“In my childhood, I was awakened by the constant sound of the ocean. I could hear the sea eagles calling and see them flying gracefully. I watched the clouds sailing and waves topped with milky foam kissing the shore. The boats which had left the previous night to harvest fish are returning home. These were the daily features in my life. I think of the waves as a girl for sometimes I can hear them as a sweet laugh, another time like a whisper or a chuckle. It is a lovely environment too. I am lucky to grow up close to the ocean and my life has been intertwined with the ocean. My whole life has been based on the ocean.
The ocean has been a blessing in disguise in my whole life,” said Upul de Silva, a entrepreneur in the tourist trade and a dual citizen of Sri Lanka and Austria.
The Youth Observer met Upul to talk about his involvement in tourism and sports. “My family and I stayed in Austria during the pandemic. Austria has also re-opened the country and daily life goes on with a focus on health guidelines,” de Silva said. “I was born in Bentara and spent most of my childhood on the seashore.
I used to see foreigners spend half the day surfing. At that time I did not know the rules of the sport. However, I loved to watch it but we did not have any equipment to try it out.
During this time, one of my cousins had been involved in wind surfing and he and his friends used to practise in the evenings. I watched them a great deal. One day, I got a chance to try it out. But it was not easy at the beginning and the first time I attempted it I fell down and slipped on the waves. I did not know how to handle the wind surfing board correctly.
My cousin taught me how to control it. I like to introduce myself as a wind surfer who has self-studied. I gained the knowledge watching others train. One day, a foreigner who lived close to our home asked me if I would like to surf. I agreed and he rented wind surfing equipment to me. It was a precious moment and the beginning of a new life,” he reminisced. “I am talking about 1997.
It was the beginning of my career as a wind surfer on the Bentota River,” Upul added. “It is a well-known saying as well as the truth of my life that a journey of thousands of miles begins with a single step. From then on I kept on going forward,” Upul told the Youth Observer. He was crowned National Champion in 1999 and proved his natural talent for the sport.
It also marked the beginning of an 11-year reign as National Champion and participation at overseas events too.”
“In 2003, I travelled to Germany and attend a workshop for wind surfing instructors. I completed it successfully and worked abroad and participated in several international competitions. I was once placed seventh at a World Championship competition. It was the highest position I ever reached at a World Championship,” Upul said happily.
During this time he was working as an instructor in an Austrian Wind Surfing School. “I had a dream to start a surfing school with the latest equipment. My instinct told me it was the right time to start one.
The owner of the Austrian wind surfing school proposed that I become a shareholder and I was impressed by that request. I could not believe it. I accepted it. It was another turning point in my life.”
Continuing Upul de Silva said, “After I became a shareholder in the Austrian surfing school I had a chance to visit Kalpitiya. During that trip I saw the best lagoon in the area for wind surfing.
The lagoon was not too deep and had strong wind. From my experience I realised the value of this area. I dreamt of starting a surfing school in Kalpitiya one day. During that time there was terrorist activity in the Northern and Eastern Provinces. I returned to Austria and came back after the war against terrorism ended.
Then, I decided to buy a land in Kalpitiya and build a resort and surfing school there. Some of my relations and friends asked me whether I knew what I was doing. They did not see Kalpitiya as a tourist destination and the reasons why I bought and developed a land there. People laughed at me but I trusted my instincts completely. I also launched kite surfing events for the first time.
I also dreamed of launching a surfing school there and I did it. Then I wrote about Kalpitiya and focused the attention of tourists on the area too. As a person living and working in an European country I had to work hard to popularise the Kalpitiya lagoon among people who love surfing. The videos and write-ups by people who travelled to Kalpitiya made the lagoon famous internationally. During the pre-Covid period I was able to provide hospitality services to around seven hundred foreigners annually.
They visit Kalpitiya during May– September and December–February seasons. During this period several foreigners and local investors were making investments in Kalpitiya. “I am very proud of my decision to introduce Kalpitiya to the world and invest without fear. I have even won awards for it.’’
De Silva won the Sri Lankan tourism award for the ‘Best Water Sports Centre’ in 2018.
During this time several people worked in his resort in Kalpitiya. “I was less than fifty years old when I achieved success in the world of tourism. Everyone who heard my success story said that it was an unbelievable story. I too think so. Anyone who has a target to achieve can take my story as an example of what hard work can accomplish.
“I strongly believe in the famous proverb ‘You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.’ I too learnt to win in life by learning how to float on the waves. I believe that every person can find success at any time without any hesitation.
“Finally, I have to say something about our motherland. It can be named as a heaven in this world.
“It has beautiful places such as lagoons and highlands. We must protect it and show our heritage to the world. I did it and succeed,” he said.
He says in his web site: “When I was a poor young boy of 11, my dream of running my own surf school one day was born. Today, I offer Sri Lankans a good kite and windsurfing school and hope to awaken the love for water sports in my guests.”
In addition to being a windsurfer, Upul de Silva is now a tourist entrepreneur too and has an advanced wind surfing school. It sounds like a miracle, but it is the truth.