Bhooman - A Peek Into The Rajeshes

Introduction

A few centuries after the concept of Man came into being, an exclusive sect of beings emerged into existence. Elusive, and fiercely secretive, this group diverged from the normal rules that bound a nation and its people, and invented and discovered cultural practices unknown to the wider community. The nature of this group is as peculiar as its name. Those of this sect are born into their group, and as people in their group call it, born Rajeshes.

In 1975, in a joint conference held in Glasgow, Scotland, I first heard of this secret Society. I had access to a few key pieces of evidence, and I was, fortunately, in the partnership of a well-read Scholar of that time, and there was nothing that dispelled me from believing that Rajeshes existed. Peculiar as it may be to most, the lives they lead are curiously intriguing, and all that follows below are second-hand experiences of true events and beliefs.

Mysteriously, only about 20% of all Rajeshes know of their identity. However, all Rajeshes display similar characteristics and identical attributes. Strong bloodlines do exist, and in some cases, Rajeshes divulge their identity with pride and strongly believe that their position allows them to perceive the world in a more realistic perspective. They are truly an enigma, with their own language, own cultural practices and beliefs, and their own religion. These pillars are the fundamental forces that hold this society together, and together they contribute much to the known and unknown aspects of the world. For more on the Rajesh’s beliefs and heritage, read my other essay.

During the 14th century, when the sky was rumoured to be falling from its position, Guru Rajesh Vaishvanaath of the Kurukshetra Era was enamoured with the idea of inventing something new. The Guru, who had also discovered The Four Lines of Akshavartam, was thus tasked by King Aroopabhooman to discover an interesting and efficient way to quickly train his troops. Huge casks of resources and monies were expended to invent, maintain, and incorporate Guru Rajesh’s doctrines. Of course, shortly after this doctrine was incorporated, King Aroopabhooman was killed in war due to the inability of his warriors to actually fight. But after all, this was one of the Rajesh’s key characteristics, their aptitude for failure.


Armed with money and backed with legitimate approval, Guru Rajesh created Bhooman. The legendary art of play with its intricate rules was as ruthless as it was delicately styled. A rigid system kept players unharmed, while its tiring gameplay exercised their bodies. It was a wonderful creation that was regarded highly, and a cornerstone of victory for the Rajesh community. For Guru Rajesh, this was supposed to be a moment of great jubilation, but alas, a true blue Rajesh, Guru Rajesh was soon caught in a scandal of repeatedly biting all the warriors.

Core Concepts

Tragically, he was very soon strung up and hung. However, to this day, Bhooman is still a common practice of play and training among Rajeshes. There are a few core concepts of Bhooman we must understand before we dive into the main rules of play. Every facet of Bhooman deals with these concepts, and acknowledging them helps us grasp how and why each rule was conceived. Guru Vaishvanaath believed in the eternal forces that govern life itself - namely, the body, the mind, and the soul. Perfection can only be achieved if these three aspects are in alignment. In Bhooman specifically, the Guru advised that the body must mimic the mind, and the mind must mimic the soul. This might sound enigmatic, but then again, most of what the Rajeshes say are confusing. At first.

Guru Vaishvanaath was also a realist, and often liked to shape his thoughts based on real events happening before his eyes. Immediately after the Guru theorised about Bhooman, he strived to create a tangible version of it behind his house. He desired to create an independent Bhooman court and forced men to play Bhooman against each other. Sometimes the events would get so heavy, that there are reports of crow sounds heard from his Bhooman courts.

Guru Rajesh famously once made a comment on the Akshavartam of Bhooman. He said, “ the Shadhi of a warrior, is the knife that cuts an apple. The wish may be to cut the apple, but whether or not we do it, depends on our Shadhi, and the state of our Akshavartam.” In this, the Guru cannot be more right. The Shadhi refers to the position of a warrior in play, that is, the stance of his Body. By strictly incorporating his ideas into Bhooman, Guru Rajesh Vaishvanaath gave blood, sweat and oil to his game. For more information about Shaadi, go to this website.

