Mumbaikars turn up in big numbers for global skating relay

More than 400 plus inline skaters participated in the global initiative at the Somaiya Skating Rink, at Somaiya Ayurvihar campus at Sion, Mumbai’s only roller skating rink yesterday between 5.30 pm and 10.30 pm. The aim of the event was to knot a global net of skaters and raise funds for charity. Held over 24 hours, the event kick-started in a way that during that time, someone, in some part of the world was skating.

The activity flagged off in Germany, and moved on to India (Mumbai and Pune), China, Poland, South Africa and so on who completed the relay. Right from five-year-olds to recreational skaters, professional skaters and teams were all a part of the event. Talking about the initiative Ajay Shivlani, who runs a skating academy in the city, said, “Many of my students have participated in the event. This worldwide connected skating program is one, where in a window of 24 hours, someone or the other in some part of the world skates without giving any gap. We had close to 450 skaters skating for us last year and the numbers are almost the same this year, too.” The event saw huge participation from kids in the age group of 5 to 14. 14-year-old Kavya Lalwani, a state-level skater, said, “I have been skating for four years but never skated for so long at a stretch; I am just going with the flow right now. I had to slow down because of the heavy rains but it has been an interesting experience.”