For the last 29 years, Malhar, the St Xavier’s College festival has provided a reason for celebration to college students from all over the country. And this time, it’s going to be no different. While the organisers are busy preparing for eliminations that kick-start tomorrow for the main event that is to be held on August 14 and 15, a bunch of participants are literally sweating it out on field. For the first time since its inception, the Malhar schedule is lined up with sports events.
“For the first time in years, we have included sports as we did not want to leave out sports fans. We’ve decided to provide a platform to a sport that is picking up — football,” says Arjun Nair, chairperson, Malhar 2007. “We’re starting out small this year by not touching upon too many sports, but bringing them to a whole new level,” he notes proudly.
Nothing really beats soccer during the rains. That’s why Malhar organisers came up with the idea of rink-football at Malhar. “We’ve taken the basic idea of rink football and tweaked the rules to test the teams’ ability to strategise and think on their feet,” points out Vaishak Ravi, organising committee member (OC), Entertainment, Theatricals and Contests (ETC) that’s organising this event, Field Domination. Teams will have to contest for the ball, through a series of mazes and obstacles in the rink. Rules will be laid out only minutes before the event and keep changing, to ensure that participants don’t plan ahead of time.
And football fever doesn’t end here. For those who haven’t yet tried kicking a ball, Workshops Inc. (W.Inc) has lined up a football workshop. But before all you soccer jocks start getting ready to sign up, check the fine print: “Men not allowed”. Inspired by Gurinder Chadda’s Bend it like Beckham, W.Inc has lined up a girls-only workshop, Bend it like Basanti, where girls can pick up their football basics and tactics within a span of two hours.
“We wanted to do something different this year so we’re holding this unique workshop for girls. People think that only guys understand and like football. We’re hoping that after this workshop, girls will get interested in football and play on a regular basis. Who knows, we may actually get some women footballers soon,” says Divyak D’Souza, organiser, W.Inc.
For those who prefer brain to brawn, chess maybe the preferred choice of sport. Literary Arts has come up with a chess event called All the King’s Men that will bamboozle even the most skilled grandmasters. “Chess is a whimsical game that requires patience, cunning and an ability to think out-of-the-box. With this in mind, we’ve taken the basics of chess and added what we consider ‘LA qualities’ and come up with something beautiful,” says Malti Ganeshan, organising committee member. The elimination round that will be conducted on August 5 will consist of a series of written puzzles and problems that will test the chess skills of participants possess, before they are subjected to the head-to-head clashes that form the quarterfinals, semi-finals and finals that will be held on August 12, 14 and 15 respectively. As with Field Domination, here too the rules have been tweaked — it’s just not pure chess. Ganeshan explains, “You will need basic chess skills, but more than that, a firm and intimate understanding of the rules and a willingness to break them, a willingness to be surprised and a need to prove yourself are what are really going to get you through this event.”
For those who can think on their feet and possess the football skills of Ronaldo or think of becoming chess grandmasters such as Vishwanathan Anand, this Malhar will certainly pose quite a challenge. Be prepared!
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