Skateboarding in rural India

“And they didn’t know what a skateboard was!”

It Starts with a

Skateboard WORDS AND PHOTOS: ULRIKE REINHARD

There are a growing number of skateboard parks in India—both indoor and outdoor. You can find them in cities like Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata, and Mumbai, although they are not yet found in rural areas.

The great thing to see is that all of these skateparks are working together with schools. In fact, one school in Bangalore will soon include skateboarding in its teaching curriculum. Some may ask: skateboarding as a subject in school?

Why not, I would argue.

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What I have seen in the skateparks, and what I have heard from people running the parks, encourages me to think about combining skateboarding with learning. Here are some of the results we’ve seen when Indian children spend time at skateparks: • Boys and girls over all age groups and social classes are equally happy skating together. Keep in mind that, in India, boys and girls are usually separated because of religion and cast [or their social position in society].

• an increase in manners when dealing with each other • an improved sense of engagement, commitment, and dedication • a beautiful mix of children with various backgrounds coming together • more openness and a willingness to consider new topics

In Bangalore, I met a 13-year-old boy who truly impressed me. For him, the skatepark is life-changing. Instead of hanging out with the wrong crowd and being a big troublemaker for his mother, he is now fully engaged in skateboarding. And trust me, he does it well! He is still refusing to go to school. He dropped out two years ago.

But with a pretty clear statement, he told me that he decided to work and earn money to pay for his little brother’s education instead. He feels that his chances of returning to school are gone, and he doesn’t want to join classes with kids who are two years younger than he is.

He is a very strong-minded boy, and I could tell he is smart and a good kid. He found self-confidence in the skatepark.

It really shaped his personality in a very positive way. I was so amazed to see how he is handling the skateboard after only five months of practicing. I am sure, with or without school, the floor will be his!

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All this encouraged me to run a workshop. So, eight weeks ago, we went to Jodhpur, a tiny little village that’s about a three-hour drive from the bustling city of Delhi, to run a three-day painting and skateboarding event.

It was so much fun.

All the pictures you see here were taken there. The area is considered to be one of the poorest in the country.

And the kids who go to school in this village—only 30 % probably do—have never ever had lessons in sports or arts.

• There are 100+ ways of learning.

Imagine… they had never painted before! They neither had paper to paint on nor pencils or colors to paint with. And they didn’t know what a skateboard was!

So there we were with our painting and skateboarding workshop endeavor.

Almost in the middle of nowhere!

The toughest part of the workshop was to find a place where the kids could skate because there are no paved roads in the village and no concrete places around.

The only place we could find was a rooftop. But it turned out to be the most wonderful place. Overlooking the entire village, we could see a working camel walking around, buffalos, cows, goats, and plenty of dogs. We used one

part of the roof for painting and the other half for skateboarding. During the entire three days, we had about 100 children visiting us, plus many elders who came by and watched what the children were doing.

And they were doing great!

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The kids not only painted fantastically—we truly unlocked their creativity!—but they also became pretty confident on the skateboards. So what the workshop showed us was: • Kids do take their chance when they get one!

• Painting and skateboarding go beautifully together. I assume because, in both cases, the kids see and feel the immediate results of what they are doing.

• Kids always focus and concentrate if they love what they do.

• It’s not all that important that things are done or set up professionally. It’s much more important to just start doing them!

And above all: • A “learning” environment matters.

This experiment encouraged us to continue with our workshops, and we are even thinking about building a small skatepark in the village of Jodhpur—with help from near and far. _________________ Ulrike Reinhard is the founder and editor of we-magazine, which aims to examine how “we” can change the world for the good with the use of the Internet. In all her work, Ulrike tries to empower people and change lives, as well as the world. For more information on the endeavors of we-magazine, including its efforts to build a skatepark in Jodhpur, you can email we@we-magazine.net

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