When weekends take a hike!

Many older folk paint similar pictures about an ideal weekend for a youngster in the city. A Friday evening, with ‘cool’ joints across the city bustling with youth grooving away. On Saturday, some have a good time over a few drinks. Grooving to a mix of Pit Bull or some desi beats (Haan Baby ko Base Bhi Pasand Hai!). On Sunday, they catch up on last minute weekend fun. Before the Monday morning blues kick in.

Is this what weekends are about?  Hell no! Say some boys and girls from our city. Namma Ooru is not made up of party animals alone! “If given an option between attending a loud party or a long ride on my mean machine, I would choose the latter any day,” says  Bhuvi Nagarajan, a self-confessed ‘Biker Chic’ and a corporate trainer during the week. “Gone are the days when I liked crowd and liked it loud.   Days on the road have helped me grow into a different person. People I have met come from different cultural backgrounds and lifestyles. This has made my life colourful,” she says.

Swajit Gade, a management consultant and  a volunteer at Bangalore Hikers (a non-profit group), believes that our  actual ‘roots’ lie in nature. “City is where you survive and you can’t run away from responsibilities. That’s the reality. But if we can go back to our roots even for a while, it feels real,” expresses the hiker. These are people who derive fun and pleasure from hiking or trekking as much as the people who choose to party.  

Dan John Matthew, an avid weekend traveller and English major on a break, chooses nature over the ecstasy of the ‘spirit’. He says, “I personally don’t like to go partying during weekends. Instead, I go for trips as I feel that it is better to invest on travelling that to get wasted and not have any memory of that.” Expressing her disinterest towards club hopping, Divya Malhari, a young post-graduate and book buff, says “I’d rather spend time with my friends having chai in a quiet place where loud music doesn’t drown our voices. I love weekends where I can laze around in my couch with a book and a cup of tea.” She also confesses that she has never enjoyed anything loud and involving dancing!

— Jeevan Biswas