The word ‘fitness’ often brings up images of people sweating it out, either walking, jogging, or doing both, in the gym. Some enthusiasts choose to swim, or play a game of cricket or football on jam-packed playgrounds on Sundays.
Now, there’s a brand new and burgeoning fitness mantra — cycling. Once a common mode of transportation, the sight of people pedalling plummeted with the advent of many motorcycle and scooter models offering a comfortable cruise.
With Chennaiites growing passionate about fitness, cycling has brought together the young and old to pedal long and wide across the city, especially on East Coast Road.
An astounding number of cycling groups have mushroomed, with active members both on-road and online. While some members stick to sweating it out, cycling on Sunday mornings, others have taken the longer road, quite literally, with rides to Ooty, Yercaud and even neighbouring States.
Five years ago, one had to plead to gather members for a ride. But today, the membership has escalated in the city-based cycling groups, possibly due to awareness on health aspects and also better networking via social media. More and more women too are signing up.
Cycling could be an expensive hobby with Bianchis and Cannondales itself costing a bomb, apart from the riding gear used to pedal them through the city. While some don’t mind spending the extra buck for the pro cycles, the others have the option of renting them, to be part of the cycling camaraderie.
So, if cycling excites you but you don’t know how to pursue it, your pathway to riding with the like-minded in Chennai is just a click away.
They say you are either born with the entrepreneurial spirit, or not. And if you do have it in you, never mind what you do in your life, the trail will definitely lead to your own business opportunity eventually. It is what you think as you are in college, you finish college and hunt for a job or things to do.
Deepthi Senthilkumar just went at it earlier. All of 12 years, she is helping bury the notion that success in exams is the only indicator of a child’s potential. She makes and sells handmade, eco-friendly earrings, ‘scoobies’, photo frames, and nail art through her stall, appropriately called ‘Girls Gallery’.
With the help of her sister, she began the stall in her apartment to immediate positive response, making around Rs. 1,000 in just 3-4 hours, she says.
Although her store is only open on Sundays for a few hours, she has managed to garner the attention of her entire apartment, with eager parents approaching her to teach her skills to their children. “Because my father is a businessman, I know the tricks involved, so no one can cheat me,” says Deepthi.
Balancing school on one hand, she uses the spare time available to make the goods for sale, except the earrings which she makes after studies.
With an intention of replicating her success beyond the confines of her apartment, she is hopeful of getting a partner who can help her take her business to greater heights.
(By Petlee Peter
and Edwin Thomas)
