Murthy Megavan Biography 
Murthy Megavan is an Indian surfer from Chennai, south India. A fisherman turned surfer, he created a name of his own in the field of Indian surfing. The young son of a fisherman didn’t limit himself to catching fish and he wanted to ride the waves. Despite being talented, he remained undiscovered to the outer world for a long time.
Murthy was born in the late 1970s into a poor fishing family living in a small settlement on Kovalam beach near Chennai. He dropped out of his school studies to financially help his poor family. His father had left the family due to a feud and it was Murthy’s responsibility to look after his grandmother, mother and sister, which was quite common in his community way back in the 1980s. Kovalam is essentially a fishing village and the daily catch was enough to support his family with daily needs.
In order to indulge his passion for surfing, he spent very little on himself. Wooden planks and flotsam served as his first surfboards. A self-taught surfer, he made many unsuccessful attempts before he succeeded in tackling this sport form. Initially he neither knew any surfing techniques nor had a trainer. He simply aligned his body with the plank to ride a wave. He simply observed different types of waves and dedicated himself for hours of practices.
He made mental notes to correct his own mistakes and gradually perfected the art of surfing. In 2001 he had the chance to meet the surfing swami Hebner at Kovalam beach, Chennai. He borrowed the swami’s surf board and quickly adapted it. Swami was instantly impressed, and he gave his personal number. However as Murthy was illiterate and knew little about STD codes & dial formats, he couldn’t reach the surfer. So, for a few more years, he continued to remain undiscovered by the rest of the world.
When Tsunami hit the costal belt of Tamil Nadu in 2004, Murthy devoted much of his time towards community building, and enrolled himself at a local NGO. He was a remarkably dexterous surfer and a devoted social worker which helped him to grab attention from others very soon. One of the first surfers to discover Murthy was Tobias Hartmann, a German expat in India in 2007.
Published: November 18, 2018
Updated: November 18, 2018
