Mera Qi Holds ‘Closing Ceremony’ to Bid Adieu to 2022
For those of you who are still unsure about their New Year’s eve plans, we have you covered at an intellectual and spiritual level. Tricity based Mera Qi studio is hosting a one-of-a-kind ‘closing ceremony’ for the year 2022.
Speaking about the event, host and organiser, Ayesha Sandhu, says, “The intention is to check in with oneself, view everything that has occurred: go inward and then go outward in gratitude and celebration.”
“So basically the idea is to bid adieu to the past and walk into the future intentionally,” she says.
So what all is planned for the ceremony and what can one expect? “Some grounding and coming into the body and into the new techniques, reflection on the year and moments that have passed leading to movement and expression,” she adds.
“It is about seeing what we are ready to release and what we are ready to invite. That is the session”.
There will also be an informal get-together where there is BYOB and potluck, although if one wishes not to bring anything and contribute monetarily for the arrangements, then that is also an option.
At the after-party, one can expect some live music, an interactive game, food, conversations and dancing.
About Mera Qi
Sharing further about Mera Qi, Ayesha said “Mera Qi is a space to explore the self and invite play into life so we can dance through the cycles of life.”
The studio space continues to host interesting events aimed at making people see life as a joyous thing to be celebrated. Their events are very well attended and Ayesha hosts many movement facilitators who conduct workshops at the space. Ayesha is a 900 hrs YTTC Yoga teacher and a Breathwork facilitator herself.
From open mics to full moon ceremonies, from kirtan to yoga sessions and meditation events, Mera Qi has fast become a space of experimentation and out of the box events in the Tricity. They also host picnics on certain weekends at Leisure Valley. All their events are open to all.
Venue: Mera Qi Space #544, Sector 18M, Chandigarh
Ceremony time: 5 – 7pm
After party: 8pm onwards
Charges: Rs 500
Social’s Steamy Hot Platter in Winter Menu
Come winter, we all like to savour steamy hot platter to gear up for the cold foggy days. With this in mind, Social at Sector 7, Chandigarh, has introduced its winter menu full of hot sizzling delights to please your palette.
The dishes in their new menu include a Tandoori Sausage Platter which includes bacon, chicken ham, pork sausages in addition to chicken sausages.
This platter, with its tandoori flavor, intermingled with western breakfast favourites is definitely a must try. The platter lies at the top of the recommendations on the winter menu by chef Vipin Thapa who says that this dish is perfect for sharing if you are with a group of friends.
In addition to this, we would also recommend to try their Nepalese Soupy Momos which come in both vegetarian and non vegetarian options. Perfect to brace the winter cold, chef Thapa also recommends the soup for anyone wanting to have the perfect dish for this season.
Added to this, is a scrumptious seafood platter which, among other dishes like fish tikka and prawn popcorns, has the delicious combination of sabudana vada and fish which is a particularly unique flavour combination. Speaking about the same, chef Thapa said that “people usually know the South Indian sabudana vada which has potato filling, but we have added fish and prawns to it”.
To add to these chewy delicacies, special drinks have been prepared keeping in mind the holiday mood, especially with Christmas just having been over and New Year’s Eve just around the corner. These drinks include a Mulled Wine Long Island Iced Tea which comes complete with a candy cane on top.
The drink brings together two alcohol favourites this season and surely doesn’t disappoint in the least. The other festive drink to try out is their Gingerbread Shot which comes with fun sprinkles decorated on the glass rim.
Added to these are staples like Mac it or Bake it which is essentially Mac n Cheese with a slight spicy twist and Chorizo Fried Rice with XO sauce.
Where: Social, SCO 37, Madhya Marg, Sector 7-C, Chandigarh
Contact: 073411 18093
The Only One All-Weather Swimming Pool in Chandigarh
After renovation work spanning about nine months, Sector 23 all-weather swimming pool restarted operations on January 16, 2023.
Chandigarh has 12 swimming pools, out of which sector 23 pool is the only one which is an all-weather pool that operates in the winter session.
The pool annually opens for the winter session in November and remains functional till March.