The Courts

Guru Rajesh was not the only Rajesh of that time. There were a few other notable Rajeshes that made their own mark in the unknown tapestry of the Society. Pragya Rajesh was another respected Scholar making his name ring with achievements. He was the Rajesh who theorised about the 6 Faces of Rajesh, or simply, the Raj Arumugam. Pragya, meaning wisdom, was already a part of Rajesh’s name when he dictated the 6 planes of a Rajesh, to name a few, Egoism, Short Temper, Irresponsibility, Selfishness and so on. He defined them not only as the stalwart pillars that define Rajeshes, but also that these characteristics lie in varying connections to one another. While this is tough for me as a writer to go over his teachings in a sentence or so, the main idea is that each character exists in pairs, and that out of the three pairs, one pair is more dominant than the other two.

Guru Rajesh could only be described as a fan of Pragya. He worshipped Pragya Rajesh’s ideas, and dutifully followed them and believed in them. His ideas were also woven into Bhooman, specifically, through the structure of the Bhooman court.

Bhooman is no common play. It is a heady tradition, that is tailored to the Society, and every detail was well thought. This was the same in the making of the Bhooman courts as well.

As in the diagram above, there are six main positions in the Bhooman court. Both players start in Idam, and the main battle occurs within the Irumalam, which contains Ether, Uper, Keloom, and Maloom. Interestingly, we can see that there are six named areas of the court, which reflects Pragya Rajesh’s thoughts on Rajeshes. Bhooman was and still is, a perfect expression of the Rajesh Identity.

The Rajesh Identity was much debated upon, and up until the 1800s, it was still unclear on what completely encapsulates a Rajesh. The Arumugam and the Four Lines proved essential in clearing many obstacles to discovering the true Rajesh Identity. Yet, the young Rajeshes of those times disagreed that that was all that made up a Rajesh. Their belief was that there was more to the concept of a Rajesh, a much more complex overlay that wrapped and gave meaning to being a Rajesh. The quest to find such a meaning was then passed to many notable Rajeshes of those times, but they will not be named in this essay.

My intention in this essay is only to introduce Bhooman. However, I find it hard to introduce the rules of play without delving into the beliefs of those who invented it and improved it during those times, especially due to the fact that Bhooman was a cultural game. The Rajesh Identity was a lofty dream, a seemingly unattainable goal that Rajeshes were eager to pursue. During that time, much was considered and dismissed, and tensions grew as it became increasingly obvious that a Rajesh could not be completely catalogued into words.

At some point, there was a general consensus that Bhooman was the best and only way to explain the Rajesh Identity. Thus it becomes important for me to reiterate the importance of upholding a longstanding game such as Bhooman. It is the culmination of many Rajeshes and exists as a valuable gem in the history of the Rajesh.

Rules Of Play

Now, to begin playing Bhooman, two players must advance from their Idam, and using various footwork styles, and multiple techniques, they must either slap, tap, touch or very briefly hold the opponent’s thighs. Doing this once will award you one point. Two in succession will win the game.

As per Guru Vaishvanaath’s 13 rules of play, Bhooman was to be won, by gaining two points more than the opponent. This is refreshingly different from the conventional methods of first to reach 21 points as in Badminton. In Bhooman, the points system is governed by the difference in the opponents’ score rather than the value itself.

When Guru Vaishvanaath created Bhooman, he decreed that there are two parts in learning Bhooman. He had created the 13 rules of play, or the Ilajangangal, which instils in warriors the techniques to excel in the sport. He also created the two forms of play.

Before embarking any further onto this subject, I would like to remind ourselves of the purpose of Bhooman when the Guru created it. War was the main contributing force that propelled the creation of Bhooman. There were thus two forms of Bhooman existent; the less violent Practice version, and the War version. While these terms were not created by Guru Vaishvanaath explicitly, it was long understood that one was employed for practice and the other for war.

The Two Versions

The crucial difference between the War and Practice version is that in War, the use of brutal force, and the use of leg - through kicking and tripping, is allowed. In Practice, a warrior can only block, hold, and gently push off the opponents’ hands. And kicking, or the use of legs as an offensive attack is strongly forbidden. However, in War, a warrior can hit, push back, and force his opponent to fall.

