Aditya arrived at the UT in August 2001 to pursue a Masters degree in Electrical Engineering. He marveled at the myriad extra-curricular activities available for UT students, 'There is so much to do here!' Thumbing through a Student Union booklet in English, he found two clubs that appealed to him: Lichtgeraakt and Sagittarius, the archery club. Since he was a little boy, Aditya had found guns fascinating. Here was a chance to try two unique sports that he had never practiced in India.
'It has nothing to do with shooting to kill,' explains Aditya. 'It's about concentration, about calming yourself. You stop thinking about everything else and start focusing on the target.' In fact, the club's activities are surprisingly safe due to the air guns, which have virtually no recoil and use manually compressed air to fire, thus completely eliminating the risk of ammunition explosions, not to mention deafening noise. Lichtgeraakt provides the costly equipment in exchange for a yearly membership fee of 25 euros.
On Monday evenings, anywhere from 15 to 25 club members gather in the CT basement from 8-10 pm. The lemon-sized targets stand at 10 meters distance with rings numbered 1-10. Most novices start shooting at 3 or 4. Improvement comes primarily from repetition although some technique is required. An instructor is on hand to guide novices. 'General physical fitness is also important,' adds Aditya. While aim and concentration are the key components, one needs to be fit not to tire during two hours of shooting. Generally the group practices for two hours and then hangs out to socialize for an hour or so. Members record their scores weekly and display them publicly as a sort of internal competition, but which serves mainly as an impetus for self-improvement.
The next night, Aditya returns to the CT basement, but this time for archery practice. The instructor, Dirk, trains club members Tuesday evening from 8-10 pm; Thursday evenings are exclusively for open practice. Members relax around the Sagittarius bar after hours.
Ironically, archery is potentially more lethal than shooting. 'An arrow has enough force to pierce a bulletproof vest, so we follow almost fanatical safety precautions.' explains Aditya. For example, there is a set shooting line which no one may cross when shooting. Members wear a breast guard of nylon mesh, which offers protection if the string breaks and strikes the body like a whip. A wristguard is especially important for new people because if bow is in the wrong position, the string will grate the arm after shooting.
Sagittarius uses recurve bows because they are less complicated to learn and less expensive to purchase than compound bows. Archers aim at half-meter targets 18 or 25 meters away, but the CT facilities can allow up to a 40 meter range.
Founded in 1972, Sagittarius hosts an annual regional tournament called Paraplu, or Umbrella, which features competition between local archery clubs.
Aditya enjoys both sports because neither is so tiring nor time consuming that he loses valuable time devoted to his studies. By the same token, he likes the fact that these activities require mind-emptying levels of concentration. Language is not a problem, even though Aditya is just beginning to formally learn Dutch. Best of all, Aditya remarks, 'Participating in sports clubs is indeed a good way to feel involved, and a great way to make friends and get to know the Dutch ethos.'
For further information: S.V. Lichtgeraakt (contact Jaak Vlasveld at [email protected]), Sagittarius (contact Simon Oosthoek at [email protected], website: http://www.student.utwente.nl/~sagi/nl
Hometown: Pune, India
Languages: Marathi, Hindi, English
Favorite food: Sizzlers - sizzling trays of barbecued meat, vegetables, and rice
Favorite book: "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!" by Richard P. Feynman
Favorite place to be: on the hill fort Sinhagad, near Pune
Favorite spot in NL: UT campus
Best part about living in NL: the friendliness of the people
Worst part about living in NL: the inconvenient procedure to getting a Dutch driving license
