Till very recently I had never known who Gabriel Medina was. Till very recently I missed Asia every single second. A mountain was my only idea of getting close to Asia. Any mountain.

And then I crossed Brasil looking for the sacredness of India. I was not able to see it. I am sure it is here. I just could not enter it. Maybe I lacked the right keys, I thought.

And so I came to the beach to appease my lonely soul. I remembered that it was here that I had started to really heal just after I got sick. At first it was an impossible idea. It was Impossible for my brain and for my body.

Then this time as I was appeasing my soul I heard about the final of the surfing world tour that is taking place. I found out that Gabriel Medina, Mick Fanning and Kelly Slater were in it.

“Still Kelly Slater, really?”

I confess it meant little to me. I could not possibly understand that KS would still care about winning a championship. And so my mind flew back to Asia again.

I remembered that changing colours in artial marts was a western thing. In Asia first they wore white till they were told to wear black. And that change simply meant one had become a student.

I also remembered that most tibetans and nepalis I met had no desire to reach the top of a mountain.

What was it about waves? Did the balinese really care? As usual, I am lucky, and though I still do not know the answer, I meet in my path a surfer that like me loves Asia. Differently than me it is because of waves. I ask him why. And he said:

” I love the adrenaline of surfing”.

I was appalled by this answer. I asked him about Gabriel Medina and he actually knew Gabriel since he was a child.

He is friends with Charles, who is Medina’s step father. He tells me it is because of Charles that Medina started to surf. It is because of him that he developed as much as he did.

“He is brilliant, absolutely amazing. But without the support of
Charles he would probably have never known.”

“But is he now only surfing in competitions? It is also simply for the dopamine of it.”

“Ju, in these competitions he has the chance to take the greatest waves in the world almost alone.”

“Do you think he will keep doing it after he is 40? Just like KS? ”

“No. Gabriel is a nice guy. He is calm. I guess he will do it for some years and then he will just do it because he loves it. I don’t think he wants to be in competitions forever”

My new friend surfed with Charles, Medina’s stepfather, in Peru and many other places, that is why Charles could see the talent in the 9 year old boy who had become his stepson.

How about you? Where did you surf?

“Fernando de Noronha, Peru, Hawai, so many places, but now I spend must of my time in Indonesia.”

He cannot believe I have spent so little time there. He offers to teach me how to surf. I am divided by the fact that I am reading about what is happening in Cuba and Israel.

” There is nothing that you can do about the M.E! Come to the sea, let me teach you.”

And so I go. I absolutely hate the idea to get addicted to something simply for the adrenaline of it. But I go.

I do not know how to surf. But the sea is beautiful. The paddling is brilliant. The peace that you feel is incredible. I try to stand still. I can do it and then I fall..many many times.

My friend tells me I need to catch a wave. I actually don’t want. I like my yoga like movements in the board. I feel peace. Like I could feel in a Mountain. So much time goes by. So many waves. And then suddenly, I am taken by a wave. I fall.

I go out. I sit in the sand. My new friend wants me to really catch a wave. I don,t want. Not now. All of it brings me peace. And as I sit to write this I hope the world surfing final is going well.

Deep down I wish Gabriel wins and then that he will not become KS. I hope he will be able to enjoy the sea without being always in a pressure, in a ego trip.

I realise it is a Tibetan Buddhist thought. I guess my non existing self will always miss Asia. I am even ready to go back to Indonesia especially because now I want to find out whether the balinese surf or not.Medin