Society Socials in Noida's Sethi Max Royal: Neighbours turn fam for fun games!
Society Socials, an initiative by HT and HT City, saw residents of a society in Sector 76, Noida stay put for a weekend get together with neighbours.
Impromptu poetry, fun tongue twisters and a host of competitive games made Saturday morning a gala time for the residents of Sethi Max Royal in Noida's Sector 76, who participated in Society Socials. This exciting initiative by Hindustan Times and HTCity turned memorable for many living in this residential society, so much so that even the high humidity couldn't dampen their spirits!
Ditching the comfort of beds, as many residents headed to the activity area set-up within the society, it made the excitement infectious. Ankur Rastogi, a banker, who won the coveted bumper prize in a trivia round, shared, “Ek hi society mein rehke bhi neighbours se hardly milna ho pata hai... But thanks to this initiative, today I met a lot of people and bahut maza aaya. This event's name is truly justified in that sense! It gave the parents an opportunity to help their children engage in fun activities as well get involved themselves.”
Several residents confessed that they couldn't hold back from indulging in the planned activities, as these were a welcoming change from the otherwise monotonous weekend schedule of lazing at home or heading to a mall. “Everyone wishes to relax after a hectic week, and thus this event provided the much-needed time to unwind… The last time I'd have played Tug Of War would be around six years back, during a picnic, which was before the pandemic happened. So you can imagine how much we all need to come back to the playground (smiles)," said Archana Warade, a software engineer, who won a round of Tug Of War. Concurring with this, Vikash Vashisht, a government employee, said, “On weekends, I mostly visit my parents in my hometown. Otherwise, it’s all about visiting the malls or parks. But having fun right within our residential complex was was something truly a different experience for both my kids Alisha and Veer!”
Others who are also living far from their families enjoyed staying back to be part of the games and relive childhood nostalgia. Among these was Navneet Dhillon, a teacher, who said, “I hope this event is organised twice a day, that is once during the morning and second time during the evening… It was that good! While living away from our families, these activities that being neighbours closer are a much needed breather.”
What's also important is to reinstate the importance of reading newspapers, to which Kanak Agrawal, who works in an audit company, said: “It’s really important to know what’s going around in your country, and in the world. Hence such events must be held regularly, to help remind everyone about the need to go back to reading newspapers!”
Story by Naina Arora
