Mumbais morning walkers take to the mall

May 01, 2011

MUMBAI, May 1 Its 6:30am and the Inorbit shopping mall in Mumbai has already been open for an hour and a half. But its not shoppers who are using the deserted aisles and the empty car park outside. Every morning, groups of walkers and even the occasional runner descend on the 364,000 square feet (34,000 square metre) centre in the northern suburb of Malad to exercise before the rest of the city wakes up.The walk makes me feel energetic and sets me up for the day, said Ravi Wikar, whose daily constitutional takes him on a circular route past shuttered shops and up and down the switched-off escalators.I walk every morning from 6:30am and do about three kilometres on average, the 37-year-old businessman, dressed in a white baseball cap, white t-shirt, red tracksuit bottoms and running shoes, told AFP.The concept of using a closed shopping centre as a place to exercise doesnt seem strange to the 50 or so regular mall walkers of Malad, most of whom are senior citizens with ailments from arthritis to diabetes.

In this April 14, 2011 picture Indian morning walkers sip green tea as they rest in the car park area of the Inorbit Mall early morning in Mumbai. AFP pic Its born out of necessity.Indias financial and entertainment capital is chronically congested.Haphazard urban development has seen green spaces covered in concrete for apartment and office blocks, leaving those that remain packed even before dawn.Roads and pavements are poorly maintained, while daily traffic gridlock combines with extreme heat and humidity to push up smog and pollution levels.Add rash driving and exercising outdoors becomes difficult or often impossible.In contrast, the smooth surfaces of the shopping centre aisles and flat, tarmac car park are less stressful on ageing joints than the often rutted, undulating tracks of nearby public parks.Someone can pick you up afterwards but if you go to the parks, they cant,! said Ra njan Kar, a retired media executive who is Wikars walking partner.The walkers also say that with lighting and security guards everywhere -- anyone walking inside the centre still has to go through a metal detecting arch and be searched -- its also safer.Walking on the roads... theres bad people also, said Wikar, fingering the gold neck chain under his t-shirt. Its possible you can get mugged.Its calm and quiet and theres no fumes from the cars, added retired draftsman Prabhakar Kishambare, 70, who typically does three to four laps around the car park every morning.Its an open space, nice and clean and the ambience is very good.For Neera Punj, convenor of the Citizens Forum for the Protection of Public Spaces or CitiSpace, the emergence of mall-walking sums up the problems facing Mumbai.The state of the remaining open spaces is deplorable, she said. Thats why were getting to the point where were getting mall-walkers.CitiSpace says that there are just 940 acres (380 hectares) of parks, recreation grounds and gardens for an official population of about 14 million.The unofficial population is thought to be over 18 million more than in The Netherlands as a wholeIn comparison, London, with nearly eight million people, has more than 10,000 acres of publicly-accessible open space while New York City has some 29,000 acres for about the same number of residents.Its miniscule compared to what the national building norms recommend, said Punj. It recommends four acres for every 1,000 people but what we have is 0.03 acres.Space isnt a luxury. Its absolutely mandatory and essential for a persons well-being.CitiSpace arent the only ones with concerns about disappearing open spaces and its effect on peoples health, fitness and well-being.Global consultancy Ernst and Young said in a report published last year that the lack of space to play sports in Indias cities was a factor in the nations lack of international success in sports other than cricket.Less than five per cent of the countrys vast population of 1.21 billion h! ad acces s to sporting facilities and organised sports, the study said.Sports facilities do exist but usually in private clubs. Like so much in India, access depends on ability to pay, forcing the majority to make do with sub-standard facilities or none at all.Punj doesnt dismiss the mall-walkers out of hand, though, instead seeing the initiative as a resourceful way of using a public space and part of a canny marketing strategy.The mall-walkers, meanwhile, are just happy to have found a suitable place to stretch their legs in relative comfort.Ive been doing this (walking in the morning) since 1984 in different places. Now Im doing it here, said Kishambare. You can always find somewhere.There are also other advantages, said Wikar with a smile.Its a good way to go window shopping. afprelaxnews.com