Fri Nov 01 17:30:00 UTC 2024: Updated – November 01, 2024 11:16 pm ISTAine Edwards (extreme right) Photo: Special Arrangement | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Having eased into a settled existence at Ireland’s Cork County Island with a coastline nuzzled by the Atlantic, for nearly three years now, Aine Edwards’ circadian rhythm is set in stone, except when she wants it broken. A social environment she has built on another, vastly different coastline spurs her to invite that disruption. Remotely, she continues to live in Chennai and Mahabalipuram — her place of domicile and stomping ground, respectively, for a decade before she relocated to Cork County. Through social media — especially WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook — she watches over what she seeded and nurtured back on the Indian coastline. And this sometimes means being woken up early by the deep twang of a WhatsApp notification, followed by frenetic texting to get the right contact in Chennai to have a need in a fishing hamlet met.
How Aine breathed fresh meaning into the lives of children at the fishermen’s hamlets in Mahabalipuram through the empowering influence of a sport — surfing — is the stuff of legends. To dwell on it at length would be to over-elaborate the well-known. Aine was the launchpad for Kamali, now 15 years old. But behind Kamali are the unknown faces of youngsters that have benefited from Aine’s efforts, and are waiting to be benefitted. A kid in the fisherman’s colony might need a surfboard. Through contacts forged as a surfer herself and an IT consultant in Chennai, she ensures the surfboard reaches the child. Besides, there are education-based initiatives she took part in, in Chennai, that might have achieved critical mass, but still require a helpful push or two from her. To ensure a US dollar 500 scholarship reaches the children — primarily, students of Little Lamb School at Vijaylakshmi Nagar (Off Surapet Road) in Puthagaram — she makes sure they do not drop out at any point, the only criterion for the scholarship. Aine is working on another dream, bridging the gap between Ireland and the Chennai-Mahabalipuram coastline for these children by activating educational opportunities at least digitally using her contacts.
Aine Edwards with children whose lives she has impacted. Photo: Special Arrangement | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENTThat begs the question: how did this get off the ground? This question usually does not go with the usual suspects, questions that pivot around Kamali and her efforts to reach surfboards as well as top-notch coaching to the children from fishermen hamlets in Mahabalipuram.
Before Chennai happened, back in Ireland, Aine Edwards was wrapped up in what everyone is till an unbearable ennui hits them. A steady IT job, a circle of close-knit friends, and weekends spent by an exquisite Irish coast, where waves meet the rocky shores in a soothing, predictable cadence. It was a life she had come to know intimately, a steady routine that felt secure but, at times, stifling. As she approached her mid-30s, the stifling became intense. She wanted to break out of the daily routine that had become as restrictive as prison bars. She knew in her bones that to be of any earthly use to anyone, she had to leave the familiar behind and sign up for the unknown.
At the fag end of 2002, a sports injury forcing her into a reflective pause, Aine found herself in deep conversation with her cousin Frank Beechinor, a social worker based in India. Frank’s stories about life in Chennai were vivid and filled with a sense of purpose. He spoke of the lively communities and the steep challenges faced by children growing up in India, many of whom lacked access to education and basic resources. For Aine, these stories sparked a quiet urgency, a feeling that her life’s purpose might lie far from the paths she knew. Almost impulsively, she decided to visit him, even pitching tent in Chennai for six months. And in 2011, she would shift to Chennai, lock, stock and barrel, having received an employment and business visa.
“I was ready for change,” she reflects. “But I had no idea I was about to step into a place that would change me completely.”
She has had her share — in fact, a lion’s share — of the befuddled newbie expat experiences. Setting foot on Chennai soil, she found her luggage missing, requiring her to subsist on the $50 the airline had doled out to her. Remember, it was not a world with digital wallets to bail you out of such situations.
“I felt like a fish out of water,” she laughs at the memory. “With no clothes or supplies, I was forced to dive headfirst into the whirlwind of Perambur’s crowded markets.” She navigated the maze of chaotic stalls and colourful fabrics, the air thick with a cacophony of haggling voices and the exotic scent of spices she had never encountered before. Although it was overwhelming, Aine felt a strange exhilaration, like she was finally stepping out of her comfort zone and into a world that would test her adaptability. As with any expat thrown off the deep end in Chennai, Aine had to master the traffic rule book, made heavier by unwritten rules, those introduced by undisciplined motorists. Learning to eat with her hands, grasping Tamil phrases and mastering the chaotic public transport system were only the beginning. Despite the hurdles, she found herself drawn into the communal spirit of Indian life, where neighbours became family and support was always close at hand.Being grounded her in the new reality through a series of culture shocks, and managing to ensconce herself in her IT consultancy career in Chennai almost immediately, she began to devote generous amounts of her leisure to volunteering. First up, she found herself at a small institution dedicated to educating children from underprivileged backgrounds. Meant originally as a short teaching stint, it seemed to take on the character of an overarching, all-encompassing calling. She poured herself into the work, offering classes, raising funds and assisting with the renovations of classrooms that had seen better days. Yet her mission went beyond academics; she wanted to instil a sense of hope in them, showing them that there was a world beyond their circumstances. “These children are full of potential,” she asserted. “They need to know that they can dream bigger than the lives they were born into.”
Determined to make a lasting impact, Aine introduced her students to sports and technology. “We started with small projects,” she said. “Teaching them to use computers and showing them the wonders of the Internet was like opening up an entirely new universe.” She watched as their eyes lit up, a spark of excitement and wonder that became her greatest reward. Surfing turned out to be as much of a window to the wider world as the Internet. Through surfing and the calling card it provided them, these children learnt they can also navigate harsh realities off the sea.
In Chennai, Aine has lived at an assortment of addresses, the very first defining the rest, as it clearly laid out the path she had to take, not just in Chennai but the rest of her life lived in any other coordinates. Aine lived at Presentation Convent in Perambur, finding comfort in the sense of community it provided. Her friendship with Sister Loreto, an elderly nun who had devoted her life to service, became a grounding force. “Sister Loreto had this incredible calm about her,” Aine remembers fondly. “She reminded me why we were doing this work — it was about giving, loving and creating real change.”
In the days that followed, scorched by a fierce but warm Chennai sun, she found herself growing in ways she had not expected. “I came to give, but in return, I have learned so much about resilience, simplicity and the power of community. It has changed my entire understanding of life.”
Published – November 01, 2024 11:00 pm IST
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