THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: From swimming pools to the pooja room. That’s precisely the transition N Suresh Kumar — who once coached Olympic swimmer Virdhawal Khade — has made, now guiding devotees through ancestral rites. He helps people perform the bali, the ritual to please departed souls as per the Hindu tradition. This Karkkidaka Vavu, he is offering the ‘bali tharpan’ service online too.
Suresh belongs to the Maivadi Madom, located near the Sree Parasurama Swamy Temple in Thiruvallam, a renowned centre for bali rituals. The family has traditional links with the temple. He took up his hereditary priesthood role after retiring as a professional swimming coach. And for the past 17 years, Suresh has been leading the bali ritual at the Aruvikkara Sree Dharma Sastha Temple, Maranalloor.
During his 26-year career, Suresh helped polish the swimming skills of over 150 national medallists and 20 international medallists, having formerly coached the state teams of Kerala, Karnataka and Maharashtra. He had also led the Kerala team at the National Games in 2011 and 2015. Now known as Suresh Kumar Elayath in devotee circles, he first offered the online bali service during the Covid pandemic.
“This year, I received requests also from Keralites outside the state. I did not publicise it widely, except for a WhatsApp message to regular devotees. It seems the message was forwarded many times over.”
“Two videos will be hosted on our YouTube channel. One will explain the preparations to be made. The other will be a tutorial in which I myself perform the bali. Participants can learn the actions and mantras.”
There is no fixed fee. Participants can offer a dakshina of their choice. His son Balachandran S Elayath, who works at a startup, also does priestly duties.
Making of an Olympian
Suresh took to swimming at the age of five, in the Thiruvallam river that flows near his house. During student days, he was the captain of the Kerala University swimming team. He graduated as a swimming instructor from the SAI Centre, Gujarat, in 1991.
At 24, he began his coaching career at the Basavanagudi Aquatic Centre in Bengaluru, where his trainees included Shreesh Reddy who went on to become a national champion. For four years from 1995, he ws chief coach of the Mangaluru Aquatic Club. In 1998, he joined a swimming centre in Kolhapur, where he gave the first lessons to Khade, then a five-year old boy who would go on to become the youngest Indian to qualify for the Olympics.
“I coached him in freestyle and butterfly. Under my coaching, Khade became a national champion, winning five gold medals. There was no looking back for him since.”
