Days in the sun

Weekend - one of the most loved words in the vocabulary of mankind! The drudgery of work is borne by thinking about what to do for the upcoming weekend and usually involves hanging out with friends and family.

However, the young generation is increasingly getting disenchanted with what counts as conventional weekend plans such as shopping, pubbing or other ways of burning money. They are now turning to other options to spend the precious two days in a more productive and satisfying manner.

“The quality of what counts as entertainment these days is very poor. Most of it is on a screen and there is no sense of connection. It is about consumption in a passive way,” says Badrinarayanan Seetharaman. “Many people end up in a theatre or pub because they don’t know what other options are available to them.”

Badrinarayanan is the co-founder of ‘Gathr’, a venture which aims at orchestrating alternative social experiences that range from tree walks, perfumery workshops and insect walks to listening parties and TV nights. “We just wanted people to have more fun ways to spend their weekends. They are increasingly getting tired of what is seen as pleasure nowadays. This is one of the reasons why we see a lot of young adults in our crowd.”

Connecting with nature seems to be one of the primary goals of youngsters in the city these days. Burnt out after hours of staring at screens, people are charging their batteries by opting to take part in community walks or bicycle rides around their neighbourhood.

“It gives them a chance to meet new people as well as understand the city’s history and culture in a better way,” says Aarti Shastry, part of adventure travel company ‘Unventured’ that organises bicycle rides and walks in different areas of Bengaluru, right from the highly-urbanised streets of MG Road to the temples of Basavanagudi. “Such events are always interesting and insightful because different people can give you different perspectives about the same places.”

When Aarti is not exploring the city, she is performing on stage as part of an improv group.

There are some others who are not only looking at spending their off days in a satisfactory way but also spread a little sunshine by way of community farming and volunteering. Another group of do-gooders is the book fairies who leave books in public places for others to find.

Says Namita Nafri,”I love books. And since the beginning, my wish has been not to just read books but also share them with others.”

Since she holds a full-time job in Accenture, Namita bookmarks (see what we did there?) her weekends for this. “I go around the city on weekends to leave books in cafes and parks. We hold some special events as well. Recently we celebrated ‘classics’ day and ‘non-fiction’ day. We also celebrate author birthdays. So my weekends are constructively spent in this manner.”

So the next time you plan to hit the mall for the umpteenth time, see if you find something else that will make for better stories and memories.