Forget cricket. Forget football! Skating is the new in thing in town!
You can swoosh all the way from one end of the street to another and feel like you're flying! Bengalureans are embracing roller skating as a sport and skateboarding for recreation, just like in cities like Berlin and Paris!
“I have been skating for ten years and from then until now, there has been improved infrastructure and increase in competition. They are trying to imitate international skating rinks and equipment, so that's a big plus point" says Prathik Prasad, 18, who represented India at an international skating event in Belgium in August. He learns skating at Best Academy in the city.
It is pleasantly surprising that more and more parents are willing to put their children in skating classes at a very young age.
“I put my daughter at a skating academy because she used to skate around at home and she really liked it. She really has the flair for it. She has participated in district and state levels and is about to participate in the national level," says Rajesh, about his ten-year-old daughter, Priyanka, who has been skating for six years.
There are several tiny playgrounds that have opened up in the city, like in Subramanyanagar, where a skating rink opened a couple of months ago. Now when you visit the place, you'll see toddlers and teenagers, confidently learning the art of gliding fearlessly on wheels.
But while roller skating is being taken up as a serious sport, youngsters are opting to chill out after college at skating parks in the city, instead of going out for coffee.
The Holystoked skate park in HSR layout is one of the only skate parks in Bengaluru that is open on all days of the week and free for everyone to learn and have fun!
“Our motto is to make skating popular, and even make it a part of school curriculums. Even parents are stoked about enrolling their kids in skating classes. Most of them are fearful at first, but once they get the hang of it, they love it and their parents love it too," says Mekerira Somanna, one of the founders and coaches at Holystoked.
He claims that people from all over the world visit Bengaluru when they come to India, because other cities are yet to embrace the activity.
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