Kiting to transform Communities!

Kiting in Sri Lanka will be more than just kiting. Kiting helps transform communities. Money starts to flow in, local businesses thrive. KSL also aspires to focus on three aspects namely Education, Kiting and Environment in 2012. If you wish to support do get in touch with us via e mail.

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It does not have to be financial or material donations, you can just give off your time and expertise as well. Hope to see you in Sri Lanka in 2012. Visit KSL Community for inspiration.

The amazing people of Kalpitiya!

221,000 KM on a Bike! He's in Sri Lanka

Branson: For me, kite-surfing is a business strategy

The next time your boss doesnt give you leave to go Kitesurf, quote Branson!

Kitesurfing is Great with Company!

The challenges of entrepreneurship can be physically tough—the long hours, stress and work travel can eventually take a toll on your health, unless you take steps to regain a work-life balance. For an entrepreneur or executive leading a growing company, keeping fit and taking breaks from work is a necessity: you have to plan for health and fitness in the same way you plan your career. This will help you to keep a fresh perspective on any problems your company encounters and, ultimately, to make better business decisions.

I have just returned from an exhausting tour in which I visited five countries in less than a month. It started with a memorable week in New Zealand, moved on to Chile, Brazil and the U.K., and finished in India. And I have travelled extensively ever since I was helping to build Virgin Records into a global music business; now, with our new business development focused on emerging markets and many of our philanthropic initiatives based in Africa and Asia, it is unlikely that I will be able to slow the pace and extent of my business travel. Staying alert and being effective on such gruelling trips takes preparation.

But for me, fitness is a hobby. At school, I was a very keen sportsman until a knee injury cut short my hopes of professional success. Unable to pursue my dreams, I threw myself into my early business career, but my passion for sport remained, and I have continued to play tennis, ski, sail and, more recently, to kite-surf.

I try to fit in at least one workout per day, and sometimes two, if I have the opportunity. Our home on Necker Island, in the British Virgin Islands, is a great place for me to keep up my swimming. Most mornings when I am there, I head off for a swim around the island—about three miles. It is the best way to clear the head (sometimes from the excesses of the night before!) and sets one up for the day. And after a long day of correspondence or calls, there is nothing better than setting off on my kite-surfboard—I soon feel refreshed and renewed.

Fitness goals aside, it is important to do something that helps you to achieve distance from the pressures of work. Many people who are faced with the increasing pressures of the modern, global and “always-on” business world struggle to stop working. By focusing on something else—in my case, on sports—you gain perspective on other areas of your life, helping you achieve that elusive work-life balance.

Many of my pastimes are ones that my family enjoys too, which has helped a great deal. There is no better way to forget the stresses of a poorly performing company or the frustrations of not closing a deal than kite-surfing with your children or going with them on a long ski through the mountains.

During periods of travel, you have to plan for your exercise. In April 2010, when I signed up for the London Marathon, I faced the challenge of trying to fit the intensive training schedule into an already busy life. Together with a coach, I mapped out the training runs I needed to do and looked at my destinations to try to make them match up. It was great fun. As I circled the world, I found myself running in the parks of Sydney, along the beach in Barcelona, and through the bush at our Ulusaba Private Game Reserve in South Africa.

Luckily, my children Holly and Sam had also decided to run the race with a group of friends, so we often trained together on our family breaks.

Occasionally things don’t go according to plan. That same year, all three of us tried to kite-surf across the English Channel, but the weather prevented our attempt. In January, a ski accident caused me to snap an Achilles tendon, and I was unable to run, ski or kite-surf for more than six months. As a way of motivating myself to keep fit, I threw myself into training for the swim leg of the London Triathlon.

At Virgin, I am famous for searching out challenges that will help us to push ourselves harder—and that includes physically. But making small changes can be even more helpful in the long run. Next time you settle down on a Sunday morning to answer that mountain of e-mail, think about whether you might be better off first going for a run, swim or bike ride, to refresh the body and the mind.

Beautiful KK - Kalpitiya Kids

If ever you decide to come to Sri Lanka, bring some educational gifts for the kids. Reading, Drawing, Pens, Pencils, English Books, Science Books...lets get them interested in Education and prepare them for a brave new world of oppotunities.

Ajmal's bro on the extreme right - wonder if he'll kite too

Extreme right is a naughty boy but sweet!

Best Mountain Biking (Devil's Staircase)



When no wind, try some cycling up in the hills!



