HANGOUT

HANGOUT – the name itself sounds fun, isn’t it? Well HANGOUT is a perfect place to have fun, party and relax at the same time and the best part about it is that age is no bar.

HANGOUT is a games café and play area in DT mega mall in Gurgaon and Select City walk mall in New Delhi. I saw this joint many times while I was in DT mega mall but always though that it’s a place for teenagers, so never thought about exploring it.

This year when I was searching for a good place to take my 3 year old son for a joy ride on his birthday, this option was placed in front of me by none other than Mr Google. I was a bit skeptical about it as my son is very young and I thought it won’t be enough fun for him. I took him to Stellar’s museum instead and we thoroughly enjoyed his day.

A few days later when I was alone with my son in the house with nothing much to do, I decided to take him out for a mumma and baby bonding to HANGOUT. We reached the mall and my ever so hyper child was already in high spirits at the mention of an outing (mall for him is any place where we have fun). I was again secretly hoping that it will be worth a visit and I am not disappointed.

I entered and all I saw were car rides, bowling, VR games and what not. I enquired with the front desk and he mentioned that they have a kid’s play area for younger kids. I took a recharge card for 1000 bucks as it has lifetime warranty and although they do not refund the balance amount, you can use it at any of the HANGOUT outlets.

The charges for the kids play area are Rs 300 for an hour and so I let my child in. It was an hour of absolute fun for him as well as me. There was a ball pool, slides, merry go round, see saw, jungle/play gym, doll house, a mini computer with all educational software installed in that area. Adults were not allowed inside but I was able to watch him from outside. Moreover there were attendants appointed everywhere. It was so safe that you can leave your child there and can go out. Although I was there the whole time, my son did not even look at me once.  

One advice for the place would be to carry a pair of socks as it was summer time and my son was wearing sandals without them. They do not allow entry in play area without socks and we had to buy them from the counter which was way above the cost of a regular pair of socks.

After one hour of playing around in the play area my son was still not ready to come out and I had to lure him by showing VR bowling (which he absolutely loves, credits to xbox at his friends’ place). He came out and took rides in various small cars, airplane, jeep etc. Then we did some bowling and collected few tickets as well. There were many other games and rides for elder kids.

On the same day a birthday party was being organized at that place. They have a small restaurant in the corner which had a very pleasant appeal and the part was organized in that area. Suddenly I saw a big monkey walking towards the party area. Jumping monkey is the mascot of HANGOUT and a man dressed in its dress was entertaining kids in the birthday party. I inquired and came to know that people organize birthday parties there quite often and I also found it to be a nice option.

It’s an absolute fun place and next time you mommies want relax with a cup of coffee and heart to heart talk with your girlfriends or husband, take your kids to HANGOUT. Let them enjoy while you relax and it will be a joyful experience for both the age groups.

Fund Raising Event @ RAHGIRI

ONCE UPON A TIME IN KASHMIR….

They too had a home to live in, cloths to wear, footwear to make them comfortable in blasting cold, food to eat and a life to live. One night all hell broke loose and the heaven on earth was covered in darkness. Thunder struck, clouds poured and Jhelum went wild with frenzy against the ill effects caused to nature by human race.

As is the case always, people in Kashmir are facing repercussions of all the global warming caused across the world. They do not have any home left, their means of earning a living are drowned in the floods and there is havoc everywhere.

When people all around the nation are doing their bit to ensure help reaches our fellow countrymen in Kashmir we also tried to contribute towards this noble cause in our own way. My friend Dr Shivani Pall, who is very passionate about her social responsibilities towards the society, initiated and led this entire drive under her registered trust “MEHAAN CHARITIABLE FOUNDATION”.

Shivani and her husband Dr Anuj Pall are doctors and were in constant contact with other doctors in Kashmir. Because of the flood and in absence of proper sanitation the hygiene conditions are very poor in Kashmir currently. This has aggravated the onset of water borne diseases like cholera, typhoid, dengue, malaria etc in the state. There are doctors to attend to the sufferers but not enough medicines are available in such a condition. Hence, it was decided to raise funds for buying required medicines.

Living in Gurgaon gives you a very good platform to reach out to common people and masses through RAHGIRI every Sunday, and so they decided to use this opportunity to address the maximum people. They booked a slot with RAHGIRI team in advance and 14^th Sept, Sunday morning, we all reached the event at around 7 in the morning.

Enthusiastic and with much passion we the team of welfare warriors setup our stall near the center stage. We were carrying hoardings and message boards and so people and media gave us instant attention. People started coming towards us and inquired about the event and organization. We also gave away handouts with the complete information stating elaborately the kinds of general medicines that would be required and why it is required

As per schedule with prior permission we were given the time slot to deliver the speech and create awareness regarding the cause. We were welcomed to the stage very warmly with applaud, as everyone well appreciated our efforts for supporting the cause. After giving a brief introduction about our organization and what we do, we made clear to the crowd that our sole purpose was to bring awareness and extend medical help to the needy people in Jammu and Kashmir. The response was overwhelming as we got good lot of donations on the stage itself. We were delighted to see people coming forward to support us and in return we also gave away chocolates to our young donors as a token of appreciation for their efforts.

We also had solidarity message board with us on which we asked the donors and supporters to write messages for the people stranded in Jammu and Kashmir floods.

All the proceedings and medicines being collected by MCF would be handed over to the Six sigma health, organization (New Delhi) the members of which are pioneers and trustworthy in reaching out to the most needy. 

Let's all support, let's all show solidarity. We want to save lives!!

Mehaan Charitable Foundation
GF,C6-1049, Opposite DLF Summit,
Dlf Phase V,
Sector 55,

Gurgaon. 9871217300, 0124-6614282.

We are thankful to RAHGIRI for providing us the platform and TOI for supporting us through media coverage. Over all we made the best use of our Sunday morning.