Anmol Sagar

I got shot 8 times and lived to tell the tale. One can probably never say that in real life…. But with Paint ball all is possible!!

Paint ball is a relatively new phenomenon in India, so some of you might not know what it really is… for those who do know, please skip the next para!

Paint ball is a simulated battle game. Participants are divided into warring teams, given some armour (as in paintball proof vests), face masks, guns and some ammo (as in pellets made of paint). The paint bullets are organic, washable and edible (though please do not try and eat it because they taste horrible… and don’t ask me how I know!).  There is a paintball arena, usually it is artificially made with various obstacles… but the one we went to was 100% natural with bushes (some with real thorns!) , boulders and the works. Participants run around, trying to shoot each other, dodge paint bullets and try to keep alive.

There are of course certain rules to the game. Gear to be worn at all times in the arena, no shooting at less than 15 feet range, if you got shot once, you’re dead and you need to raise your hands and walk out of the arena once you’ve used up your ammo (each person gets 20 paint bullets).

But hey, when it’s a bunch of newbies, who cares about the rules! Sometimes people get so excited that they shoot at their own team mates, shoot at near range and generally give the referee a tough time! It’s a little close to the real thing, because paint bullets hit at close range do sting and leave nasty blue black bruises. I thought I got shot 5 times, but as the day passed, I discovered more and more blue black bruises all over the body. So far I’ve discovered 8… J

People hide behind the bushes/ boulders/ inflatable obstacles and mark their preys. It’s a little bit like Quake… hide and shoot…dodge and run…made me want to shout out a gruff ‘Humiliation!!’’ every time I got a close surprised hit!

Its great fun and also a great stress buster! There’s nothing like expending your frustration on all things unfair by rampaging around and shooting anything in sight!

In Mumbai, you can play paintball at Yuyutsa’s (an adventure sports company) arena in Thane (in the beautiful hills of Yeoor). A game of about 20 minutes would cost you Rs 250 and you have to play a minimum of 2.