Solar Kitchen terrace, using a precarious customised metal ramp. Six months later, with the help of their father, Eric, they built the first skate park in south-east India, in Auroville. It is called Concrete Jungle and is located near Dana. By 2004, many young people were interested in skating, and they catered to that by offering coaching sessions. Juan admits: “One of our proteges, Satya, now skates at a higher level than us!”

From 2005 till 2006, Juan went to work at a surf school in the south west of France, where he gained first-hand experience on how to run a surf school. Among other things, he learned about the safety measures that every surf school must adhere to. Today, Juan, Nicola, Samai, Dylan and Perceval all have their surf instructor diploma from the International Surfing Association. Besides this, Samai also has the level one surf judge diploma.

In 2006, Juan procured two boards from France, and soon he began teaching people. That’s how the first surf school ‘Offshore Surf School’ emerged. Three years later, Juan and Samai met up for work in Paris, and decided to focus their surfing enthusiasm in Auroville, the place they call home. The surf school is located close to Quiet, where the waves are ideal. It is called Kallialay Surf School (KASS). This, literally translated, means ‘rock’ (kallu) and ‘wave’ (allay) in Tamil. Furthermore, ‘Kallialay’ can also mean ‘big wave’ (Kali’s wave). Thanks to rock piers built at Serenity Beach after the 2004 Tsunami, the waves are more suitable for surfing now, and enable teaching at all levels, from beginners to more advanced.

Slowly but surely, Kallialay’s surf lessons attracted more and more customers, and today they give lessons almost every day of the year.

Moving forward

In 2011, KASS played a big part in helping to organise the first surf competition in Mahabalipuram, organised by Temple Adventures. There they met India’s upcoming surfing generation, with whom they saw the potential to develop and support the surfing culture and sport. Since then, the surfers from Kallialay Surf School have gained a reputation for always bringing home trophies. For example, after the last competition organised in Covelong, Juan, Suhasini, Mahiran and Perceval gained international ranking in the Asian Surfing Championship (ASC).

For three years in a row, KASS also organised its own surf competition in Pondicherry. It is called the Summer Swell Challenge (SSC). Juan explains, “SSC grew to become a platform where young people showcase their talent and meet other enthusiastic surfers and skaters from around the world.” It was supported by the Pondicherry Tourism Department as well as various other local and international brands, all of whom have shown great interest in India’s surf culture.

The INDI Surfboards

In 2012, when Nicola returned after six months of work in Switzerland, he was determined to push the adventure further. After many years of importing expensive surfboards (made of foam, resin, and wood) the KASS crew developed the motivation to make their own boards. With Nicola’s input, INDI Surfboards was created in February, 2014. At this point, Kallialay Surf School expanded their office (located in Auzolan, Reve) into the INDI workshop.

Samai explains that over the last 60 years, as surfing has become more and more competitive, scientists have used physics to test various raw materials and come up with the best formula. This generally comprises foam, wood, fiberglass, and resin. Parallel to this, the majority of surfboards are mass-produced on Asian conveyer belts by Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machines for the larger market. These surfboards all go through a standard process and are never handled by anyone who knows what they will be used for. Sadly, this means that commercial quality control (usually an externally hired professional) is the only factor that ensures the board’s performance.

The surfboards made by INDI are manufactured from scratch, by surfers for surfers, using the most biodegradable Indian raw materials. This means that, unlike commercially-produced boards, all these boards are shaped by someone who would love to surf it. As the board’s progress goes from raw material to finalised product, every detail of its journey is scrutinised and improved upon by the shaper. Samai explains: “When the foam arrives in large blocks, we cut them into four smaller blocks, using our handmade custom foam-cutting machine. Each of these blocks will make either several short boards or larger boards.”

INDI Surfboards creates templates and outlines based on the output of a computer shaping programme. Using this, each of the smaller blocks is then cut out into two symmetrical pieces. At this point, a thin wooden stringer is glued between the two symmetrical pieces, and a blank is born. Nico says: “Unlike other shapers, who order their blanks according to their orders, INDI makes their own.”

Using the templates, the convex blank will be transformed into a surfboard by hand. The newly transformed blank, which now resembles the final shape but is still very fragile, will travel to the glassing room. There, every eight hours, it receives a hand layered blanket of fiberglass (4 or 6 oz), each layer impregnated with epoxy resin, for a total of four layers. After this, four more coats of pure epoxy resin with a homemade X formula are added, to complete the glassing process. Then, the board is sanded down and polished.

An INDI surfboard

The first board

The first board INDI ever shaped without anyone’s help materialized out of sheer motivation. It took place outside their workshop in Auzolan. Nico explains: “By the time we had the blank ready there was glue everywhere, foam everywhere, and wood everywhere. Worst of all, it was already 7 30 pm. Just then, the power cut. Dylan and Samai wanted to go home after a full day at the surf school, but I wanted to continue. So Samai became the shaping rack, while Dylan filled in for the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board with a phone torch light.” He adds: “After a few weeks, when the shaping bay actually got ready, I finished that board, and that’s the first board that all of us tested glassing on. We all surfed it, and that board exceeded all of our expectations!”

The workshop

After seeing Nico’s heroic shot at making surfboards in the dark, the boys decided that they needed a workshop with proper lighting and shaping rack. So, together with Eric’s much needed input, they got their hands dirty and constructed the INDI Surfboards workshop adjacent to the KASS office in Auzolan. Nico says: “We did a lot of research online, for weeks and weeks, long nights, there was lots of trial and error.” Then, once the shaping bay was built, they hosted two experienced shaper friends from the Reunion Islands, Philippe and Yann from Ultimate Surfboards (who shaped two boards for three times world champion named Tom Curren). They shared some of their knowledge with the INDI boys.

Samai recalls one incident. “After we’d made a few boards, Eric, who has many years of experience in plastering and construction, asked if he could try to glass.” He was not wearing any gloves or protection. “He only tried one coat. Afterwards, he had to shower for days to get himself clean,” Samai says, hiding a grin.

All in all, their journey has not been easy. Actually, they say it was hell. Specifically, Nico exclaims: “Months and months of research, phone calls, driving, testing mailing, recalling, remailing, returning material, and just going crazy. We have been searching for a very long time in order to make boards from domestic raw materials only.”

Today, their custom-shaped and 100% made in India boards are very popular. Professional surfers have tried them; INDI sponsored surfers have won prizes, and if you drive down to Serenity Beach on any given day when there are waves, you’ll see someone in the water surfing one.

The next time you venture into Solar Kitchen and see them covered in white foam, you know a board has just been born. And if they are covered in white zinc, they’ve spent the last few hours teaching people how to surf.

For more information visit 

http://www.surfschoolindia.com