Reclaiming The Raah!!!

Hyderabadi’s have a reason to smile these days. And why not?? The city recently bagged the honour of Best City to live in India. Yet there is no stopping this burgeoning metro in her quest to become the number one in the country. When on one side we are witnessing malls and IT parks come up, the governing bodies are taking special efforts to ensure a good quality of life. One such initiative is the Raahgiri Day celebrated every Sunday morning for 8 weeks now.

It was a simple idea. It started some thousands of miles away. And yet brought smiles to thousands of Hyderabadis. The Raahgiri day, India’s adoption of the Ciclovia(meaning ‘cycleway’ in Spanish) which started in 1970’s in Bogotá, Columbia has been an instant hit among the citizens. Every sunday since January 19th,2015, the people are taking it to streets of Hyderabad to a morning filled with dance, music, cricket, football, cycling and many other activities. The idea is to bring people back on streets where they can just be themselves. In times when motorization has been fast, parks making way for high rise apartments and with lesser space available for people to indulge in outdoor activities, Raahgiri brings in fresh breath of air.

Scores of people have thronged the streets which have never been so bright and energetic on a lazy Sunday morning. Youngsters scoring goals,riding bicycles, parents of toddlers teaching their kids a game or two and elderly people taking a slow stroll is a very warm sight to the eyes, especially when we are used to see vehicles zooming fast and commoners pushed to the footpaths.

The Raahgiri has instilled a much needed life on the streets of Hyderabad which is positioning itself as a dynamic young city.

Women have particularly taken a huge liking for this initiative conceived by Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation and Cyberabad traffic police. After all the atrocities against them it was about time they took to the streets fearlessly and expressed themselves. On the occasion of International Women’s Day, many organizations working for women welfare arranged for various confidence building activities like Yoga, Pot decoration, Zumba etc.

With such fun filled initiatives Hyderabad is bound to be darling of masses. This will surely add to her charm, bring in more opportunities for her citizens to grow. With opportunities galore, I don’t it is a bad time to be an entrepreneur in Hyderabad!

You can follow the FB page:  https://www.facebook.com/RaahgiriDayHyderabad

Comments

comments