Get to know how Raahgiri has transformed the Sunday culture of Bhubaneswar!
1. Sunday mornings of Bhubaneswar has experienced a metamorphosis.
We know it’s a dare to wake up at 6:00 am on a Sunday morning. But the nerve to get-set-go such early has happened just because of Raahgiri. The number with which people gather in every Raahgiri is tremendous and the figures have been hugely increasing. Now that clearly makes us a part of Sunday early morning wakers’ league!
2. With Raahgiri making the streets livelier, it’s the people ruling the roads and not the automobiles.
Raahgiri is meant to let people take the health of the streets in their own hands. And exactly this has been happening in the stretch that extends from Master Canteen to Ram Mandir Square which beams with people cheering rather than vehicles honking on Sunday daybreaks. The vibrancy gets all the more doubled with the jovial residents indulging in a hub of street activities.
3. Raahgiri makes different sections of society come together as one.
It is so heartening to spectate how people of all class, caste & religion congregate on Raahgiri to get engrossed in the events which the day offers. From toddlers to adults and seniors, every single person joins along to experience the Raahgiri pulse. Raahgiri has pulled off something which even a normal community gathering couldn’t have done!
4. People get to bond along and make some new connections.
Raahgiri gives us a chance to mingle up with like-minded people and have discussions on the spot. While some must have debated about business or politics, there might have been others who would have cooked up plans of post Raahgiri meet-ups. Truly Raahgiri has given us a platform to socialize and make friends with the young and old alike!
5. The kind of activities of people makes Raahgiri even more pleasing.
Also we get to witness some pleasant connections. There is a father strolling around with a kid on his shoulder, grand-pa playing with his grandchild, people cheerfully learning sign languages from the ones in charge and many such things. It gives another high to look at physically challenged people busy doing their own things regardless of who is watching. All of it makes the Raahgiri feel hugely blissful & motivating!
6. Photographs tend to become the high point of every Raahgiri.
Ofcourse amidst all this, a lot of Photography and Selfie-graphy happens which we playfully post on our social media profiles with overjoyed captions. With Raahgiri, we now know it very well how to boost up our real and virtual popularity!
And the happy faces going back home from one Raahgiri day can only think of how to engage themselves more in the next week’s Raahgiri. Meanwhile we are quite optimistic about the fact that we celebrate Raahgiri keeping in mind the purpose of cutting down the spur of vehicular traffic to reclaim our streets and not just to transform the day into another happening ‘Mela.’