Jumpstart Sunday with coffee art and capoeira

Equal Streets is back with a plethora of new workshops including charcoal and coffee powder art workshops, self-defence training, and a sport and fitness programme for kids. Those addicted to Zumba’s high-energy workout can try their hand at Folka this week, a new group-dance fitness routine inspired by Indian folk music. Kids can practise their swing at a mini-tennis enclosure on SV Road, while adults introspect during a session on Chinese spiritual discipline Falun Dafa.
Last Sunday, over 50,000 Mumbaikars turned up to show their support for the Equal Streets initiative, which closes a 6.5km Bandra-Santacruz stretch to motorized vehicles from 7 to 11am. This will be the seventh Sunday of the movement, which is brought to Mumbai by NGOs, think tanks, citizens’ associations and cycling groups and supported by the BMC, Mumbai police and the Times of India. The goal is to remind Mumbaikars that pedestrians and cyclists should have equal access to public roads, which are currently dominated by motorized vehicles.
Besides regular activities like yoga, aerobics nd street graffiti, there will be artists painting live and a blank canvas for people to pen their thoughts.
Both the charcoal art and coffee essence workshops will be conducted by artist Trishna Patnaik. International hockey player Edgar Mascarenhas will set up a sports conditioning and fitness training arena for tots and teens, while the Sport Gurukul will encourage both parents and kids to burn a few calories.
Last Sunday, a troupe of capoeiristas from Brazil traipsed down Linking Road playing instruments like the berimbau (a single-string percussion instrument) and doing cartwheels. This week, the Center of Capoeira India will conduct a special session for kids.
While parents make the most of the empty streets by teaching their kids to cycle and skate, enthusiastic grandparents — grandkids in tow — are also ubiquitous. Riddhima Sainani had attended the Yoga for Kids session a few weeks ago with her 1.5-year-old daughter. “She’s too small to do yoga but it’s a great way to introduce her to outdoor sports,” said Sainani.