India’s gravity-defying community of highliners is growing rapidly

In a nation with limited exposure to adventure sports, here’s how athletes are championing highlining

“Do you have a death wish?” 

Highliners in India often encounter this invalidating reaction to their choice of lifestyle. To the uninitiated, the perceived risk of the adventure sport far outweighs any rush or joy it may bring. Much like slacklining, highlining entails the act of balancing and walking on a piece of webbing suspended between two stationary anchors. The key difference? The latter is performed at a significant height, and when you’re highlining between two mountains, there’s little to no room for error. What may seem like a self-destructive spectacle to skeptics is, in fact, an ordinary day on the job for professional highliners. 

Notes of caution

“I’ve always said that highlining is safer than crossing any street in India. Although the consequence of a failure here is high, you can make sure you avoid it by controlling all the variables and having back-ups for every element,” says highliner Rhea Antony. A well-researched set of best practices and safety standards are followed to ensure that every risk is calculated and accounted for. A harness ensures that you stay tethered to the line when you fall off—and  you will, a lot.

Just because it’s safe, however, doesn’t mean it’s a cakewalk. As a skill-based adventure sport, highlining requires you to not only master every element of slacklining, but also your mortal fear. “The first time I went on a highline, my throat was parched. I was so scared that it would hurt when I swallowed,” recalls 33-year-old Faris Fawaaz, highliner and mountaineer. You might think that having experienced this kind of crippling fear, one would want to stay as far away from it as possible. But for Fawaaz, it became the doorway to a fascinating way of living in the present. “From the way your foot is placed on the line to how the wind is caressing your fingertips, you become aware of every little thing. It’s the most alive I’ve ever felt,” he says. 

How it all began

While it’s still fairly uncommon to slackline in India, let alone highline, the community has grown considerably over the years. When Samar Farooqui, founder of Slacklife Inc, decided to pursue slacklining and highlining professionally in 2013, there were only a handful of enthusiasts across the country. He had become a part of the outdoor community in New Zealand while he was studying there, and was eager to build something similar in India on his return. “Back then, even if I wanted to find someone to slackline with, I had to go to Bengaluru, New Delhi or Pune. There were only about five or seven people who were into the sport, and we eventually stumbled upon each other on Facebook, or through friends of friends,” he recalls.

Over time, some members of the slacklining community began showing an interest in the highlining space. “Of course, that number was very small, because not everyone had the time or resources to procure the gear required to highline. Fast-forward to 2022, there are at least seven cities in the country with a number of highliners who regularly go out and rig lines,” says highline entrepreneur Adarsh. 

Banding together

The growth of the sport is rooted in the warm, welcoming culture of its community. According to Megha Thiara, highliner and climber, the community is growing in different directions, with many members devoting their time to teaching new people. Even as more and more people pick up the sport in different parts of the country, an intangible thread ties them together. “When we travel to a new city, it’s pretty common to meet up with slackliners and highliners, even if we don’t know them personally,” she says. 

The recent emergence of festivals and gatherings plays a huge role in developing the bond as well as the skills of the various athletes in the community. One such event, The Duchess Highline Gathering, which is held at Duke’s Nose in Lonavala every November, was conceptualised to create a space for women to come together and experience the joy of the sport without judgment. “It’s great to highline with the guys, but it’s nicer to have more women joining in—not just by hanging around, but also by contributing to the rig, learning, making decisions and so on,” says Antony, who organises the event annually with the help of a few other female athletes.

Though the skill level of Indian highliners falls short in comparison with that of those in the West, their inexperience is not to be confused for inability. Adarsh, who helped organise the Great Indian Highline Gathering (GIHG) in 2020 and the Rush Fest in 2022, talks about how quickly the game has changed in a span of two years. At the GIHG, the international athletes were pretty much leading the rigging process. “This time around at Rush Fest, we had no trouble setting up the lines ourselves, while the international highliners could focus on imparting knowledge about the tricks and skills,” he says. 

Against all odds

For it to truly thrive in India, highlining requires national recognition and support from local authorities. Some of the obstacles Indian highliners struggle with are permit denials and lack of funding. Being an expensive sport with very few income streams, it’s still not feasible for many enthusiasts to pursue it professionally. That’s not to say, however, that things aren’t changing. “From being arrested in 2014 for slacklining at Marine Drive to being paid by the Chhattisgarh government in 2021 to teach the sport to village kids, it’s been a roller-coaster ride,” says Farooqui. 

Lead image credit: Gayatri Juvekar

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