Kaustubh Khade

Kaustubh Khade on Day 8 of his expedition- Mumbai to Goa

Kaustubh Khade (born on 17 January 1987 ) is a Professional Kayaker. After graduating from Indian Institute of Technology(IIT) Delhi, he took up kayaking as a challenge and in a span of five years, has become one of India's top professional kayakers. Trained under twelve time world Champion for Surfski Kayaking, Oscar Chalupsky, his first major tournament was the 2012 National Championship for Dragon Boat Racing held in Mumbai in which he had one of the best timings of the Championship and qualified for the International Asian Dragon Boat Championship in Thailand. He was part of the Indian contingent that was sent to Thailand, where they managed to secure nine medals, out of which his contribution was two silver and one bronze.

Early Life Kaustubh was born in Bombay on 17th January, 1987, to Dr. Kisan Khade and Dr. Monita Khade. He grew up and did his early education in Hiranandani Foundation School. He took to sports early as a child excelling in track events and played various sports ranging from swimming, squash, football & rugby. He was made Sports Captain in his final year at school.

Academics

Kaustubh excelled at studies and with an inclination towards science he entered the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi in 2005. While studying Computer Science at IIT, he was elected to be the Google Campus Ambassador, and was Director at the Entrepreneurship Cell of IIT, eDC. He was invited to intern at the Chair of Entrepreneurship, University of Oldenburg. Work: He started his career at Ernst & Young in their Fraud Investigation Division. After graduation, he moved back to Bombay to start work at a software firm where he moved from development to analytics to marketing. When he left the organization in 2012, he was a Senior Executive in their marketing division. From there he moved onto working as Product Manager at a Bombay startup called AppsDaily where he worked for 3 years finally leaving to join another startup as Senior Product Manager.

Sports Life

Kaustubh’s roots in track and field pushed him towards football before joining college, where 2 knee surgeries kept him from pursuing sports. In 2009, he chanced upon kayaking on a trip to Goa. He took up the sport and in 2012 he participated in the National Dragon boat Championship in Bombay. Participating for team Goa, they finished with the 4th best time amongst 14 states. Kaustubh found a spot on the national team as a result, and was part of a 33 men + women’s contingent to represent India at the 2012 Asian Dragon Boat Championship. India finished with 6 silver medals and 3 bronze medals. Kaustubh competed in races securing 2 Silvers and 1 Bronze medal. It was an impressive maiden championship haul for the country.

Returning to India, he faced the lack of interested in the sport in India. A feeling that grew with no recognition / acknowledgment of his 5th place finish in the 2013 Asian Sea Kayaking Championship in Thailand where he raced in the 13Km sea kayak event.

In 2014, Kaustubh chose to embark on a kayaking expedition to bring awareness to the sport. He spent the last quarter of the year building up to the expedition that would be recognized as the Longest Solo Kayaking by an Indian. He also tied up with the NGO, MagicBus to raise funds for their children.

Kaustubh on his last day of the expedition- Mumbai to Goa

In 2015, Kaustubh set off from the Gateway of India in a single man sea kayak. Over the next 17 days he kayaked 415 kms to reach Morjim, Goa. Enroute he was accosted by cops, saw dolphins and faced stormy conditions. He arrived in Goa to friends, family & and eager press. On his returned he donated the funds to Magic bus helping them bring more children into the fold.

Kaustubh Khade with kids from Magic Bus

Kayaking records

In 2015, he was entered in the Limca Book of Records when he kayaked solo from Mumbai to Goa in 18 days, covering a distance of 400 kilometres. In 2016, he will be the first Indian to kayak 3000 km across the western coastline of India, covering 5 states and one Union Territory from Kutch to Kanyakumari.