Skating to success

This 43-year-old from Mulund also instructs skaters,who want to become coaches,and has designed training modules on coaching skills and development techniques for roller skating as well as ice skating on synthetic and natural surfaces. He has also developed coaching guidelines for classes at rinks that have come up in Hyderabad,Bangalore,Chennai and Kolkata,as well as in Dubai.

By his own estimates,Sarode coaches around 1700-1800 students every year at the Cricket Club of India near Churchgate,the National Sports Club of India at Worli,DSB International School at Cumballa Hill and R City Mall in Ghatkopar. Earlier this month,he also began teaching ice skating at the city’s only natural ice skating rink at Atria Mall in Worli.

Extremely popular amongst his students,Sarode says that he is overwhelmed by the manner in which roller and ice skating have been catching on in the city.

“Sometime in 1990,when roller skating was still quite a new concept here,a friend and I were caught by a policeman for roller skating. We were made to stand at a nearby police chowky as punishment. It’s ironic that I have now coached that very police inspector’s children,and he has apologised to me and my friend profusely. Skating is really catching on like wildfire amongst children,youngsters,even some adults and middle-aged people.”

On May 1,three young children coached by Sarode,including his seven-year-old son Harsh whizzed down a 100 km stretch from Panvel to the Gateway of India in Colaba on their roller skates. A part of the Maharashtra Day celebrations,they were spurred on by police vehicles escorting them and large crowds of citizens,and were joined by 200 students from Wilson College at Girgaum.

In 1996,six children trained by Sarode covered 175 kilometres from Mumbra to Pune. Ten years later,six students under six years of age took to the streets under the banner Peace for Mumbai across 50 kilometres from Thane to Gateway of India,with nine of his students covering 65 kilometres from Thane to Gateway of India.

A Guiness World Record holder for scaling 1,588 ft on Mount Kanchenjunga in 15 hours and 27 seconds on roller skates,Sarode also holds a Limca Book of Records title for jumping across three Maruti-800 cars on roller skates.

Recalling how he developed a passion for skating,Sarode says,“I come from a very poor family. My father was a car mechanic. We used to live in Khetwadi near Grant Road. People visiting us would leave behind Rs 5 or 10 for me. A song from the movie Aa Gale Lag Jaa in which Shashi Kapoor and Sharmila Tagore were on roller skates had really caught my imagination. I saved some money and bought a pair of roller skates from the chor bazaar nearby. That is how my love for skating took off.”

In 1989,the then director of the Bal Bhavan in Chowpatty spotted Sarode roller skating on the road and offered him a monthly salary of Rs 200 for training children at the centre.