Far from a ‘weak’ end!
Chocolate making, drum jamming and hoop dancing are now popular weekend activities
By : soumashree sarkar
Update: 2015-07-09 00:06 GMT
You wake up late on a weekend, drag yourself to brunch, by the time it’s over, the sun is down and you head to a pub where in the blink of an eye, the day is over and you are up on Monday with a frightening headache. With end-of-the-week entertainment gaining more and more takers in this city of busy professionals, weekends no longer feature run-of-the-mill parties.
Enter the wellness classes, the stage fright lectures, the clay crafting sessions and the chocolate walks. Bengaluru’s weekends have distinctly opened themselves up to quirky activities.
Anuradha Iyer, a 28-year-old professional who recently moved here from Dubai, says, “The weather is crisp and the people are friendly. So who would want to waste away weekends doing stuff they would forget any way? Last weekend, I went for a city walk instead of heading to a party venue. It gave me a taste for great city experiences and I will probably remember it for the rest of my life.”
Bengalureans are eager to step out and indulge in more community activities. Yashish Sahoo, who along with Ajay Bhatia, organises a chocolate tour, says that the flavour for these lies mostly with urbane young professionals looking to explore a unique aspect of the city. He says, “Most people are looking to unwind over the weekend by doing something that they would not usually do. For them, using authentic Belgian cocoa, cream and sugar is a great way experience.”
For some, off-beat activities like drum jamming and engaging in a hearty dance session with hula-hoops is the way to spend the end of the week. Umesh Raichur of the Rangoli Metro Art Centre, which hosts quirky sessions with mentalists as well as the aforementioned activites, is one to agree. “These fun interactive sessions bring youngsters from the early twenties, as well as people up to their mid thirties. Comedy or art shows with new talent are also a hit on the weekends,” says Umesh.
Yet others would love nothing more than to get their hands dirty. Ganesh Manickavasagam of ClayStation has been organising clay crafting sessions over weekends for the past five years. “We usually have a lot of people signing up that are 25 year olds. Several of them come in to look for a weekend’s worth of experience but grow to love clay modelling. So we encourage them to come in for open house sessions where they can work with the pottery at any time. This way, it develops into a full fledged hobby for some,” says Ganesh.