A cycle and a vintage car rally, and a street art event held as part of the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav brought a sense of gaiety on the main roads of the city on Sunday.
A host of events were held by Mangaluru Smart City Limited (MSCL), which has been into widening roads and other development and city beautification projects.
It began with the bicycle rally in which over 100 people from the We are Cycling and Mangalore Cycling Club took part. The youngest of the cyclists were Ayan from Kudroli and Samyukta from Panjimogeru. A dedicated lane was earmarked for the cyclists, who started their ride at 8.45 a.m. from the A.B. Shetty Circle. They covered a nearly 10-km long route and reached the Exhibition Centre grounds at Lalbagh by 11 a.m. A vehicle of a bicycle firm followed the cyclists and picked up those who had problems with their cycles or those who suffered exhaustion.
Following the cyclists were riders of over 50 vintage two-wheelers and cars. Among the cars included the 1929 Chevrolet of Ratnakar.
Mayor Premananda Shetty drove this car with Deputy Commissioner K.V. Rajendra and MSCL Managing Director Prashant Kumar Mishra for a short distance.
Among the other vehicles in the rally were the 1948 Morris Oxford and the 1967 model of Mercedes Benz, which is owned by K.R. Ballal.
Among the two-wheelers included Lambretta scooter and Jawa, Yezdi, and Enfield motorcycles.
Several artists worked on their art on the road stretch between Exhibition Centre Ground and Lady Hill Circle.
Many students from the Mahalasa College of Visual Art were involved in various art activities.
Rajesh, Sujith and a few other students from the second and third year B.V.A course were involved in creating snakes and ladders and a few natives games for children on a part of the road adjoining Pabbas.
Other students, namely Ganesh Nayak and Prajwal K., were involved painting different forms of Worli art on a white sheet. A few students had different art creations like Lokesh, who painted a bird sporting a mask and his college mate coming out with a painting of Ugra Narasimha.
A few artists had stalls to sell their paintings. Many children aged below 15 participated in the painting competition held at the Mangala Stadium. Children actively took part in the walkathon.
Delay irks cyclists
The delay in start of the bicycle rally irked parents and their children, who had come in good number on Sunday.
The rally was to start at 8 a.m. and the cyclists, including several children, had come to A.B. Shetty Circle by 7.30 a.m.
With Mayor Premanand Shetty and Mangaluru City South MLA D.Vedavyas Kamath not coming to the venue by 8.30 a.m., parents started becoming restless and started questioning the organizers as they were finding it hard to stand in the hot sun.
The officials came to the venue by 8.45 a.m. and the event was flagged off immediately.
