Sports, cultural events mark Republic Day celebrations in Ghaziabad societies

Residents of Ghaziabad societies celebrated Republic Day by unfurling the Tricolour and hosting various cultural events

Residents across Ghaziabad societies were up early on Thursday to join in the Republic Day celebrations. The day was marked by the hoisting of the Tricolour and holding cultural programmes, followed by literary competitions and sporting events.

Students perform during a cultural programme at Ghaziabad police lines on Thursday. (HT PHOTO)

At Mahagun Mansion Phase-1 apartments in Vaibhav Khand, Indirapuram, the celebrations were marked by holding sporting events. “We unfurled the national flag at 9 am and it was followed by the singing of the national anthem. We then held sprint events at the society and residents, across all age groups, eagerly took part in them,” Shekhar Srivastava, president of Mahagun Mansion Phase-1 apartment owners’ association (AOA), said.

Apart from these, the prize distribution ceremonies for the week-long badminton and table tennis tournaments that came to an end on Wednesday were held after the sprint events.

“Our badminton and table tennis tournaments, which had started a week back, came to an end on Wednesday. The prizes were handed out after the Republic Day celebrations today,” Srivastava said.

At Ashiana Upvan apartments in Ahinsa Khand-2, Indirapuram, the residents performed a self-defence skit as part of the Republic Day celebrations.

“After several incidents of violence and abuse on women made headlines recently, we thought of holding an event that would highlight the importance of learning self-defence techniques that could help our women fight off tormentors. Hence, in a bid to generate public awareness, we put together a skit on the importance of self-defence for women,” Rahul Saxena, a member of Ashiana Upvan AOA, said.

The skit featured girls and women of our society, who were shown being teased and tormented and then hitting back at the culprits with their self-defence skills. As many as 20 women who took part in the event, had been practising for weeks in advance under the guidance of a trainer, who holds Karate classes for the society’s children.

“Apart from helping us prepare for the skit, the trainer also showed us some tricks on how to fight off a molester. He told us that we should let out loud grunts while hitting back at a molester, as he would know that we are trained in self-defence techniques,” Manisha Singh, a participant and a member of AOA, said.