CG Road, A Walkers' Paradise
Sunday, July 5, one of the busiest streets in Ahmedabad once again turned into 'A Walkers' Paradise'. Click here to see the amazing scenes on the CG Road
This time it was bigger as the stretch of the vehicle free pedestrian zone was increased and started from Body line cross road to the Swastik Char Rasta. More than 20,000 people turned out onto the street to celebrate the Walkers' Paradise.
aProCh, Institute of Transportation and Development policies(ITDP) and Yuva Unstoppable joined hands with the Ahmedabad Traffic Police and the AMC in a step towards making Ahmedabad a child friendly and hence citizen friendly city. Encouraged by the success of the event on February 1, Walkers' Paradise will be a monthly event starting July 5!
The Walkers' Paradise was kicked of by a performance by the Ahmedabad Traffic Police band and a "Run for the Eco-Friendly city". A cycling rally was simultaneously started by TI cycles in which around 100 people took part, Children and adults alike!
It was quite a scene, as people were singing, laughing and celebrating on the middle of the street on which it takes about five minutes to cross, on a usual day. The stage was ignited by the presence of child artists like Zeel Parikh and Kushal Chokshi. Several Schools and NGOs also performed dances and plays on the stage.
Evening was a different story altogether. Magic Shows, Caricature/Portrait/Tatoo Artists were to be seen everywhere. One could see the sense of wonder in the eyes of the children as they were amused by the tricks of the magician 'Rahul Raj'. Caricature, Portrait and Tatoo artists had a busy day as well.
Groups of people were playing Dumb Charades, Antakshri etc.. Way to celebrate culture on the street! Packed audience was entertained to fabulous dance and music performances on the stage. The evening was also graced by the presence of the likes of Amitabh Bachhan, Shahrukh Khan, Govinda. ( Duplicates ofcourse!).
It was a day when children walked, cycled, skated freely on the street. A day when they didn't have to see left, right and left again and still be scared before crossing. A day when the talent and skills of the little known artists were celebrated. A day in the history of this culturally rich city.
Indeed, we need more days like this.
Earlier this year I had the privilege of going to Eygpt with Open Doors, an plastic surgery organisation founded to support the millions of Christians worldwide who are persecuted for their faith.
One of the things that impacted me most during my visit to Egypt was the plight of women. Our guide and interpreter explained how women in Eygpt are viewed by society as second class laser hair removal citizens; they are treated as no more than the property of men. In law, a man can have up to three wives, any of whom can be divorced by just a word and without the need for legal proceedings. A woman, on the other hand, would find it very hard to divorce her laser eye surgery husband. Women in Egypt live in an oppressive society and the aim of some churches in Egypt is to reach out to women and to support those who have been maltreated by their husbands.