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North Delhi gets its hangout zone.

[Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi]

A mother hurls ‘behave yourself” warnings to her excited young charges as they soar 30 feet into the air on a ride called Z-force. There the world stops for a fraction of a second. Whoosh. A free fall – Mummy screams the loudest.

Dignity stands compromised at the newly opened Adventure Island in Rohini. The most reserved people, with the stiffest upper lip, lose inhibitions once they fasten their seatbelts on the Sidewinder. First the ground beneath the feet disappears. Then the ride dangles up, way up, then down, and up again on the other side, making an angle of 240 degrees. The heart almost pops out of the chest. Everyone, both introverts and extroverts, exclaim in union – O. My. God.

Spread over an artificial lake, Adventure Island is presently blooming with 14 rides. More are promised. “The kids love it,” says Parul Khanna who is visiting from Pitampura. A bridge, resembling San Francisco’s Golden Gate, separates the island from a plush mall – Metro Walk. Baujis, Ammajis, Mummies, Daddies, Buas and kids walk past Costa Coffee and Benetton outlets, just like the funcked-up teenagers at south Delhi’s Ansal Plaza.

The world-class rides have been sourced from firms which supply Disneyland. Most are a mix of fun and fury. Beware of Twister. While lifting up the seated people in a gentle revolving movement, it abruptly turns upside down. Sandal drops. Mobile phone falls. Before riders could recover, the axle furiously swirls around 360 degrees. Rotating and revolving, tumbling and toppling, pitting levity against gravity, people seem fated to fall like flakes of tobacco from a broken old cigar. But they don’t. The adventure ends, and the heart starts beating again. There are other rides to explore: trains, airplanes, cars, and sky riders.

Don’t worry. Safety measures are rigorous and the staff is smart. They move around with a dustpan (just in case somebody throws up). That’s the only adventure to avoid.

Price Rs 220 & Rs 270 on weekdays, Rs 270 & Rs 350 on weekends and holidays, for children & adults respectively Where Sector 10, Rohini (closest Metro station: Rithala)

Cyclone Ride – Easy & Breezy

Z-Force – Defying Gravity

Sidewinder – Fear and More Fear

Better to Just See

Twister – Rotaing & Revolving

Twister – Heart Pops Out

Back at Cyclone – Time to Go Home