April 8, 2005
By Anish Abraham
GET out your walking shoes and make for Gandhi Hall in Lenasia, because the twentieth annual Gandhi Walk will be held on Sunday, 10 April 2005.
Hosted by the Gandhi Walk Committee, the walk brings together the people of Lenasia and other communities in a celebration of music, food and, of course, exercise.
Named for the walks organised by Mahatma Gandhi to protest against the British tax on salt in India, the first walk was organised in 1986 by the local community, which needed to raise funds for the construction and operation of the Mahatma Gandhi Hall. The hall is a popular venue for weddings, religious functions, talks and shows of a religious and cultural nature, meetings and community functions.
Since then the walk has become a popular event, enabling the committee to pay off the debts for constructing the hall and invest in other facilities. It has bought indoor and outdoor games and sporting equipment and inaugurated a Youth Wing to provide safe and supervised recreational facilities. Young people are also encouraged to become involved in the committee's activities
Distinguished guests like Oliver Tambo, Chris Hani, Joe Slovo, Walter Sisulu, Ela Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi's granddaughter, nine-times Comrades Marathon winner Bruce Fordyce and many others have supported the walk.
A Banghra party at Gandhi Hall, on Friday, 8 April will open the walk. Sureshnie Govender, from 5fm, is the guest DJ.
Jivan Ramjee, the chairman of the Gandhi Walk Committee, says everyone is welcome to take part. "It makes no difference whether you come to walk for the challenge, walk for fun, walk for peace and unity, walk for better health or you walk for charity. It promises to be a great event all round."
For an entry fee of R20, participants can choose between walking seven kilometres or 15 kilometres. However, the committee says that while the walk is the main event of the day, it is not the only activity. There is an after-walk variety show from 12.30pm, featuring Sureshnie Govender and Mervin Pillay. Prizes will be handed out, there will be live entertainment, modern and classical Indian comedy acts and a raffle for a trip for two to Mauritius.
"Food will be available from midday, with the sale of biryani, chip rolls and samoosas, all notoriously popular with the crowds that attended the previous Gandhi Walks," Ramjee says.
Health is also important, and free blood-sugar tests will be done. Members of the South African Blood Bank will also be on hand for blood donations.
In previous years, 3 000 to 4 000 people from across the city, the province and beyond have participated in the walk, which also raises funds for charity.
The walk is on Sunday, 10 April at 8am from Gandhi Hall in Extension 5, Lenasia, along Impala Crescent and Mandrill Street.
For more information, contact Ramesh Baichar on 011 907 9410.
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