Paintball – Combat Evolved

It is really fun watching Hollywood action stars jump off helicopters and going gung-ho firing all kinds of weapons made on this planet. It would be really fun to feel like Bruce Willis of “Die Hard” or Tom Cruise from “Mission Impossible”, at least for a day. Well, for us software junkies this is a far cry. But if you wanted to be in he army at some point of time in your life or flunked your NDA examination, then as a mark of retribution you can always try playing Paintball game on a hot sunny weekend afternoon.

I never thought India could be a home to seriously Yankee type adventure game like Paintball, that was until last weekend when Jerry invited me to join his group for a Paintball game. I was thrilled to hear that we had Paintball Arena in Bangalore and jumped the opportunity. For those who don't know what Paintball is... its like splitting into two teams and shooting your opponents with guns loaded with spherical pellets with paint inside, hence the name Paintball !! This is the closest thing to actual combat with the real feel but instead of blood spilling we get splattered with PAINT!! It could be regarded as the Holi of modern times !! ;)

So on the D-Day we set off to the Paintball Arena on Banarghetta Road about 10 kms from Diaries Circle. We reached the place when the sun was smiling at his devilish most. We got a small debriefing by the organizing guys:

Rule 1: Always follow safety regulations and wear ur safety gear all the time.
Rule 2:No other rules except rule 1.

The guns(which are pretty heavy) are known as markers, powered by a compressed air canister at its butt. We were shown how to fire the markers and use the safety catch on it. Then we padded up for the game. We had to a wear very uncomfortable vest with an attached neckguard, combat gloves, and a skull cap. After posing for some John Woo style “demo” pics we went into the fight-yard and discussed the war-cries, strategies and tactics to be used while engaging the enemy.

After pledging our allegiance to the Gods of Paintball, the referee blew the whistle and we released the safety catch of the guns and attacked the blokes in the opposite team. Kaashif was the suicide squad leader with his sole motto being “kill or die”. While me and Jerry grouped up and used some stealth tactics to sneak up on the enemy from behind. It was pure rush and fun dodging bullets, running like crazy, dashing, rolling and sliding on the ground. The stamina meter went terribly low by the end of third round and we monitor-staring- corporate blokes were dead meat in no time. We continued for two more rounds and called it a day. The experience was far too exhilarating to be put in words. You need to actually feel the rush. After a sumptuous lunch at 5 in the evening from a nearby dhaba we headed back home worn out and totally wasted. Three days have passed since we went for the game, the cramps in my body are still there and i cant walk or climb stairs. So much for my fitness levels, guess the game should ve been titled "pain"ball for me. But these cramps aint gonna stop me from goin back there again for another day of Paintball !!!