By Shobha Rao Smilemaker
Dec 18: Sunday morning saw a colourful turnout of saree clad women on the streets of Mangalore for the third edition of the Saree Walk & Run event held on 17th December 2023. This 3 km. walk/Run was a salute to the spirit of womanhood and intended to spread the message of health, safety and education among women.
At the magical hour of dawn, the ladies gathered at the Shree Gokarnatheshwara College grounds to collect their event identification tags and cute pouches.
The ladies warmed up with an energetic session of Zumba conducted by the enthusiastic fitness instructor Shaan. It was an unforgettable sight of saree clad Mangalureans of all ages, grooving enthusiastically to peppy music.
The event was initiated by Medimade Solutions and sponsored by MRPL and Nandini. The staff of Amrita Vidyalaya came in red and white sarees while those from Karnataka Bank came in light green sarees with dainty flowers tiaras on their heads.
There were representatives from organizations like Vijay Karnataka, MS Clinical Laboratory and other prestigious women’s clubs of Mangalore like lawyers group, beauticians group, teachers group, Inner Wheel of Suratkal or Inner Wheel of Mangalore North, St. Agnes school etc.
Though there were over 2800 registrations, not all of them turned up. Still the ladies were thrilled to have contributed in setting the record for ‘maximum number of women wearing saree who participated in Saree Walk and Run 2023’.
People around Mannagudda, Lady Hill circle and Urwa Market seemed surprised and amused at the sight of this big group of colourful ladies making their way on the empty morning streets of Mangaluru.
Every participant was given a medal and some treats on finishing the walk. Niranjan Jadhav of Asia Book of Records handed over the coveted medal and a certificate to Rajesh Rao, CEO of Madimade Solutions.
There was a huge round of applause from the women who witnessed this historic moment of the award ceremony. The Asia Book of Records is affiliated to the World Record University and follows the international protocol for records.
After clicking a lot of pictures at the many selfie points, the Mangalorean women went home satisfied for having contributed to the Asia record of ‘maximum number of women wearing saree who participated in Saree Walk and Run 2023’.
Shobha Rao Smilemaker has a vision of living in a world where people use their ability to find and make smiles in any situation. She is a lawyer by qualification, a soft skills trainer by passion, a motivational speaker, a freelance journalist, a bestselling author, an avid traveler and founder of 'Smilemakers Trainings'. She can be contacted at www.shobhasmilemaker.com.