After delivering her second child 13 years ago, Rekha Sudarsan weighed 82 kg. After a few crash diets didn’t work, she began running. “At first, it was just on the road outside my home in Besant Nagar and I could barely complete 700 metres,” says the psychologist. Soon though, Rekha was touching 2 km and then 10, and in 2008, with two others, founded Dream Runners.
Mothers and children are increasingly taking to running in the city, as witnessed in the recent ‘Pinkathon’, which had 6,300 women participating and several children as young as nine completing long runs.
For Rekha, the benefits are immense: apart from weight loss, increased stamina and better immunity levels, she says, running is meditation. “When I run, I go into a ‘no-thought zone’. It’s a wonderful feeling. It’s also when I plan my day and get my dose of ‘me time’,” she says. Rekha has completed the Chennai and Mumbai Marathons, and eventually wants to participate in the Comrades Marathon in South Africa.
Both Vandana Sheth and her seven-year-old daughter run. “My daughter loves it, but I don’t let her run too long as she gets dehydrated. She’s done a maximum of 3 km so far” said the 34-year-old. Her energy levels, Vandana says, increased significantly once she began running regularly. “I used to have a thyroid problem and I always thought I wouldn’t be able to run too much. But now, I can work all day in office and I’m not tired even at 11 or 12 in the night. Plus, it has given me tremendous health benefits and keeps me fit all the time,” she says.
About 1,500 women registered for the Chennai marathon last year and runners in the city say the number is growing by leaps and bounds as more women, especially mothers, discover the joys of fresh air and lithe muscles.
A disturbing trend among children these days is the limitless access to internet, leading to psychological, emotional, physical and behavioural problems. Technology, predictably, has had a huge impact on the lives of Indian teenagers, who, according to a survey conducted recently, show a strong inclination to communicate online rather than through other media.
A survey conducted by TCS among 18,196 students between ages 12 and 18 in 14 cities, recently indicated Facebook to be the preferred social media. This, experts say, is a cause for concern. According to child psychiatrist V. Jayanthini, it is not just teens, but tweens — children between ages 8 and 12 — too, who are seen having access to the internet. “The minimum age to have a Facebook account is 13 years. However, many parents encourage and even open accounts for children below that age,” she said.
According to Vijay Jacob, parent of a 11-year old, although his son does not have a phone of his own, he is quite internet-savvy already. “The moment I return home, my iPad is in his hands. He plays games on the internet, and loves logging onto Facebook,” he says.
With the smartphone revolution, more teens are seen having access to the internet. Peer pressure and the internet fad have led to parents buying children smartphones with internet access, Dr. Jayanthini says.
(Reporting by Zubeda Hamid and Evelyn Ratnakumar)