The pool would remain open six hours on all working days, including morning and evening sessions. The user fee has been reduced to half in the winter session in view of the delayed opening of the pool.
Timings: 6 am-7pm
Timing for National players/state players/trainees: 6 am to 8 am in the morning session
3 pm to 4.30 pm in the evening session.
Non-students: 8 am to 10 am in the morning session and 4.30 pm to 6 pm in the evening session.
Coaches will allot time slots to members
Months it will remain open for? January 16 to March 31 for winter session
Where to get application form from? Download forms from the Sports Dept official website http://sportsdeptt.chd.gov.in
From when are application forms available? January 16, 2023
Fees: Student: Rs 900 for winter season
Non-students: Rs 1,760 for winter season
Other pools in Chandigarh
Indoor pools (but not all-weather)
Sector 8, Sector 27, Sector 34, Sector 38 (West), Sector 39, Sector 43, Sector 50, Sector 56 and Mani Majra
Open pools
Sector 23 and Lake Sports Complex
Mohali’s Amanjot, Ex-Chandigarh Women’s Cricket Captain, to Play in South Africa Tri-Series
Tricity’s Amanjot Kaur has got a call to represent Team India in women’s cricket. The 21-year-old cricketer was the captain of Chandigarh team. But out she walked of that team before the start of the domestic season to be part of the Punjab team. Was the decision easy? Certainly not. But she made a gamble and it proved to be a trump card despite the fact that the Punjab team was already full of star players.
In her pursuit, she was encouraged by her coach Nagesh Gupta and father Bhupinder Singh. She first represented Punjab and then the North Zone and that’s when she got a call to play for India. She will now represent India in a tri-series to be played in South Africa alongside West Indies as the third team. The tri-series begins on January 19.
When she was the skipper of the Chandigarh team, Amanjot was singlehandedly responsible for many a great performance by the UT team.
Amanjot says, “Without her parents’ support, she would not have been able to do what she did, which is to represent India.”
It was her father who provided her a two-wheeler so that she could got o Sector 16 stadium of Chandigarh for practice sessions. And that has now paid off.
Amanjot began cricket at a serious level at the age of 15. Initially, she played in under-19 tournaments for Punjab and later she joined the UT team and then again back to Punjab upon the realization that she was good enough to be part of the Punjab team. And it didn’t take long for the selectors to realise her potential.
Her father Bhupinder who is a carpenter by profession says, “It is an honour for the family that she is playing for Team India. What more can one ask for.”
FASTag System in Chandigarh MC Parking Lots
Now along the line of toll plazas run by the NHAI (National Highway Authority of India) on the national highways, the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation has decided to introduce the FASTag-based system, besides a smart app, at all 89 paid parking lots across Chandigarh.
Nonetheless, drivers of vehicles without a FASTag will be able to pay using Paytm, Google Pay or other scanners. At present, we all pay manually at the entry point of parking lots and the contractors’ staff issue parking slips. The current contract for all parking lots, allotted to two different firms, expires in January 2023.
The new smart system has been proposed in the new parking contract. Under the new system in parking lots, boom barriers will open automatically once a vehicle approaches the entry point. No charge will be levied. At the time of exit, charge based on the time spent by the vehicle in the parking lot will be deducted through FASTag.
If the vehicle doesn’t have a FASTag, the driver can pay using a scanner app to let the boom barrier open for an exit.
Unique Features
High-resolution CCTV cameras installed at the parking lots will scan the registration plates to keep track of vehicles. These will be connected to the Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC) in Sector 17.
A mobile application for real-time tracking of space inside these parking lots will be launched. This will help visitors plan in advance and drive to another parking lot if space is not available.
Reduce manpower to manage parking lots
Eliminate overcharging
At the time of exit, charges based on the time spent by the vehicle in the parking lot will be deducted through FASTag.
An agenda in this regard will be tabled at the MC House meeting slated in January. The House will also decide on parking rates. The MC is planning to go in for the public private partnership (PPP) mode under which the parking agency may offer percentage of earnings to be shared with it. THE MC will put this plan of action in a phased manner and monitor it at every stage to make any changes if required.
