The Oasis English Press sat down with Archisha Singh, the Joint-Coordinator for Anchor, to understand the inner workings of the club and its preparations for the upcoming fest. She explained that Anchor is the gender and sexuality cell of BITS Pilani targeted towards members of the LGBTQ community as well as people from various gender backgrounds. 

Archisha explained that Anchor would be conducting its flagship Pride March on Day 2, which would start from the Krishna Parking, walk through the NAB roads, and conclude at Rotunda. She mentioned that the Anchor stall would sell merchandise such as badges, pins, and keychains. She remarked that they create a diverse range of badges and pins which both the general crowd as well as the queers can enjoy. A new addition to the stall would be the pronoun pins. Regarding other events, Archisha mentioned that they would also be conducting the nail painting activity but were unsure about the Wall of Happiness, where people could write affirming messages and stick it to the wall.

When asked about the challenges faced by Anchor leading up to the fest, Archisha revealed that taking care of logistics is one of the major issues because they could not put an anonymous member on a stall who doesn’t wish to be associated with Anchor. She mentioned that they are a community of passionate individuals who aren’t all queer, but dedicated to the LGBTQ community in their own ways. 

Talking about her experience with the club, Archisha remarked that it had been a pleasant experience so far, and she got to learn a lot: what the ledger looks like, how SU politics works, and art. Her expectations for the stalls weren’t much: she mentioned that they look for quality over quantity while looking forward to the happy community. 

On behalf of Anchor, she urged the general body to be themselves, not discriminate, and be proud of who they were, without worrying about labels and expectations.