Could you introduce yourself in a few words?
Bharati - I am Indian. I teach yoga and Ayurveda classes. I grew up in Mumbai and first came to France 12 years ago to study. But I have been living in France with my partner Bazile for six years now. We live in Sciotot, a small village not far from Cherbourg in the Cotentin region.
Bazile - We met in Cherbourg, at a dinner party. Shortly afterwards, Bharati's visa expired, so she went back to India. I was still a student, so I managed to go and join her, and vice versa. We did that for several years, in a long-distance relationship. I got a job as a teacher at the French high school in Mumbai for a year. After that, we came back to live in France, shortly before Covid.
Can you tell us where we are now? What is the history of this house?
Bazile - We are on the west coast of the Cotentin Peninsula, on a small wooded plot. It is a small 40m² house, a bit like a cabin, which I built with my father. I did everything myself; it's a bit like the house we always dreamed of having.
Bharati - We designed it for our daily lives and our needs, in line with what we want and how we live. For example, for me, yoga isn't just a mat and poses, it's also the way we consume on a daily basis, the way we think and live, in connection with nature and the concept of scarcity. We are constantly surrounded by opulence and overconsumption, and yoga is, in a way, a return to simplicity and wisdom.
It has been designed for our daily lives and needs, in line with what we want and how we live.
Bazile - We chose to work independently. We know that our jobs aren't very interesting financially speaking, but they give us a lot more in return. To compensate for the fact that we don't earn much money, we've adopted a lifestyle that involves consuming very little. We have a life that seems simple to us, even if it means doing a lot of things to maintain that life. But, coming back to the house, it is made entirely of wood. It was an adventure: a lot of thinking and improvisation, because I didn't really make a plan.
Bharati - We didn't think so much in terms of space, but more in terms of the constraints imposed by the surrounding environment. The only things we knew were that we wanted something simple: a functional kitchen, a living room for entertaining or having people over. We tried to minimise the size of the bedrooms and bathroom as much as possible to maximise the living space we had available. I grew up with very little, so I don't need too much luxury or comfort. Comfort doesn't even really have a definition for me.
It's a place that's very nature-oriented. It's quite privileged, I think, both for going for walks and for going to the beach and surfing. I really feel a sense of freedom here.
What do you like most about living in this area?
Bazile - I grew up here. It's a place that's very nature-oriented. It's quite privileged, I think, both for going for walks and for going to the beach and surfing. I really feel a sense of freedom here. Beyond that, there's also the practical side. We had facilities to help us settle in the area. When we came back from India, we had nothing, but my parents were here and they were able to help us by lending me a place to start my business. In any case, I'm completely happy here, it suits me very well. I think it's more difficult for Bharati: it's not her environment, there are things she misses...
Bharati - Yes, but I still like it, we live a little disconnected from the world. There's the geographical aspect, which means that the region is a little far from everything, but also the place where we live, what we've created, which is a bit like a little cocoon. We have this feeling of space, of freedom, we breathe in the sea air. That said, I do miss diversity, people from other places, hearing different accents... But I don't know if that's really linked to this space specifically or rather to my background.
Bazile, could you tell us a bit more about your workshop, Zeuglodon, and its history?
Bazile - Zeuglodon is the name of one of the oldest marine mammals. The first palaeontologist who came across its skeleton initially thought it was a dinosaur, because it was so enormous, and named it Basilosaurus. A second specialist realised that it was actually a marine mammal, and it was renamed accordingly. I thought the connection with the sea and the Z in my first name, which isn't that common, was funny.
As for my business, to go back to the beginning, when I arrived here, there were no surf shops, just a shaper where you could buy boards. I remember very well the first time I walked into his workshop, especially the smell of resin. He started sponsoring me when I started competing, making boards for me so that I could improve. I was fascinated by the idea of finding the right design for the waves, for how you surf, for how you grow. After a few years, I wanted to try some unusual shapes, to test new things and so I decided to make them myself. I bought some pieces of polystyrene and put them together. I must have been about 20 at the time.
During my time in Oléron at the same period, I met a guy who was starting to shape boards in his garage, just like me. We hit it off, and basically, during the day I worked, and at night we shaped boards in his garage. We also surfed a lot together. We set up a project, Atomic Panda, which he kept going and still exists today, but I finished my studies and left for India.
Living in Mumbai put a lot of things into perspective for me, and I realised that I missed doing things with my hands. I've always been involved in construction projects with tools, thinking that whatever I see, I can potentially do myself. It frustrated me not to be able to do things myself, due to a lack of space and tools. I wanted to find a way of life that would allow me to do that. So I started my own business when I got back.
You've always been really passionate about surfing, haven't you?
Bazile - My father surfs a lot. He got his first custom-made board 35 years ago, the month I was born, but he had already been surfing for years. He started in the 1980s. I'm not sure how he got into surfing, but basically, he thought that waves were only there when there were storms, so he would go to the beach when there was a storm and get blown away. One day he went when the weather was calm, and there were perfect waves. He saw some guys surfing, went over to talk to them, and from then on he started looking at the weather maps. I remember that every evening, he would ask us to stop talking while he listened to the marine weather forecast. It was quite natural for me to take it up. First with bodyboarding in the summer, then around the age of 12 with surfing. We already had boards of all sizes available.