Magical Mountain - Adams Peak Sri Lanka




The article appeared on Travel Lanka. When you dont kite you should EXPLORE!

 

Sad Day for Sri Lanka Surfing

For the first time in the history of Surfing in our country, a huge donation of surfboards was made to us by a number of organization in UK. When doing the documentation there was an error. We mentioned the Name of the Surf Club as the receiver thinking that this was the most legitimate thing instead of a individual name. We weren’t VAT registered or had a TIN number and the problems started with us being required to register the club for VAT and obtain a TIN number.

Most if not all the club members were from the other side of the island and some who lived in Colombo volunteered to assist to get the documentation. We soon realized that this process would take at least a week which means the consignment would be charged for demurrage. With this in mind we decided to explain our situation to a number of persons in the relevant authorities to no avail. They said we had to stick to the process and get the club registered for VAT etc.

We were not trying to elude paying the relevant taxes but sought a way rectify the error made above. If we can just transfer the receiver to an individual as against to a club then we can get the consignment sooner.

In utter desperation we went to the office of the highest authorities to see if his office can intervene to assist in our cause. All we need a note/ directive stating that this is genuine cause which were highlighted as follows;

1. The surfboards would be handed over free of charge to the surf clubs on the east, south and west coast clubs. We would teach the beneficiaries how to conduct surf instructing and earn a living out of the sport. Perhaps get them out of the bad influences and help them make something concrete from their lives and talents.

2. The surfboards will be used to encourage the sport in the island amongst male and females. Many of them are from the poorer families. Like other sports like Cricket, surfing offers a very promising option as a professional sport. We have the most critical resource – Waves! We just need the boards and some professional guidance.

3. This initiative would give impetus to create surfing revolution to raise the standard of surfing in the island and helping us draw closer to our dream of seeing our countrymen compete at the international surfing circuit.

The repercussions of us not being able to get the surfboards out on time would lead to;

1. The club members unable to bear the demurrage cost

2. The boards thus being ‘stuck’ and eventually ‘lost’ at the port

3. The surfers not getting their surfboards – no practice, no additional source of income perhaps a new livelihood

4. The donors being disappointed and not assisting Sri Lanka due to ‘strict rules’ and ‘short term focus’

5. The locals surfers not being able to pursue a dream of competing internationally and bringing fame to our country

Having shared this viewpoint and after much pleading one would expect at least a glimmer of hope but the words were, ‘This is out of our focus, you need to go through the process’. Having pleaded again and mentioning that Sri Lanka would lose out on the opportunity to position itself as a surfing destination and be a competitive force in the surfing world the answer was ‘there’s nothing I can do’.

This was certainly the most saddest day of my life. To see a dream being shattered. Rules are rules I am sure. But true leadership is to look beyond the rules and understand the motive and genuine intention of a plea and make things happen. We are not robots to have to stick to a specific routine or code, we are humans. We were not asking for a duty free car or a land or anything like that. In fact we were are willing to pay the taxes applicable. We just asked for them to give a directive about our intention, change the receiver from a club to a person so we don’t have to go through the process of registering for VAT and obtaining TIN numbers thus helping us to get the items out faster.

I just got back from Cinnamon Grand Hotel (no I didn’t party or eat at a fancy restaurant, I just needed to pick up something). But while there I see a brand new Mercedes Benz with no number plates. There were tons of other fancy cars near to it and lot of armed forces and I say to myself, ‘man, I just ask them to help us by perhaps giving a directive by a letter thus making the process faster so that the poor guys don’t have to bust a month’s salary to pay the Rs. 15,000 in additional cost'. Note month’s salary and Rs. 15,000.

It’s pretty painful to think that the poor guys always get screwed and the big guys always get through. Yes, its life. Perhaps now its time to make the change.

I don’t know what will happened. I don’t know the outcome of this post. I hope someone would see that our intention is genuine and perhaps help us. Yes we will get registered next time but just  help us to get the boards released faster, that’s all we ask.

Tomorrow the boys will miss work, take a bus from the other side of the country and travel to Colombo. Duration of the journey estimated at 12 hours (yes, in the bus its 12 (unlike in a car or helicopter) and with this heat, it is going to be a long tough journey). We will probably have to find accommodation etc as well. A lot of money again spent. Why? Because we are passionate about the sport and in-spite of all the hardship we will and continue to face, we will strive to see at least a bit of our dream being realized. Sri Lanka - The Birth of a Surfing Nation.