Sur-Taal Fills Air With Indian Classical Beats, Music And Dance
The atmosphere at the Tagore Theatre was replete with Indian classical music and dance as renowned Kathak dancer Sadanand Biswas and Bharatnatyam dancer Shantanu Chakraborty enthralled the audience with their beautiful performances.
Renowned flute player Chetan Joshi and classical singer Vidya Shah will also entertain music lovers on the second day.
Organized by the Chandigarh Administration and the North Zone Cultural Center of the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, the purpose of the program was to promote classical learning.
Committed to nurturing Indian culture, the Cultural Center organizes events regularly to keep city residents in sync with Indian art and culture. Kathak dancer Biswas had this to say as he conversed with the media before his presentation, “Whenever there is talk of unity in diversity, the example of our country is given all over the world where more than 400 languages are spoken. Our cultural dances are our heritage and hence Kathak is included in this heritage presentation”. Aman Srivastava, Giriraj Singh Rathore, Manoj Sarkar, Rohit Kanojia, Jai Singh accompanied Sadanand Biswas in the presentation.
Shantanu Chakraborty started the program with Bharatnatyam based on Lord Shiva, Durga and Ganesha. This was followed by Bharatnatyam based dance music oriented remix ‘Shape of You’ to make Bharatnatyam fun and entertaining for the youth. He also performed on Kavita Krishnamoorti’s Sajni Sajni Radhika lo . Parineeti Malik, Anushree Chakraborty, Adah Mahajan, Arpita Bhattacharya and Rashmi Mahajan joined Shantanu Chakraborty in his performance.
Gratitude Picnic: A Way to Say ‘Thank You’ As We Wind Up the Year
Soak in the sun this winter and head outdoors to keep yourself warm with whatever little sun rays are available.
Tricity Picnics, a Tricity based initiative, aims to do just that with their community creating exercise. The picnic will be held at the Japanese Garden on December 31 from 12-3 pm and the fee per person is Rs 350. Along with tea and snacks, there are other activities planned like paint the planter and grow a sapling, ring toss, Jenga, Connect 4 and introduction to the art of Gratitude.
The get-together is aimed at spending some quality time outdoors with your loved ones. Telling more about what the gratitude picnic stands for, one of the founders, Upasna says, “Gratefulness is an art but is it natural to be grateful or does someone need to develop this art with practice? So this was the question I had in my mind to which I found an answer to in 2018. This is when I got an App made on the same lines called My Gratitude Pie”.
She says further, “Like other things, we also need to practice gratitude on a regular basis to make it a habit.”. Explaining the concept behind this picnic, Upasna said, “Gratitude does not only mean saying ‘Thank you’ but to feel it. So the idea of the Gratitude Picnic is to learn this art of being grateful and how we can practice it more easily on a daily basis.”
Contact No: 8284844220
Rakesh Kashyap, Ultramarathoner Who Ran 246 KM in 36 Hours at Age 51
In today’s times, when children and youngsters shirk from physical activities and are stuck to their mobile phones for most of their entertainment needs, here is 50-year old Rakesh Kashyap who started running at the age of 47.
Rakesh recently successfully completed a 246 km ultramarathon called Spartathlon which is held annually in Greece and is one of the world’s most challenging and grueling races, that too at the age of 51. The Spartathlon covers rough tracks and muddy paths (often it rains during the race), crosses vineyards and olive groves, climbs steep hillsides and, most challenging of all, takes the runners on the 1,200 meter ascent and descent of Mount Parthenio in the dead of night. The distance from Athens to Sparta 250 km is to be completed within 36 hours which Kashyap completed 30 minutes before time.
To participate in Spartathlon, he first qualified for it by covering 160 km in 21 hours on the Jaisalmer–Longewala stretch where he became the 2nd runner up. Apart from Rakesh Kashyap, two other Indians, Amit Gulia from Chandigarh and Munish Dev from Delhi, completed the arduous race.
