Marathons, art exhibitions and stand-up comedy: Jaipurites move events online

Amid the nationwide lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, almost all social events and gatherings have been cancelled. This, however, hasn't stopped the people of Jaipur from organising virtual events.
Mukesh Mishra, a running enthusiast and the co-founder of the 20 Minutes Of Running community, organised an indoor marathon on April 26. As many as 1,280 runners, professional and amateur, from across the nation participated in the event.
Participants during indoor marathon

“The participants ran within the confines of their homes, in gardens, living rooms, terraces and even balconies.They first installed and activated the Benefit app on their phones or smart-watches to track the distance they covered. The marathon was divided into 5 categories - 42km, 21km, 10km, 5km, and 2km runs. We gave e-certificates to all participants. The objective was to motivate runners to maintain a healthy lifestyle at home. Also, we dedicated the event to the corona warriors across the country,” Mukesh says.
Lohitaksh Tatiwala, co-founder of Socialize, a youth club in Jaipur that provides platform to amateur artistes, has organised two virtual open-mic events, so far. The first featured a stand-up comedian, a rapper and a beat-boxer. The second event featured two singers - one from Jaipur and the other one from Delhi, and a dancer.
“The demand for virtual events is on a rise. The idea was to help amateur artistes showcase their talent on social media platforms. Our next event is a panel discussion, for which we have roped in principals of various schools,” Lohitaksh says.
One of the artworks to be displayed during the online exhibition and sale of paintings
Also, an online exhibition and sale of paintings to support young artists is being organised in Jaipur on May 9. “The sale proceeds will be transferred directly to the artists’ accounts to help them tide over these difficult times," says Himanshu Jangid, organiser and vintage car restorer and founder of the Cartist Automobile Art Festival. Himanshu will also be auctioning 50 of his paintings, proceeds of which will be donated to the PM Cares fund.

At the same time, organisers of Dunes Music Festival, an electronic music festival organised in Jaipur every year, are also live-streaming the performances of various DJs as part of their virtual event titled ‘Isolation Instagram Takeover’.