gurgaon to those who didnt know sunday was the first raahgiri day in gurgaon the streets near galleria market may have seemed bafflingly unfamiliar instead of the usual sights with cars and autos clogging it up the area resembled a recreational park there were groups of cyclists and joggers children on rollerblades idlers and saunterers going this way or that it was all way too relaxed upbeat and festive for a sunday morning in gurgaon i was just out for a walk with my kid and saw all these roads reserved for walkers and cyclists and thought is this really gurgaon quipped kanika sharma one of the early visitors at the raahgiri site the words summed up mood the sense of delightful surprise felt by thousands who participated in raahgiri day a five hourlong street festival conceptualized and organized entirely by the many residents and hobby groups of gurgaon and supported by the times of india the events to mark raahgiri day were held within a 4km circuit of roads near the galleria market and vyapar kendra it was modelled on the ciclovia festival of bogota in columbia a weekly event now over three decades old as in ciclovia a few stretches of road were cordoned off for motorists from 7am to 12 noon for raahgiri day to provide space for cyclists joggers and skaters raahgiri day too will be observed every sunday on the same designated streets till march 30 next year people who drive cars should know roads are not just for cars they are also meant for those who cycle and those who walk said prabhat agarwal a member of the organizing team one of the many group events held was a cycle rally flagged off by commissioner of police alok mittal who called this a historic day for the city its a new beginning for gurgaon this is an attempt to reclaim the roads for the cyclists and pedestrians and we are going to do this every sunday of the week from now on i hope the message will spread and more and more people will start participating he said sarika panda of embarq india which is one of the organizers said the response on sunday was overwhelming we easily had between 8000 to 10000 people in attendance and most of them were so enthusiastic they wanted the timings extended by a couple of hours she said panda said raahgiri day was an attempt to help residents explore their streets from a new perspective and of course to have a social gathering of sorts with all its fun aspects in place diversions for the healthconscious included an openair gym combat training yoga and aerobic workshops along with cycling and marathon events organized early in the morning for the more casual variety of visitors there were frisbee and gullycricket challenges not to mention the singing and dancing that kept everyones spirits high this is the first time any such an event is being held in gurgaon