Lukemann Energy and the Third Version

In the early 1800s, yet again another Rajesh came into the forefront of Rajesh glory. Lukemann Rajesh Andrews was the son of a Rajesh Indian father and an Irish mother. By the time he reached his 20s, he was already a prominent figure who is known to be a kind and accommodating Rajesh, who readily supported pro Rajesh movements. His intentions were to adapt and reshape Rajesh Ideals, without corrupting its good intentions. From a very young age, he was besotted with the notion of enhancing Bhooman for the betterment of all Rajeshes.

During the 1800s, among the common people, a new theory began emerging - the battery. People all over the world were interested in this contraption’s ability to harness energy and store it in a tube that was as small as their pet cat. Lukemann was inspired by such a design; he brought over the idea of a battery, where you need a closed circuit, or need to do a particular action to access its energy, to spirituality. He soon became the brainchild of the Lukemann Energy Theory. According to this theory, every Rajesh needs a spark, or a starting action, to reach their potential. Just like the activation energy needed for any chemical reaction, a Rajesh needs something to kickstart his path to success.

To test his theory out, Lukemann even conducted tests. Using a few Rajesh friends, he gave each Rajesh a similar task - to run from one end of a field to the other, and recorded the time. For half the Rajesh contestants, he slapped their faces before they began running, and the other half weren’t slapped. To make sure there was no competition, he conducted each person’s run on different days but on the same time each day. The results were positive - the slapped Rajeshes seemed to run faster.

He conducted another variant of the competition, where his close friend Rajesh was told to run, then slapped and told to run again. He was given breaks in between the two runs. He was faster during his second run. To get more information on the Lukemann Energy, go here.

Thus Lukemann incorporated his Energy theory into Bhooman, and made it mandatory that every warrior and his opponent must simultaneously slap their thighs using their palms before starting to play Bhooman.

They must strictly slap the upper part of the thigh, and must slap vertically downwards.

Moreover, he also suggested Rajeshes to adopt a new version that is not as ruthless as War, but nor as meek as Practice. This was the Modern version, and till today, all Rajeshes use this method to play Bhooman.

The Modern version still prohibited legs, but it gave a few leeways in terms of shoving and hitting. He identified that there were levels of using force, and while making your opponent fall is too extreme and unacceptable, rough shoving, and pushing his opponent back is accepted. However, foul play, such as breaking of bones, or deliberately injuring the muscles, are to be severely dealt with.

While these ideas were accepted, Lukemann’s other ideas were rejected and he was heavily criticized for some of his thoughts. He also had the dream of categorising Rajeshes based on their Rajesh level, and forcing the general Rajesh Society to shun some Rajeshes if their level was too high. Many people were incensed, and some Rajeshes even began discrediting his words due to his half Rajesh background. His thoughts slowly became shady and authoritative, and when he turned 53, he was burned at the stake 5 days after his birthday.

Other Rules

There are some major points to keep in mind while playing.

Double taps are not allowed in Bhooman. After each tap, the player must move back by about 1 metre before attempting to re-tap the person’s thighs.

It is generally very helpful to have a third person watching the games. Usually, this is not required, but for large parties, it might be detrimental to determine the winner without bias.

While it's not very important to define all the corners of the court, all players must have an Idam to originate from, and must return to their Idam at the end of each game.

The thigh is defined by the area between the line where the torso meets the legs, and the kneecaps, excluding the kneecaps themselves and the buttocks area. Usually, during more serious competitions and meetings, Rajeshes prefer to wear red clothing to signify the places allowed to touch.

Conclusion

Bhooman is a slowly woven tapestry of many different ideas and thoughts, and just like how vast numbers of heavenly snowflakes make up the snow we can touch, Bhooman is the memories and the experience of uncountable Rajeshes that make up our society. There are much more ideas and theories that revolve around the Rajesh Society, and too much for me to cover in one essay.

Yet, it goes without saying that at the root of it all, each and every aspect of the Rajesh culture is without doubt essential for us to understand the whole of who the Rajeshes are.

All the pictures were artfully drawn by the writer. Support me at this site, and to get to know me more, visit me here.

To see a Western variation of Bhooman, go here. Or you can also use this link.

“Thrill Of An Old Man”, 1893 Oil painting by Von Heus Rajesh

The Maharaj | 2020