BL Block’s Kali puja committee was planning to replace its ever-popular video games competition with paintball and zorbing this year but the kids cried foul.
Spectrum, the cultural fiesta by BL Block committee youth wing, has been hosting Fifa and NFS since 2011 but they thought of replacing it with some fun offline games for a change. “No chance,” said Shameek Dey Sannamath, president of the committee. “The kids said they had old scores to settle with friends they lost to last year! A few even flew down from out of town for this event. The playroom, in the community hall, was so crowded that even I could barely enter!”
The video games got more than 50 participants but the organisers stayed true to their cause and threw in new offline games anyway.
“Paintball and zorbing require more infrastructure, so we shall hold them with more preparation in winter or for Holi but for now we settled for three games that neither require the field nor a stage and are more gender-neutral. Girls do not seem to like gaming much but they enjoy shooting, for instance,” Shameek noted.
Call for carrom
About 22 people enrolled for carrom but many more, who lacked confidence, tried their hand at it before the event started.
There were also players like Smrit Kundu, a Class V student who plays carrom with his mother at home, and Dona Mal, of Class VI, who practises with her grandmother. “I like all sports and even learn cricket at FE Block,” said Dona.
The games had no age limit, and Tripti Majumder, a Bengali and PT teacher at the municipal school in FE Block, joined eagerly. “My daughter Proma is in Class IX and had tuition today, so she couldn’t join. She wished me luck and left,” smiled Tripti, who once dreamt of participating in the Olympics. “I don’t understand why more adults don’t join such activities. Everyone deserves to have fun.”
The committee charged a token Rs 50 entry fee for carrom, chess, and shooting to filter out non-serious players who only wanted to kill time. They also purchased chess mats and an international-standard carrom board for the event that they are considering leaving in the hall for residents to use year-round.
“It’s tough to generate interest in offline games,” said Shameek, who went on to win the carrom tournament. “Once-popular events like arm-wrestling and slow cycling will have no takers now as kids don’t even have cycles. But even if kids engaged in today’s events for half a day, it’s a step towards digital detox.”
Chess champs
Many youths tried to avoid chess, believing it to be too cerebral, though finally, 10 joined.
One participant was Divyangsha Mazumdar of Class V, who trains at grandmaster Dibyendu Barua’s academy in FD Block. “Chess has a lot of rules; maybe that’s why most people find it tough to keep up,” said Divyangsha, who learned the basics from his father and is now teaching his mother. His mother, Shyamali Guha, added that he’s allowed an hour on the phone each day, during which he usually ends up playing chess anyway.
Anaranya Majumdar, an IT sector employee, tried his hand at chess too. “But the kids are more in touch with the game, so I got eliminated in the first round,” smiled Anaranya, who is also the committee’s assistant secretary. He did, however, go on to win the shooting competition. “And my brother came second. Both of us have only shot balloons at fairs before but had some pointers. The wind was blowing to one side, so I aimed slightly to the other side.”
Priyansh Ghosh went on to win the chess tournament.
Bullseye
For Juthin Datta of Class VIII, the most memorable image of shooting is that of Turkish marksman Yusuf Dikec, who, with one hand in his pocket, won an Olympic silver medal earlier this year. “I couldn’t try that pose here as we had heavy rifles, not pistols,” laughed Juthin, who also played video games on the day.
Also taking part was Aparup Chakraborty, who is a match commissioner for the All India Football Federation. “I scored 51 (out of 100), and I’ll ask my friend Joydipda (Olympian and shooting coach Joydip Karmakar) to help me improve and reach at least 70 next time,” he laughed.
“Competition can come later; first, we need to celebrate sports. I also run cricket and football academies, and some of the kids here today are my students. I want them to try shooting, carrom — everything— so they respect all sports. It’s also important to try different sports to identify one’s forte,” Aparup said.