Beer, high: What happens when you mix beer with a trampoline arena

Cardiff has one, so does Singapore. They are there in Australia, Dubai and Hong Kong. And USA has more of them than the rest of the world put together. We’re talking about trampoline parks. Spaces that make bouncing off the walls a literal experience. And a fad that’s caught on so quickly, it’s seen such spaces spring up (pardon the pun) all across the globe in the last couple of years.

The city though got its first trampoline park inside Smaaash, the gaming arena, only in July this year. Initially, it was for kids. But now (since October 10), you can jump in alongside. Or you could fling yourself inside the foam pit. Just make sure you don’t land on a child.

That’s not all. As promised in the invite for “India’s first trampoline party” (which we attended on October 9, a day before the concept opened for the public), there was loud music, disco lights, and beer, which you had to drink surreptitiously. “Please hide your bottle,” was the most sagely advice we got all evening. You could, alternatively, step inside Acid, the lounge right next to the park, chug a beer and return to the bouncing.

The only real rules are to wear socks (which they provide, thankfully, since hipsters banned socks with shoes, so you may not be wearing them) and “no backflips”, which not one adult inside the park actually looked fit enough to do.

Shripal Morakhia, the chief imagination officer at Smaaash, tells us this is just the beginning: “We’re experimenting with the concept of a trampoline party — we’re thinking of trance nights and corporate events. The music and the beer will continue, and we’ll soon rename Acid as Jump and Chill Bar.”

Except, here’s a small issue the organisers seem to be sweeping under the trampoline: safety. What could possibly happen while jumping up and down on a bouncy surface? Well, according to a report on abcnews.com, there were over 83,000 cases of trampoline-related injuries reported in the US in 2013, including gruesome-sounding fractures and dislocated knees. It’s a widely debated topic in the US at present.

Which is why most such parks around the world make you sign a waiver before you can step inside. But not at Smaaash. Morakhia downplays the safety issue, and says, “So long as you behave normally, it’s pretty much safe,” and cites one kid with a sprained leg as the only injury they have seen so far. Smaaash does have floor marshals though, to ensure adults and children are never on the same trampoline.

Well, we like firm ground beneath our feet, especially where beer is involved. And we don’t particularly approve of Apache Indian, no matter what kind of a party it is. But if beer and leaping like Spidey does indeed interest you, just be careful.

Watch out for

What: The Trampoline Park is now open to adults

Where: Smaaash, Gate No. 4, Kamala Mills Compound, Lower Parel

When: All days, 11am to 9pm

Price: Rs 150 (10 mins), Rs 250 (20 mins), Rs 300 (30 mins)