The APOGEE English Press met with Aayush Katakwar, Coordinator of The Eastern Outlook (TEO), on the sidelines of Snaps to delve deeper into the club’s activities for the upcoming edition of APOGEE.

TEO, Aayush explained, had always been much more than an ‘anime club’, a label incorrectly given to it over the years. Their main objective was to amplify Eastern Culture in BITS, and it did so by promoting J-dramas, C-dramas, K-dramas, Korean music, and so on, in addition to anime.

Aayush shared that the club would be organising five events in APOGEE 2026, one more than the previous year.

The five events include three that the club has been organising for the last five editions of APOGEE—Anime Quiz, Game Room and the screening of an anime film on Day Zero. 

The club would also be running a Manga Stall where attendees could purchase manga, posters, stickers, cosplay items and more, besides hosting Risk Royale, a Japanese-style Casino event. 

When asked about the preparatory work in the days leading up to the fest, Aayush stated that the club would hold ‘dummy events’ of the same kind as APOGEE events, like a private in-club screening of the movie selected for Day Zero or mock rounds of the Anime Quiz. The club would also work towards designing posters and creating props. 

Aayush remarked that while the journey so far had been smooth, the biggest issue he had faced was APOGEE being delayed by close to a fortnight. As for his experience as a Coordinator, he mentioned that it had been quite similar to what he had seen in his first and second years. While it had been a ‘big responsibility’ to shoulder, he appreciated the support received from his clubmates, adding that they never allowed him to feel the ‘burden’ of being a Coordinator. 

He quipped that TEO was always open to collaborations with other clubs on campus in the future.

As a final message, Aayush urged the attendees to check out the club’s events over the weekend and called for the readers to change their perception of TEO from an ‘anime club’ to a club trying to promote East-Asian culture as a whole on campus.