Cold comfort: Skaters shake a leg in Clown Town, Calcutta Photo: Pabitra Das

It can give you a feeling as heady as that potent punch of vodka and cider, Fire on Ice. As the agile frames gracefully coast along the two-inch thick ice in the 80-by-40 foot ice skating rink, you marvel at the passion that guides them. Using the edges of the narrow steel blades on the underside of their skates to apply a backward force to the ice, they move forward. And all this, without faltering even once.

Ice skating is fast catching on as a trendy hobbysport among the hip and happening lot in the city. One visit to Icicles in Clown Town ? the only ice skating rink in the city ? and the enthusiasm the sport has generated becomes obvious. Some coast along as cosy twosomes, hand-in-hand ? a la Shashi Kapoor and Sharmila Tagore in Aa Gale Lag Ja. Others ? the triple-axle pros ? attempt a Nutcracker-ish ballet on glazed ice while, in complete contrast, there are those first-time flounderers, who inch forward one step at a time, clinging on to the railing ? helmet, knee and elbow pads in place ? resembling pilgrims on an Amarnath yatra. Yes, there are all kinds trying their hand ? or rather feet ? at the sport.

Hot as it is, the sport keeps you cool. As Sanjay Maheshwari, director of Clown Town, points out, ?The weather in the city is just right for ice skating. It keeps you away from the heat and dust and helps you stay physically fit. That is why the craze for ice skating has increased.? He has a point. Who wouldn’t like to chill out in a room whose temperature is somewhere between 12 and 14?C when the temperature outside is double that?

It’s equally suited to winter. ?All one needs to do is wear an extra jacket. But skating, strenuous as it is, generates a lot of body heat so by the end of an hour, you actually begin to sweat,? says 22-year-old Sonam Ahuja, a regular at Icicles.

There was a time ? between 1969 and 1979 ? when there was one Ice Skating Rink in the city on Syed Amir Ali Avenue which, even today, goes by that name but is hired out for different kinds of fairs. Ice skaters would flock to the rink, make friends as they skated along within its cool confines. Unfortunately, shortage of power supply led to its closure.

?Maintaining the ice in the rink below freezing point requires a lot of electricity and is an expensive proposition,? says Maheshwari. That explains why there are only three ice skating rinks in India ? one at Fun and Food village near Delhi, the other at Essel World in Mumbai and the third in Clown Town, Calcutta. (In Shimla, a stretch freezes over naturally in winter, allowing skating enthusiasts some seasonal recreation.)

Clown Town, however, is doing its bit to promote the sport in a major way. Apart from offering individual membership at an annual Rs 5,000, whereby the member is entitled to skate whenever he wants, free of cost, it has also tied up with a few city schools which have introduced it as an extracurricular activity in classes IV, V and VI. ?We have a tie-up with Ashok Hall Girls High School, G.D. Birla Centre for Education and Mahadevi Birla Shishu Vihar. They have fixed slots on weekdays whereby these school children come in to learn ice skating. The rink can easily accommodate 40 children at one go without anyone having to jostle for space,? informs Maheshwari.

The trainers too, it seems, are fairly competent. Some of them are old-timers who haunted the Ice Skating Rink in the early Seventies. Shashi Shah is one of them. Today in his 50s, he is still a graceful ice skater who immediately draws your attention to the rink. ?Ice skating even today gives me a high. This is one sport that helps the older generation bond with the younger lot,? he says spiritedly.

Bond and chill out at the same time. No wonder you rarely see an ice skater brake suddenly. He always edges slowly, and reluctantly, to a stop.

VACATION TIME

• You could join the Ice Skating Summer Camp on from May 23 to June 11.

• Registration starts on May 16.

• Classes will held between 8 am to 8 pm, each of two-hour duration.

• Pick-up from and drop-off at strategic points in the city will be arranged for by Clown Town.