MUMBAI: Instead of snoozing on Sunday, take your children to Equal Streets. For three hours, starting 6 am, a 2.1 km stretch from Juhu Circle to Mithibai College via Road No. 10 will transform into an open-air sports arena and performance stage with flash mobs, acoustic guitar and drum performances, chess, skating, cricket, and an arts and crafts corner.
Adults can discover their inner child by teaming up with their children to play mini-tennis, football and basketball.
Some even take this opportunity to teach their child a new skill, like cycling, skating or chess. Gautam Bajaj’s five-year-old, Mohit, has picked up cycling from scratch since the initiative started.
“He has improved a lot,” said Bajaj as he raced behind the bicycle to ensure that Mohit did not lose his balance when TOI caught up with him last year. Born in November 2014, Equal Streets — a movement supported by the Times of India — is the culmination of efforts by various NGOs, activists, architects, citizens’ associations and cycling groups, who were keen to reclaim their streets from traffic snarls and perpetual honking.
Equal Streets has grown into a mass movement, attracting thousands of people and transforming neighbourhoods in Bandra and Powai before moving to Juhu.
This Sunday, visitors can look forward to a performance by an acoustic music troupe — the age of members ranges from five to 80 years — that will perform classic Hindi and English songs as well as a session with a handwriting analyst and a face reader.
Children, who have always been the biggest fans of this movement, can partake in maths and physics experiments, try their hand at origami, learn about road safety or simply scribble with chalk on an empty street.