BENGALURU: The activity at Cubbon Park is in full swing on Sundays in particular, ever since the lockdown has eased. Filled with walkers, runners, dog-walkers, the latest addition is a lively group of skaters who are painting the luscious green space red.
After a hiatus owing to the pandemic, Bengaluru Skaters are back, zooming across the large area of the park on Sunday mornings.
Started by software engineer Divye Karde in 2016, the skating community in the city has been a vibrant one. But the lockdowns owing to the pandemic played spoilsport, leading to a slowdown.
However, they are now back in small numbers to hone their skills and show them off through Instagram reels.
Speaking to CE, Karde says, “We had about 30 people join us on Sunday, without us even making an announcement anywhere. You’ll find people between the age of three and 50+ skating at the park.”
As much as they’d love to meet more often, Sunday is the only day that working professionals get the time off and the day that Cubbon Park is closed for vehicles.
“We have a few veterans in the group who joined us on a voluntary basis and teach others. The classes are free and the only thing people need to come in with are their skates and some patience to learn,” Karde says, adding that the best way to learn is to start practising on the grass.
“This way, you can learn to get a balance and also not worry about any injury. Though kids learn faster, it’s amazing to watch older people picking it up really quickly too,” he says.
Their social media pages are a hoot. Keeping up with the trends, they create plenty of videos, reels and images that are fun, attractive and eventually get more people interested in the sport.
“It’s not a hard one to learn but patience and perseverance are key,” Karde says.
When he moved to the city from Madhya Pradesh, he felt this was a great way to meet new people and explore his hobby.
“It was a pleasant surprise to see that there were many other like-minded people too. We have everyone from professionals to amateurs in the group, but there’s absolutely no judgement from anyone. Everyone’s sole agenda is to have fun, take a break from their usual routine and get better at it,” he says.
So, is the natural progression to participate in a tournament or competition?
“Honestly, the agenda isn’t to do that, but schools now provide professional training and there are some who go to outside centres to garner the skill set. However, before the pandemic, we did go to Leh to participate in the ice-skating tournament,” he says, adding that he is planning a trip in January.