Mumbai to Goa, on a kayak

A couple of months ago Kaustubh Khade was all set to get a promotion However for that the 28yearold IITian would have had to forego the sabbatical he was planning to take from work The reason mdash Khade wanted to prepare and go for a solo kayaking expedition from Mumbai to Goa and needed at least three months off from work to sort everything out and train ldquoWhen I told my parents about the promotion they were really happy but later my mom pointed out that promotions can happen later For now I should do what my heart really desiresrdquo Khade tells usKaustubh Khade plans to kayak across the coastline of India He did end up going for that expedition Starting his journey from the Gateway of India on February 14 Khade covered a distance of over 410 km to reach Morjim Beach in Goa on March 2 and in the process receiving a nod from the Limca Book of Records as the Longest Solo Kayaking expedition by an IndianTraining timeKhadersquos interest in kayaking sparked off five years ago when he took a double kayak out with his friends to go dolphinspotting with his friend at Goa ldquoThe waters were choppy the wind was blowing and I fell in love with the sportrdquo says the young man who went on to represent India at two Asian Championships At the Asian Dragon Boat Championship in 2012 in Thailand he won two silver and one bronze medal and in 2013 at the Asian Sea Kayaking Championship in Krabi he finished fifth out of 17 participants ldquoThatrsquos when it struck me that somebody should kayak across the Indian coastline and that could be me For that I needed to set a precedent The MumbaiGoa kayaking expedition was always meant to be a pilot projectrdquo he saysKhade took off from work at the end of October last year to prepare for the event which he knew would be mentally as well as physically gruelling The kayaker was hosted at Mandwa for two weeks by the Bombay Sailing Association ldquoI would do endurance training for threefour hours in the morning and would practice balance and speed in the afternoon when the winds and tides are the strongestrdquo he recalls He also went to Kolad to practise kayak rolls mdash the act of righting a capsised kayak by use of body motion or a paddle mdash and ended up seriously hurting his right knee ldquoThe doctor said I would have to rest it out for three weeks but I just rested for three days insteadrdquo he grinsSuch a long journeyOn the morning of February 14 Khade mdash cheered on by his family and friends as well as the children from Magic Bus a nonprofit organisation working with underprivileged children with the help of sportsbased curriculum mdash set off for the big task With only a safety boat by his side the 17 day journey saw him paddle across Kihim Kashid Diveagar Velas Beach Murud Anjanvel Velneshwar Ganpatiphule Ratnagiri Godavne Devgad Tarkarli and Vengurla to reach his destinationldquoOut of the 17 days I paddled for 14 and rested for threerdquo says Khade On some days he would paddle in the mornings and on some in the evenings ldquoDuring the Tarkarli to Vengurla stretch there was a constant wind blowing in my face with waves coming right at me My 19 foot kayak would have turned turtle even if I would have stopped paddling for ten seconds So in such times you just need to keep movingrdquo says Khade whose parents accompanied him on the safety boatNow the sportsmanrsquos ambition is to kayak across the 7500 km long coastline of India ldquoDespite the awards there is hardly any recognition of the sports in India Maybe this will make people sit up and take noticerdquo he says But for that hersquoll need a longer sabbatical from work ldquoYes thatrsquos truerdquo laughs Khade ldquoBut my bosses have been really positive about my ventures and I hope they continue to support merdquo