The paintball arena was on banergetta road 7 kms ahead of IIM Bangalore. We were 15 of us. so the teams were divided in to 2 with 7 and 8 members respectively. I found myself in the numerically weaker team. But there was enough enthusiasm among us to convince that numbers dont matter once inside the arena. Tough talk that. I guess the excitement that we were holding guns with paint balls inside them didnt excite as much as the feeling of power that we can cause pain to someone with those paintballs. I had seen paint balls fly at some speed and hit with some sting. In the worst case it would cause a black spot the next day. Not a good idea if you are not wearing the correct safety equipment.
The safety equipment looked stuff more out of star wars. There was a darth vader type face mask to avoid injury to the eyes, a vest to protect the back and upper half of the body with a pouch for the paintballs. looked really cool and once we wore it no one could stop posing for the digi cams. The interesting thing was we couldnt recognize anyone with all that gear. We realized we had distinct color vests that showed our allegiance with a particular team. I was with the green team while the opposition team was red. With the final instructions about the gun operations given it was time for WAR.
The Death match
The first game was decided to be the death match. This format was the simplest therefore chosen as the best option for the beginners. It involved shooting at sight anyone from the opposing team, which meant more target practice and no strategy crap!!The arena was a huge rectangular one with bunkers of varying size being placed in random order over the map. This was a huge difference from the normal arenas i saw in films and had played earlier. There was plenty of scope for moving around bunkers and no one had to jostle to find a bunker for himself. This was also a concern as the enemy could attack from anywhere as there was ample cover for him. Also, since this was a death match we werent sure whether we should attack completely by moving towards the enemy or stay back and consolidate our positions while waiting for the suckers.
The strategy we adopted meant that two people would be attackers on each flank, i.e left and right. that left three people to guard the main bunker in our territory. It looked quite a good strategy in theory. unfortunately it remained exactly that. Either we were too complacent or the opposing dudes were too good. I was one of the defenders and in no time i found the enemy at us from the left flank. I wondered what happened to our guys on the left. Suddenly there were two guys shooting at me. I tried to escape the volley of paintballs but one paintball got me on the hand. I was out! I couldnt believe that i was the first one out. and the game had just started. what a shame. all the things i had thought of doing melted away. I was standing alone outside watching the other guys having a go at each other. I was cursing myself for getting out in such a way. I was determined not go down without a fight if there was a second game.
It later turned out it was my manager who had knocked my out of the game. I liked the guy to be honest but the time for niceties had passed. I hoped i got another chance to atleast not have a forgettable outing. I was fortunate that day it seems for there was going to be another game. I saw my team getting beaten like retards did. I really wanted to score some points for my team. and so began the unforgettable half of the evening, the capture the flag part.
catch the next part in the next post here.
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