Hirra Azmat
Srinagar: Tired of online video games? It’s time to experience some real-life action…
Welcome to the world of Wildebeest Hub Private Limited. Hold your breath and enjoy the first-of-kind adrenaline fraught activities
Founded by 30-year-old Tajamul Rashid, the Wildebeest Hub Private Limited seeks to introduce recreational activities like paintball, archery and airsoft in Kashmir.
Wildebeest is opening its doors to the adventure seekers on August 29, 2021. The playing field is located at Tangnar, Dodhpathri Development Authority, Budgam. It is rolling only Paintball activity initially to serve the large local population with all unique spectrum of services.
Paintball has become recognized as one of the world’s most exciting participation sports that can be played both indoors and outdoors. Typically, a group of players will divide into two teams to play this video game.
Like other games, the team tries to eliminate rivals by tagging them with a paintball expelled from specialized equipment called a Paintball marker. Games run from as short a few minutes to several hours, depending on the size of the field.
Tajamul decided to start the venture after realizing the dearth of adventure sports in Kashmir. “It is very unfortunate that we don’t have any exciting sports here. Sure we have seasonal activities like skiing, rafting, skating, etc. But why limit our youth to seasonal activities when they can have year-round fun. Paintball is an outdoor sport that makes a person agile and nimble. The best thing is that it is a real-life action game, just like virtual games which took the world by its storm, e.g PUBG, Call of Duty, or Counter-Strike,” he said, who hails from Pampore.
He said the newer generation should move out of the social media shackles and be involved with some sport, and paintball is the best way to start.
“People seek entertainment on a daily basis, some want a sense of adventure, others are looking for something dreamy, some want decent time with family or clients, and others want something fun, whilst some are on the lookout for challenges. We know how perfectly poised we are in ensuring that we tap into the many available opportunities by ensuring that customers have their needs met,” he said, who has completed MBA and has an extensive experience in sales and marketing in International and domestic markets.
However, the young entrepreneur had to face certain uphill climbs during the setting of this venture. “Majority of people and government officials are unaware of this sport. The challenging part was to make them aware and let them know how unique it is and how helpful it would be to our youth who are getting involved in the wrong and harmful activities like drugs, alcoholism, etc,” Tajamul said.
He said one of the reasons is the unavailability of avenues for leisure, fun, or recreation. “We see we have way too limited stadiums, for cricket or football, let alone for any other sport. In addition, we need to have a broader mindset for accepting new sports and recreational activities like paintball, archery, or airsoft in Kashmir. These are premium sports activities which are common in India,” Tajamul said.
He emphasized that for entrepreneurs, the government should also provide ease of doing business, so that our youth can take business initiatives and can provide solutions to the many problems existing in Kashmir.
“There is a set narrative that the government is taking initiatives for entrepreneurs and business owners, but at ground reality, it is much difficult to get anything done here. Ease of doing business should be given priority,” he said.
Tajamul plans on considering many locations for the activities throughout Kashmir. “We are already in talks on that account, and as soon as it is finalized we will make that public as well,” he said.
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