Barathi, can you tell us about the Ekam studio you set up?
Barathi - The word means ‘one’ in Sanskrit, but also ‘oneness’. It is based on the principle that everything in the universe is born or originates from a single place, a single point, and returns to the same place. There is a lot of talk about oneness, and at the same time, about the singularity that the number represents. We are all unique individuals, but at the same time, we are part of the union. I liked how it sounded, but there was really this root anchored in Sanskrit, and therefore in the Veda.
I didn't want to call my work ‘Yoga with Bharati’ or ‘Ekham yoga’ because, for me, it's a whole universe. As I said, it's a philosophy of life. I teach postural yoga, at least part of it, and the rest is more about the philosophy of yoga, with breathing techniques, introspection and meditation. There is also the second pillar: Ayurveda. It is a holistic science of life, which is used according to the seasons. It is about going further in mindfulness and getting to know yourself.
I found a small place with a physiotherapist friend, and that's mainly where I teach classes today, but ideally, I'd like to have a place that aligns with my values. Something like an eco-friendly place in the middle of nature, where I can really run workshops with the public, whether it's for cooking or accommodating people, sharing yoga in its fullest sense.
Were you already surfing? Is there a parallel between surfing and yoga?
Bharati - No, I didn't know how to swim before I met Bazile, and I had absolutely no idea what surfing was. The first time I saw him on a board, it was raining. I watched him from the beach and took shelter in the car. He was able to change because he had dry clothes with him, but I didn't, I only had my coat. I was soaked when we went to have lunch at his parents' house. I really thought to myself, ‘What is this?’ I wasn't ready for it at all.
But when I started to really watch, I found it very beautiful, especially longboarding. The little poses you do, the moments when you're not doing anything on the board, starting to move little by little, dancing, expressing yourself. There's really something about it that I love and that echoes yoga. How you use your body and put it to work in the direction you want to go. The waiting time in surfing is quite similar to inspiration or meditation in yoga. There's this aspect where you're really focused, concentrated.
There's definitely something about it that I love and that resonates with yoga. How you use your body and put it to work to take you where you want to go.
A French-Indian couple, into surfing and yoga, that's not something you see every day around here. Are there any other characters like that?
Bharati - I think we're a bit unique. As I was saying, in our styles. Bazile doesn't have the style of a shaper, nor do I have the style of a yoga teacher in leggings.
Bazile - We've always been different, and we still are.
Bharati - But we're well liked, people are pretty nice. It takes a lot of work to make a mixed couple work, especially with a child, because we didn't grow up with the same references, experiences or backgrounds. That's what makes our relationship very intense and rich for our daughter.
Bazile, how would you describe surfing in the area?
Bazile - It's unpredictable. There can be some really good waves, but that's rare. You have to be in the right place at the right time. There are a lot of factors to consider. The tide is a decisive factor, as are the times when there are good swells. But that's mainly in winter, when the days are short and so the good conditions can occur at night. We're also in a very windy region, with the wind often coming from the west, which isn't ideal. But anyway, that's just to paint a slightly bleak picture. There are still some nice waves on the west coast, even if they're not very powerful. They're not necessarily dream conditions, but with my job, I can organise myself to be available and in the right place at the right time.
You seem to have a very strong connection with nature. Can you tell us more about that?
Bharati - It's part of my upbringing. I grew up with stories about the five elements: earth, water, fire, space and air. It's very important to me. So much so that, for example, I don't pick my vegetables or flowers in the evening. I tell myself that they're sleeping, or that I don't want to disturb them. There are areas where I am very gentle in my relationship with nature. It brings me a lot; it's really where I escape to. When I garden or work the land, it calms me. That's also what I love about this place: we live indoors and outdoors, we live with nature all the time.
Bazile - For me, it would be more connected to the ocean. Searching for waves. I spent so much time trudging along coastlines, depending on the swell and the tides, looking for small, sheltered spots and taking measurements. I have entire tables filled with water heights, locations... It's something I find really exciting. Even though it's not the best region for surfing, there's still plenty to do. My friends and I have spent a lot of time figuring out how to get the most out of our sessions. As a result, we now have a deep knowledge of the coast, even though we're still discovering new spots.
Bharati - Afterwards, this connection is also the way we live, consume, our values and the convictions we want to impart. There is something political about it, it is a form of resistance. This militant aspect is important to me. Even though, with our little house and our modest comforts, we're not really campaigning, it's a way of continuing to reflect and resist certain changes and avoid falling into the trap of over-consumption. But I don't want to lecture anyone on this subject either, it's mainly for my own reflection.
Bazile - It's a bit of a personal adventure that we want to experience, we adapt our lifestyle to the importance we give to nature. For the moment we're happy with that, but we still ask ourselves questions, maybe at some point we'll want to live differently?