Belonging to Bilaspur in Himachal Pradesh, Kashyap lives in Panchkula and runs his construction business in Kasauli. He was certified by the ‘India Book of Records’ recently for covering maximum distance by running in one day. He is an ultramarathoner ( marathon above 42 km) and a member of Chandigarh Distance Runners (CDR), a group of enthusiastic runners in the Tricity.
Other accomplishments
In November 2021, he won Black Horse Backyard Ultra held in Jaipur after surviving 27 hours.
He participated in India Backyard Ultra in Gurgaon and completed 214 km in 32 hours.
He has run from Chandigarh to Shimla (114 km) on foot four times.
He is a finisher of a few of India’s most famous and tough marathons like Malnad Ultra, Khardung La Challenge, Half Iron Man in which he completed a distance of 113 km by swimming (1.9 km in sea), cycling (90 km) and running (21km) in 7 hours , Hell race in which he completed 300 kms in just 3 days!
CityWoofer caught up with the quinquagenarian possessing extraordinary, strength, stamina and mental toughness.
I have a sweet tooth, because of which I ate a lot of meetha. I gained a lot of weight, so I thought what better way to lose weight than running. Also, I belong to Bilaspur in Himachal Pradesh where there was a lot of running and walking involved in the hills. So, the calf muscles were already well-developed.
How tough was the competition at Spartathlon ?
389 runners participated from across the world in the Spartathlon, out of which only 182 people completed the run. The terrain was very tough — there was plain road, rolling road (with ups and downs) and steep mountains to climb.
What is your normal regular diet, any special diet while you participate in the marathons?
Besides the regular meals, in the morning, I have 2 eggs, sprouts, fresh juice and dry fruits, and in the evening, I have milk with haldi and once in a week, I add desi ghee to milk plus haldi combination. When I am running for marathons, I focus on my intake of carbohydrates, proteins have to be taken care of throughout the year.
What is the difference between a young and relatively older runner?
Young people have speed as their bodies move faster, while older ones like me have slow speed which helps to sustain a marathon. At the Spartathlon, there were no young people who were running, everybody was in the 35-60 year age group.
What message would you like to give to the young runners and the older ones like you?
Regular practice is a must, if a young person is running 7-10 km everyday and Sunday run of about 20 km, then only will he be able to build his stamina for a marathon at a later stage. My weekly target is 100 km including Sundays on which I run for about 42 km.
Best Cafes in Sector 10, Chandigarh
We are all spoilt for choice of cafes in the Tricity. In recent times, one or the other eatery has been opening in the prime hot spots of Chandigarh. To make your search of where to grab that next bite easier, we bring to you a sector wise scan of the all-time favourite cafes that you don’t need to look any further. Here are our picks of the best cafes in sector 10, Chandigarh:
Brooklyn Central
One cafe in the area which you must check out is Brooklyn Central which is a very well-located eating joint. The cafe is a chill place to hang out with friends and loved ones. On the menu, one of the best things to order would be their malts and shakes along with their steaks!
Approximate cost for two: Rs 1200
Address and contact: Coal Depot Complex, 10D, Sector 10, Chandigarh
Contact: 0172 4038358
Cafe JC’s
If you have been staying in the Tricity for a long period of time, chances are that you have already eaten at Cafe JC’s. The place is almost always full of people thronging it, particularly on weekends. The café offers a good choice of delicious dishes and the menu offers a range of different cuisines catering to every taste. The icing on the cake is you can even take your pet there!
Approximate cost for two: Rs 1300
Address: Coal Depot Complex, Shop No. 2 & 3, Azaadi Rte, 10D, Sector 10,
Chandigarh
Contact: 0172 463 0666
The Willow Cafe
From the decor to the menu, everything in this cafe has been given a lot of attention to detail. With cozy cottage vibes and great service, Willow Cafe makes for a great dining experience. One thing to definitely check out on their menu is their scrumptious breakfast options.
Approximate cost for two: Rs 1500
Address: Shop No, 01, Azaadi Rte, 10D, Sector 10, Chandigarh
Contact: 08437043234
Casa Bella Vista
This Italian restaurant is another favourite haunt of city dwellers. Their wood-fired pizzas are definitely bestsellers and never disappoint. This place is always jam packed on the weekendsso do plan accordingly and also their cold coffee is something that deserves a try!
