If you were to observe a young adult approach a flight of stairs closely, you can identify the exact moment their heart shatters when they realise there isn’t an escalator in sight, usually followed by a deep sigh. Kushal Gaikwad, a skater from Dombivli, thinks it’s no big deal. A firm strike with his foot on the edge of his skateboard, and the 22-year-old is airborne; and before you can wrap your mind around the physics behind it all, Gaikwad will have slid his way down the handrails, on to his next trick. It’s all happening under the sun at the newly inaugurated skatepark at the Grand Central Park in Thane, a landmark that skaters from the suburb have been waiting to open for perhaps a tad too long.

The skater tests a down ledge at the park. Pics/Sameer Markande