Fly it in the air to sweat it out and de-stress

City youngsters take to the new sport of Ultimate Frisbee for a physical and mental workout and use platform to socialise

October 05, 2015 12:00 am | Updated 07:49 am IST

Every evening after a hard day’s work, a group of people gather at Elliot’s Beach.

It is not to chat endlessly, but to sweat it out with a game of Frisbee.

Ultimate Frisbee, as a sport, is gaining popularity in the city. For many, it has become an integral part of their lives.

“All of us have become one big family. We’ve gotten to know each other well and often hang out for lunch,” says Tharika Natesan, vice president of Ultimate Players Association of India.

For young men and women from other States, who have come to the city for work, this sport has become an ideal platform to socialise. “Every evening there are hundreds of players practising at Elliot’s Beach. Many from the local fishing community join us and their outlook towards life also changes,” says Manu Karan, president, Chennai Ultimate Frisbee Club.

There are no referees in the game. “When there is a foul, the players stop, give their version and then opponents give theirs, and the game continues. This is very helpful while facing issues in life too. We learn to pause, listen and then move ahead,” adds Tharika.

Apart from physical fitness, the game involves a mental workout too. “We have to understand what the other team is planning, the speed and direction of the wind and other aspects of the game. This increases our awareness about things around us,” adds Manu.

For every period in history, there is a style of art that characterises it. Studying the art, therefore, can go a long way in understanding the history of that time. This is the reason Jayanthi Sekhar, an art graduate and mother, has started Art Arattai (gossip), to teach history to children through art and art through history.

“In the past couple of years, I have spent a lot of time travelling through the country realising that there was nobody to explain the art and the history of these places to young children. That was when the idea of Art Arattai took seed,” Ms. Sekhar says.

Through story telling, pictures, a little bit of play acting and lots of conversation, Ms. Sekhar hopes to teach the children how to appreciate art and understand history. The classes are on Saturdays at Saplings Montessori School and last for two hours every week. “I am essentially taking history out of the classroom, introducing children to art and encouraging them to talk about both. Since I am dealing with younger children, I also include a lot of movement in the class to keep them engaged,” she added.

Currently, she has started with a couple of classes, including one at ilovereadin’ Library. “Although, I am mainly looking at young children, beginning at six years old, it is possible to teach history through stories and art to children of all ages, from six to even 30,” she said. For more details, visit their Facebook page:https://facebook.com/artarattai, or email atartarattai@gmail.com.

(Reporting by Vivek Narayan andKavitha Kishore)

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