hat started out as a run-of-the-mill BOSM
inauguration, gave way to a shocking and tube
-light breaking ending as a group of
professionals performed ‘Gatka’, a Punjabi-style martial
arts style. It all started with Gurukul performing the
BOSM Theme Song, which has been in the making for
quite some time. The show continued with the
CoSSAcns being introduced (to too many details), along
with the Chief Guest, former Indian cricketer, Dinesh
Mongia, and R.K. Kaul, an alumnus of BITS-Pilani from
the 1972 batch. Director Dr G. Raghurama was also
present, and he began a series of speeches by the chief
guests and the sports secretary, Anirudh Sharma. The
basic message conveyed by the speeches was that
emphasis on sports had to be reignited
among the students and that the
general well-being of a student is a
necessity. To quote Mr Mongia, “a
healthy mind can only survive inside a
healthy body.” Mr Mongia, who said he
was used to only playing in front of
tens of thousands of people, said he
was kind of hesitant to speak in front
of the throng of BITSians and
outstation participants who had
attended the inauguration. The array of
speeches was followed by an oath, led
by Anirudh Sharma, the sports
secretary and taken by all the
participants of the various events, to
uphold the spirit of sportsmanship
and . After the gifting of mementos
and other pleasantries, the relatively
new Taekwondo team demonstrated
their skills in a series of choreographed
movements involving breaking of
wooden
boards
a n d
hitting
target
plates using a combination of
kicks and punches.
The last event in the itinerary
was a performance in the
ancient martial arts of Punjab,
called Gatka. Gatka is a martial art which focuses and
sharpens the mind. The group of performers who had
been invited had dedicated their lives to the art form and
had already participated in and won some popular reality
talent shows before. All the performers who were on
stage were professionals and no one should attempt the
acts they perform at any point in their life. Starting with
sword fighting (with actual swords) and mace swinging,
the performance quickly escalated after one of them
broke a tube light and started eating it. This was
followed by acts such as bending swords with the tip on
one of their heads or chests, breaking three inch thick
wooden planks and breaking of multiple tube lights.
Next in line was an act where one of them covered their
head with a gunny bag, added a tyre over the head
soaked in kerosene and then set it ablaze. They then
broke a dozen tube-lights on his head (possibly to put
out the flames). The next act involved pouring salt into
the eyes of one of the crew, blindfolding him and then
breaking coconuts placed carefully around the heads and
limbs of other daredevils with a sledgehammer. To top it
all off, the next part of the act involved one member
lying on a bed of nails which was on top of another
similar bed which pressed into a man lying on a bed of
swords. A heavy ice block was smashed to pieces on the
top-most board with a sledgehammer.
All things considered, it is definitive that the
inauguration of the 29th edition of BOSM was a one of a
kind event. The reasons may vary, but it probably will
stay in the minds of those who witnessed it for a long
time to come.