Approximate cost for two: Rs 1500
Address: QQ3P+RVH, 10D, Sector 10, Chandigarh
Contact: 0172 466 9963
Peggy Ice Cream
One of those places that are a must visit during the summers, the things to try out once at Peggy Ice Cream in Sector 10 is their enviable range of Italian desserts which includes their Original Gelatos, Mess Free Waffles and what is more is their Taiwanese Bubble Tea.
Approximate cost for two: Rs 500
Address: Coal Depot Complex, Sector 10, Chandigarh,
Contact: 918054020560
Pick the New Year Party of Your Choice, Here’s the List of Happening Places
New year’s eve is a much-anticipated event to say goodbye to the bygone year and to welcome the upcoming year with all the energy and gusto. Tricity residents have always been at the forefront of celebrations when it comes to New Year festivities. We bring you a roundup of what’s happening where so that you can decide which is the best place you want to be in with your family or friends. Take a look:
Mankirt Aulakh Live
Organiser: Wyndham
Price Details: ₹ 4050.00 onwards
Grand Ballroom new year party ₹ 13500
Female stag ₹ 7000
Male stag with couple ₹ 7000
Kids ₹ 4050
Venue: The Mohali Club, Phase 11, Sector 65, Mohali,
Date: Sat, Dec 31
Time: 8 pm onwards
Book Tickets: https://www.citywoofer.com/t/mankirt-aulakh-live
More info:
Ticket Price is applicable per couple
Third person be will allowed with families and couples only
Kids below 5 years are complimentary
Kids between 5-12 Years to be charged on kids rate
Kids above 12 years to be treated as adults only
Jenny Johall Live
Organiser: The Finch
Price Details: ₹ 3000 onwards
Diamond package: ₹ 8000
Diamond single female package₹ 4000
Gold couple package₹ 6000
Dimond single male package₹ 5000
Dimond single female package₹ 3000
Diamond single male package₹ 4000
Venue: The Finch Chandigarh, Madhya Marg, Sector 26, Chandigarh
Date: Sat, Dec 31, 2022
Time: 8:30 PM – 10:30 PM
Book Tickets: https://www.citywoofer.com/t/jenny-johall-live
Bollywood2Bhangra, Harsh and Pulkish
Organiser: Playboy beer garden
Price Details: Couple ( vip access )₹ 9000
Stag ( vip access )₹ 6000
Couple ( general access )₹ 6000
Stag ( general access )₹ 4000
Venue: Playboy Beer Garden Zirakapur, Zirakpur
Date: 31 December 2022
Time: 8 pm-10pm
Book Tickets: https://www.citywoofer.com/t/new-years-eve-w-b2b
Prabh Gill Live
Organiser: Park Plaza
Price details: Essence cafe ₹ 20000
Kids – food ₹ 3500
Gbr – food ₹ 18000
Venue: Park Plaza Chandigarh, Zirakpur
Date: 31 December 2022
Time: 8 pm onwards
Book Tickets: https://www.citywoofer.com/t/new-year-bash-2k23-nye-2023
Gulab Sidhu With a Surprise DJ
Organiser :ASOD
Price details: Male stag₹ 3000
Couple₹ 3500
Female stag₹ 1000
Venue: A State of Dance Club, SCO-51 Sector 26 Chandigarh
Date: Dec 31, 2022
Time: 8 pm
Book Tickets: https://www.citywoofer.com/t/gulab-sidhu-live
Neon Theme Party
Organiser: Prankster Chandigarh
Pakage 1: per couple₹ 6500
Pakage 2: per couple₹ 8000
Package 3: per couple₹ 10000
Food:
7 Veg Starters
7 Non-Veg Starters
8 Main Veg Course
3 Non-Veg Main Course
9 Desserts
Venue: Prankster Chandigarh
Date: Dec 31, 2022
Time: 8 pm onwards
Book Tickets: https://www.citywoofer.com/t/neon-theme-party-new-year-eve-special