Visitors to the city’s favourite green patch — Cubbon Park — were witness to an unusual sight on Saturday evening. Skating enthusiasts of all ages were enjoying themselves, but dangerously as they were using the busy Bal Bhavan Road. Anxious parents of the little skaters warned them of incoming traffic from the footpath even as they captured their kids’ exploits on their smart phones while a policeman helplessly waited to know from his seniors if the requisite permission had been taken by the organisers of the event.
HolyStoked, a team of Indian skateboarders who started a collective for skateboarders in 2011, was celebrating ‘Go Skateboarding Day’ for the third year. They had booked Freedom Park as the venue for the event, but were asked to shift elsewhere by the authorities at the last minute citing ‘security concerns’. A programme involving the City Police Commissioner was scheduled at the venue on Sunday. “They returned our advance of Rs. 28,000 when we went to put up posters at the venue for the event. Because of that, we had to shift here,” explained Purnabodh. The 26-year-old, an alumna of the University Law College, Bangalore co-founded the initiative along with classmate Abhishek and friend Somanna M.R. The lack of space to practise the sport is not a new problem for them. In fact, the collective caters to common problems such as where to find quality equipment, where to learn skateboarding, where to skateboard and how to make skateboarding more accessible to the general youth. Mr. Purnabodh certifies Bangalore as the ‘skating capital of the country’, saying that the skateboarding scene here is better than anywhere in India.
Why skateboarding in particular, and not roller-skating, for example? “Skateboarding is a lifestyle; it has no rules, you can skateboard anywhere and it gives you freedom unlike roller-skates, where you have buckle up, etc,” he says.
Among the participants on Saturday was Manthan Shivpur, a Class 11 student who had come from Mumbai just for this event. “It is an expensive sport. The board costs up to Rs. 8,000. But I really enjoy it,” he said. Seven-year-old Rivka was catching eyeballs too, as her mother Kathleen Desaran watched proudly. “She got interested after watching skateboarding on television. Now she is taking classes,” she said.
