CHENNAI: There was a time when every corporate professional (read IT Park user) headed to only one other place in their office complex — the food court. Not too long later, a group of techies on their extended lunch break at the food court would catch a glimpse of three of four people walking the treadmill, through a large wall of glass, adjacent to the eating grounds. And then the pointing begins, ‘look at these people walking in such small shorts. Wait, isn’t that guy from accounts...’, and the customary laughing session would continue. For them, it’s time to make the next deadline, back-ache or otherwise.“I have to have my daily workout,” explains Arjun Nayar, who works (out) at Mahindra World City, For Arjun, working out at ‘office’ makes sense because he lives over 50 km away. Five years ago, the concept of a gym at an IT park was an elite proposition for those who were ‘on the run’ 24/7; the number of takers though proved rather meagre. So much so, most gyms find it unsettling to account for previous statistics of their attendance. Come 2014, there will be close to 85 such IT parks in the city, including the present crop of 30, more than half of which have a gymnasium provision. In fact, some existing parks have commissioned the construction of gyms.These establishments are not provided by the IT park itself, but are franchises of popular gym chains from around the city. The International Tech Park Chennai employs 17,000 people and despite a majority of them giving the gym a miss, fitness instructors are optimistic that every walk-in is a potential new member. L Emmanuel, Senior Manager, Fitness One, says, “We have an outlet at ITPC open throughout the day, so 90 per cent of our clientele are tech park employees and 10 per cent are from outside.” Amid fine dining kiosks, posh corporate offices and retail outlets, these gymnasiums do have a certain upmarket swagger about them. From centralised air conditioning to high-end exercise equipment, it seems like the customer is just as happy as the gym proprietor. R Rukhmani, a teacher, says, “I don’t even work at the IT park I work out at, but I really enjoy the facilities and the atmosphere so I travel from my house in Besant Nagar to Taramani to get my exercise.” There are also those who have wallet constraints. Mohammad Fahim, an employee at Olympia Tech Park, Guindy says, “It would cost Rs 2000 each month if I were to gym at the same building I work at. I think the gym near my house in Royapuram where I pay only Rs 500 a month is a much better deal.”While corporate professionals grapple with obesity and 13-hour work days, perhaps the doctor’s orders call for a trip down under. Down the elevator, that is. Or you can always use the stairs and save on warm-up time!
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