The BOSM English Press was provided a golden opportunity, and a great excuse, to sit down with the distinguished members of the elite skateboarding cult of BITS Pilani on the eve of the sports’ fest, to get a brief understanding into the psyche of the individuals who have spent countless hours practicing this rare artform. Just as the Avatar is reborn across infinite cycles to maintain balance between the four elements, the skateboarder spirit rides across the proverbial half-pipe from one batch of students to the next. We talked to a first year newbie and a third year pro (second year was unavailable due to prior EEE commitment), about their experiences with the “sport”.  Our sk8rs have around 5 years of experience, despite a gruelling intermission owing to their preparation for the JEE exam. Coming to campus gave them the freedom to spread their wings and the opportunity to continue to learn some gnarly tricks. Our novice stated that his tryst with the board began by chance, in the corridors of a Decathlon outlet. Within no time, he was hooked and spent many hours browsing YouTube for tutorial videos, learning to be the raddest dude on the block. (Our own interviewer could relate with this greatly, as he was also gifted a skateboard by his brother, but gave up on his attempts to learn, after breaking a flower pot while practicing.)

When asked about their views on starting a skateboarding club, both agreed that it would be a nice addition, but seemed hesitant about bringing more people into this charismatic circle of individuals. The BITS Pilani campus, in their opinion, has the sickest roads any sk8r could ask for. Both sk8rs believe that their boards are the quickest, easiest and most importantly, the fanciest way to move around. Talking about making skateboarding an official BOSM event, they explained how it is more art than sport, where technique and skill can be difficult to quantify numerically. They suggested variations such as hockey with skateboarding, which would be more appropriate as a competitive sport for the fest. Our friendly-neighbourhood newbie also mentioned that there wouldn’t be people qualified enough to make it into the team. These reasons contribute majorly as to why, to quote our pro, ‘skateboarding can’t be in the major Olympics or anything.’

Both players strongly believe that creating a skateboarding zone with half ramps, pipes and other structures would benefit their community. This enhances the rate at which they learn significantly, saving them precious time. When questioned as to whether skateboarding ever got them ‘girlz’, our pro dejectedly replied in the negative. On the other hand, our novice reports that many unknown people have approached him, but he has chosen not to begin relationships with any of them. *Insert quote*

These messiahs who will sacrifice themselves to save the world, these prophets who will read from the scriptures of skaterdom for all of humanity to hear, these humanoid forms of the elements that make up this Earth, these gods amongst men encourage all those around the world who hear the call of the board to follow their dreams. In a rough approximation of sk8r slang, this is what the men we interviewed said, ‘Dudes, please don’t be sketchy. Anything can be a half pipe if you try hard enough. We’re not snakes, we’re not grommets. We’re hardcore skeezes, my dudes. We’re as much a part of the sports’ community as anybody else, and we are going to continue with our pops, and our ollies to help propagate our rad culture.’