Actor Vivek springs a surprise at Car-Free Sundays

Actor Vivek visited Car-Free Sundays, an initiative of The Hindu, on NSR Road in Coimbatore.— Photo: S. Siva Saravanan

With his famous punch-line “Don’t worry, be happy”, actor Vivek gave a pleasant surprise to all those who had gathered on NSR Road for the Car-Free Sundays, an initiative of The Hindu jointly with Coimbatore Corporation and the city traffic police, on Sunday morning

On seeing thousands gathered for the event, he was reminded of the shopping crowd at Ranganathan Street in Chennai. “Here, they are relaxing,” he said.

Stating that the city is known for various initiatives by the public, he asked them to play an active role in the River Noyyal restoration project, right from its launch at Kooduthurai on March 26. “Noyyal is your property”, he said. A folk dance for the restoration project was also launched at the event.

The road was buzzing with activity. Six-year-old Aadhya was skating on a road for the first time.

Students of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University Pavithra and Akshaya taught children to play traditional games.

Among those who participated at the Car Free Sundays were Hannah and her friends Paola, Hennie and Anja from Germany.

They were awestruck to see a busy road made vehicle-free for pedestrians and for people to have fun. Paola said that occasionally part of the highway that runs through her city (Dortmund) used to be closed for vehicle movement.

“Unlike here, we did not have such activities. It is fun here and it should be extended to more areas,” she added. They regretted that they forgot their cameras, as it would have helped them show their friends, in Europe, on such activities on Indian streets.

Another show stopper was the Tamil folk thappattam by the students of Tamil College in Perur. From one-and-a-half-year-old Vishwarooban to 80-year-old T. Sundaram, there were many who sweat out in the fitness programme organised by Beethovan’s Body Zeal Fitness Studio. Ranjith Dance Academy presented folk and cine numbers. Illusionist Tharun Iyer stunned the audience with his mind reading skills.

Institutions and those interested in organising activities and events contact Madhan (9715063000) of Mark 1. It is the Events and Decor, the event manager of Car Free Sundays, and Radio City is the Radio partner.

Tune into 91.1 FM on Friday where Sunday’s event will be aired as a prelude for next Sunday.