Arifa VK was 67 years old when she accompanied her grandchildren to a swimming club in Aluva, Kerala. Inspired by what she saw, Arifa expressed her desire to join the students. In 16 days, she learned enough to graduate from her class with honours. She made news when she swam across the Periyar river, hijab in place, in 2021. The next year, at the age of 70, she crossed the river again, this time with her hands tied.
Arifa’s teacher, Saji Valassery, is known across India for teaching the ABCs of swimming. The 60-year-old, who established Valasseril River Swimming Club in 2010, has trained thousands, even people with disabilities, to swim in the Periyar, completely free of cost.
“In 2009, the Thekkady boat tragedy happened. A double decker boat carrying 78 tourists capsized, and 45 people died. That’s when I decided to teach people swimming free of cost,” says Valassery, who runs a furniture shop.
In India, according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report, Accidental Deaths & Suicides in India 2022, 38,503 individuals lost their lives to drowning. In Kerala, according to the State Crime Records Bureau’s response to an RTI, drowning claimed 10,451 lives between 2016 and 2021 with 8,169 lives lost in accidents. In April 2024, Ernakulam district alone reported 27 deaths.
However, drowning is not considered a public health crisis in India. “Across the world, drowning has, until recently, been a largely overlooked public health issue. Despite having a death toll equivalent to two-thirds that of malnutrition and over half that of malaria, drowning deaths have been recorded and understood as accidents and not as a systemic concern,” says Lopa Ghosh, senior communications advisor at Global Health Advocacy Incubator (GHAI).
“India took a significant step towards prioritising drowning prevention in 2023, when the Ministry of Health released a ‘Strategic Framework for Drowning Prevention’ which emphasises multi-sectoral collaboration and national and state level action plans,” says Ghosh.
Little wonder that people like Valassery, have taken it upon themselves to teach the lifeskill completely free of cost. In Kannur, 64-year-old CV Janaki Amma has been teaching people swimming for free for the last 12 years. Like Valassery, she was moved by the number of lives lost to drowning.
“In 2007, when 15 children died in the Thattekad boat disaster, I felt I should do something,” says Janaki Amma. At the age of 52, she stepped into the same pond where she had learned swimming to teach her grandchildren. On request, she began teaching others.
“Last year I taught 1,582 children. When children learn, mothers often follow suit,” she says, adding that she uses empty oil cans as flotation devices in her classes.
Valassery conducts classes from November 1 to May 31 every year. “After that the monsoons start and the undercurrents are strong,” says Valassery, who teaches about 1,000 people every day, with the help of volunteers.
“I divide students into different classes—in pre-KG, they learn to sit submerged in water for a minute at a time. In LKG they learn to float and in UKG they float and do leg kicks,” he says, adding that anyone can learn to swim in 16 days. “In five months, you can swim across the Periyar.”
Valassery and Janaki Amma’s classes attract women as they don’t insist on swimwear. “Women hesitate to swim as they think they have to wear swimsuits, but I have proved it’s not necessary. Don’t let anything deter you,” says Arifa as she pins her hijab in place and adjusts her abaya before stepping into a local pond.