In India, the underground skateboarding scene is having a cultural moment. (DC)

In India, the underground skateboarding scene is having a cultural moment. It is not a sport of the masses. It is an underground movement kept alive by small communities of dedicated riders. In less than 100 years since its invention, the sport has moved from being a countercultural movement to a recognized Olympic sport.

Community Spirit

All these skateparks which you see around the country are the result of more than a decade of work and dedication by few of the legendary skaters of this country. In Hyderabad, Hamza Khan runs one such skatepark. Hamza opened WallRide Park in 2017, at a time when skateboarding was almost unheard of. He grew up skateboarding outside the country. When he moved back to India, he saw small skateparks popping up in Bengaluru, Mumbai and Delhi. “You could count the skilled skateboarders on your two hands,” says Hamza of Hyderabad’s scene in 2017. However, today, new crews have sprung up across the city. It is a diverse community, spanning ages, backgrounds, and circles that might never otherwise cross. “We hold a lot of events. When we do events, we usually have 300-400 people coming,” Hamza says, mapping the rise of the scene from initial obscurity to a popular sport today.

The Homegrown Gear

Multiple collectives and brands lie at the epicentre of skateboarding popularity in India. A decade ago, there were hardly any good gears in India. Today, there are multiple brands like Dankies, SkateSupply, and FP making excellent gears. An average Piso skateboard costs around Rs 6,000. It is still the best way to enter the sport in India. Piso in Konkani means “crazy.” “When we used to skate around 2010-12, everybody would call us ‘Piso re tu’ (are you crazy). We thought this name was perfect,” Team Piso recalls. The unique thing about skateboarding is that there is a sense of community among all the skateboarders. “We feel a human being blossoms when he/she is at ease in whatever they are doing. This sport does that for you. Nicest moments are always the ones where you do not have to act or put on a show,” says Team Piso.

Style & Comfort

Many skaters sport a typical look – baggy clothing, the Chuck Taylors and Vans shoes and the skater cap. Members from Team Piso explain that it is not to show-off or make a fashion statement. Baggy clothing makes skating easier and practical. Vans is a community loved brand because it supported skaters and the culture. Many wear caps as they are always skating in the hot sun.

Skateboarding Economy

Sponsorship and funding for skateboarding is scarce in India because it is still a newly recognised sport. Shilpa from SkateLab Goa is blunt about the money factor. “Most brands that approach skateboarders offer barter deals, not payment. There's currently little income to be made from the sport itself in India.”

She emphasizes that the sport remains financially out of reach for many talented riders since a basic deck runs around ?4,000. Skate shoes wear out quickly and aren't cheap either. FP, a prominent skate shop in Delhi and a pioneer of the skateboarding culture, recently closed its doors in February owing to rising costs.

A Lifestyle, Not Just a Sport

Gautham Kamath, 39, Founder of Escape Skateboarding, believes that you are never too old for skateboarding. He quit his job to focus on skateboarding full time. “I started in 2012. For the first eight or nine months, I didn't have my own skateboard.” He founded Escape Skateboarding in 2015. “The agenda was to develop skateboarding as a lifestyle in India and grow the community.”

He has managed to sustain himself by engaging in a variety of verticals related to the sport from teaching and hosting events to building skateparks.“Skateboarding is a lifestyle. Once you are up to a certain level in skateboarding, the way you visualise the world totally changes. The way you see architecture is different from any other. The world becomes your playground. You see a stair set, a half bar, any kind of architecture – it looks skateable for you.”

Adventure Rolls On

He also launched Jugaad Skate, India's first official skateboarding contest. It is in its ninth year now. The event runs three formats: Game of Skate, Super Minute, and Best Trick with ?1.5 lakh given away in cash prizes.

Kamath is confident about where skateboarding is headed in the country. “The wheel has started rolling. In the next 10 years, it will probably be the most popular lifestyle sport,” he says. Till then, skaters are happy to ride the moment and keep rolling.

Tags: