Overcoming the SWD’s apprehension regarding the various
monetary aspects was quite a challenge, Mihir asserts,
starting from possible accumulation of credit to the
students’ irregularity in paying mess bills. The newly
instituted Sports Financial Committee is expected to
monitor this scheme. As was the case last year, some events
will be held outside the campus, with football and hockey in
the Birla Public School (BPS) and the Birla High School
(BHS) hosting athletics and swimming, an event that just
saved from cancellation, Mihir says. The swimming pool on
campus remains shut, with the process of firming up the
safety. Concerted steps seem to have been made in the
general direction of bringing more pomp, colour and
pageantry to the fest. The Creative Activities Club has
painted the walls of the Gym Grounds with the portraits of
four famous sports personalities. In addition, a threedimensional BOSM logo has been planned, Mihir says, as
has a banner at the base of the Clock Tower. Chelsea will
be hosted, in the Premier League, by Manchester City, in a
match that is to be screened live on Sunday.
Mihir confirms the continued presence of Baxter for this
BOSM as well. Slated to be present at the usual photo-op
locations in SAC and the Gym Grounds, Baxter is expected
to be accompanied, albeit unofficially, by DoPy, who will
be glad to capture your momentary brush with brilliance.
Mihir signs off, with a request for greater support from the
BITSians for their home team. “BITSian teams competing
outside the campus don’t have the advantage of being the
home team”, he opines. Unfortunately, this seems to be the
case with the sports on campus too. Root mails will be sent
out, schedules will be printed in our issues, but BITSians
are requested to get out of their rooms and embrace the
festivity, as we gear up for what does, certainly, seem to be
an interesting fest.
Joint Sports Secretary, Ricky Lahkar Pradhan, radiates
enthusiasm for all things BOSM. Having had most of his
BITSian life shaped by cricket, which he’s played for two
BOSMs, Ricky is extremely eager to raise BITSian sport to
new heights. BOSM has been improving exponentially over
the past few years, says Ricky, and if this trend is carried
forward, it has the potential to even overshoot Oasis.
Registrations seem to have touched a new high and even
staff quarters have been pulled in to provide enough
accommodation for all the teams. Considering how
outstation participation is more essential to BOSM than any
of the other fests, and how challenging it is to arrange for
people to come to this remotest of hamlets, that is a very
well-earned feather in the CoSSAc’s cap. Sponsorship talks
are also going as per schedule and smaller details like
arrangements for the opening ceremony are nearing
completion, says Ricky. Basketball and tennis matches will
happen on the fabulous synthetic courts at Gym-G. The
recently finished tennis courts and the Vaishampayan
basketball court will surely be a delight to play on and will
seat a rather large crowd as well. The newly renovated
badminton courts at SAC will host matches this BOSM,
although the delay in the renovation did hinder the team’s
practice a little. When more than a few team players are
being seriously injured because of potholes and hillocks
during practice, mustn’t some immediate action be taken?
Ricky, who must understand the situation because he plays
on the cricket grounds himself, says that there are first-aid
kits at hand to provide for such situations. This doesn’t
seem to be an ideal solution, however. The medical team
and ambulances that will be present during BOSM,
according to Ricky, are definitely more reassuring.
Now for the most important question of all – what if it
rains? “Well, we’ve more or less accepted that it will rain
during BOSM,” laughs Ricky. The question is only how to
minimise damage. The committee has worked out a way to
shift all stalls to the concrete structures adjacent to the
tennis courts in case it pours, which is a rather good idea.
But when it comes to the courts themselves, Ricky says that team players will
have to uphold the age-old BITSian traditions of using unwieldy machinery
and burning newspaper to dry the ground as much as possible. While we
have to accept this as our fate for BOSM 2014, it would be a good idea for
the CoSSAc to do something about large lakes that form after a shower on
some of the more uneven courts.
In closing, we ask Ricky something that’s been bothering us – where has
Baxter been? Where was he during BOSM snaps? Has he been retired to a
musty old shed after a single year in service? “No, no,” says Pradhan, “he was
only being repaired. Be prepared to shake hands with the desert eagle once
again during the tournament.”
So there we are, with this third-yearite Joint Sports
Secretary juggling cricket practice and pre-tournament
arrangements every evening, hoping for a victory in
both pursuits. With passion such as his, it would be
very difficult to lose.