Tai chi session, currency expo turn heads at Happy Streets

(Rep image)

Special session on traditional Chinese martial art Tai Chi and a currency exhibition hogged the limelight at the sixth Happy Streets held from 6 am to 9 am at Uzhavar Sandhai Link Road in the city on Sunday.

TOI with the support of Trichy Corporation and Trichy City Police, kick-started Happy Streets programme at Thillai Nagar 10th Cross Street (west) on February 25. The programme, over the course of the six weeks -- the first three weeks of which were held at Thillai Nagar and the next three at Uzhavar Sandai Link Road – has received tremendous response from both adults and children. The overwherlming response was mostly due to its activities, sessions and performances which were not only fun and recreational, but educational in many ways.

The yoga session, which has been held by Isha Foundation right from the first week, has seen a steady increase in the number of participants every week. L Lakshmanan, who is one of the volunteers of Isha Foundation, said that Happy Streets has been instrumental in creating awareness about yoga among the people. “It’s not only the adults, who are participating in it, but even kids are showing a lot of interest. Conducting yoga sessions at an event like this creates more impact than urging people to directly enroll for yoga classes,” Lakshmanan told TOI.

Sunil Srinivasan, a senior pediatrician from the city who has been a practitioner of tai chi for the past nine years, started teaching the traditional Chinese martial art form three years back. Various studies suggest that tai chi is effective in fighting chronic pain condition and fibromyalgia, apart from improving memory among children and flexibility among the adults.
“The best aspect of tai chi is, it is not a strenuous exercise and it can be practiced by almost everyone. On Sunday, I covered the basic exercises and people – both kids and adults – relished the experience,” he said.

As a continuation to last week’s coin collection exhibition, founder and president of Tiruchirappalli Notaphily Society, P Vijayakumar, conducted a currency exhibition at the sixth programme of Happy Streets. The exhibition featured currencies of several countries across the world. “People were surprised to know that some currency notes – made using silk – even existed,” Vijayakumar stated.
Coin collector Kamala Kannan, who participated in Sunday’s programme, said, “Happy Streets has broken the misconception that an initiative like this could be possible only in metro cities. Even the currency exhibition was on par with the ones that are usually held in metro cities.”
Trichy: Special session on traditional Chinese martial art Tai Chi and a currency exhibition hogged the limelight at the sixth Happy Streets held from 6 am to 9 am at Uzhavar Sandhai Link Road in the city on Sunday.
TOI with the support of Trichy Corporation and Trichy City Police, kick-started Happy Streets programme at Thillai Nagar 10th Cross Street (west) on February 25. The programme, over the course of the six weeks -- the first three weeks of which were held at Thillai Nagar while the next three at Uzhavar Sandai Link Road – has received a tremendous response from both adults and children. The overwherlming response was mostly due to its activities, sessions and performances which are not only fun and recreational, but educational in many ways.

The yoga session, which has been held by Isha Foundation right from the first week, has seen a steady increase in the number of participants every week. L Lakshmanan, who is one of the volunteers of Isha Foundation, said that Happy Streets has been instrumental in creating awareness about yoga among the people. “It’s not only the adults, who are participating in it, but even kids are showing a lot of interest. Conducting yoga sessions at an event like this creates more impact than urging people to directly enroll for yoga classes,” Lakshmanan told TOI.

Sunil Srinivasan, a senior pediatrician from the city who has been a practitioner of tai chi for the past nine years, started teaching the traditional Chinese martial art form three years back. Various studies suggest that tai chi is effective in fighting chronic pain condition and fibromyalgia, apart from improving memory among children and flexibility among the adults.

“The best aspect of tai chi is, it is not a strenuous exercise and it can be practiced by almost everyone. On Sunday, I covered the basic exercises and people – both kids and adults – relished the experience,” he said.
As a continuation to last week’s coin collection exhibition, founder and president of Tiruchirappalli Notaphily Society, P Vijayakumar, conducted a currency exhibition at the sixth programme of Happy Streets. The exhibition featured currencies of several countries across the world. “People were surprised to know that some currency notes – made using silk – even existed,” Vijayakumar stated.
Coin collector Kamala Kannan, who participated in Sunday’s programme, said, “Happy Streets has broken the misconception that an initiative like this could be possible only in metro cities. Even the currency exhibition was on par with the ones that are usually held in metro cities.”
Coming to the fun aspects of the sixth week’s programme, children absolutely loved getting temporary tattoos in a special stall that was setup by Trichy-based company Sha Art Works. “I attended previous Happy Streets programme and looking at the enthusiasm of the children, we decided to setup the stall this week. It proved to be a big hit,” proudly mentioned Aisha Parveen from Sha Art Works.

Also, the tug of war and other fun contests, in which the men’s team competed with the women’s team, were also enjoyed by everyone.
The Happy Streets initiative will be conducted on every Sunday over the course of next six weeks in Trichy from 6 am to 9 am.
Vox pop:
A Sivanupandian, advocate

Happy Streets is a very good initiative as it has rekindled the spirit of community among people. I had a fun time participating in the contests that were held.
Mohan Kumar, employee at a design company
I am from Rock Fort area and I made it a point that every week, I brought as many kids as possible from my locality to Happy Streets. For the event that was held on Sunday, 20 kids came along with me.
R Sadhana, school student

I loved dancing with others in the zumba session. Also, teaming up with other girls and competing against adults in tug of war was so much fun.

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