Excitement, curiosity, hope, and homesickness; students everywhere can attest to the whirlwind of emotions they will undoubtedly experience as they first step into what is to be their new abode. Alas, it is a BITSian’s fate alone to develop a deep appreciation for good food. Across Pilani, the scarcity of fast food is surmounted during BITS’s three student-run fests: BOSM, Oasis, and APOGEE.

The BITS Open Sports Meet (BOSM) is a student’s first exposure to the cycle of fests that will hunger them for the rest of their tenure in Pilani. It is closely followed by the cultural fest, OASIS, which is one of the largest cultural festivals in the country. Following a winter break and other smaller fests, students are greeted by APOGEE, BITS’s tech-fest and Asia’s largest student-run technical festival.

These rare opportunities for food are executed upon with enthusiasm by the multitude of major and minor departments, clubs, and department associations. These are headed by councils, namely the Committee of Students for Sports Activities (CoSSAc), the Students’ Council for Cultural Activities (StuCCA), and the Committee of Students for Academic Activities (CoStAA). The councils are composed of the President and the General Secretary of the Students’ Union, followed by the coordinators of the aforementioned major departments. 

This article intends to provide the reader with an exhaustive list of the various student bodies available to those interested, with the tail-end of the article centring on the student-governance model that keeps the campus afloat.

In exchange for the paucity of food, you will be provided with an abundance of clubs in BITS Pilani. Ranging from tech teams to volunteer groups, clubs and associations of every flavour are available to students and form the backbone of campus culture. Life in the days prior to and during a fest runs on collaboration and the joy of creating something bigger than the individual ingredients. The following is a list of the clubs and associations available to students.

I. Volunteer Groups

• Anchor
• Nirmaan
• NSS
• Pilani Atmanirbhar Resource Centre (PARC)
• SMILE

II. Tech Teams

• BITS Pilani x Postman Innovation Lab
• CRISS
• Inspired Karters Electric (IKE)
• Inspired Karters – Gravity (IKRG)
• Kalipatnapu Research Lab (KXR)
• Radio Control
• Robocon
• Sally Robotics
• Students’ Union Technical Team (SUTT)
• Team AcYut
• Team Anant
• TEAM BITS
• The Radio Astronomy Club

III. Chapters

• 180 Degrees Consulting
• American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE)
• American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
• Enactus
• Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers (IIChE)
• Indian Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ISHRAE)
• Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
• Association for Computing Machinery’s Council on Women in Computing (ACM-W)
• Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
• International Finance Students’ Association (IFSA)
• Toastmasters
• American Chemical Society
• Sovesa

IV. Growth and Skill Development

• Centre for Entrepreneurship and Leadership (CEL)
• Coding Club
• Communo
• Consulting Club
• Embryo
• English Press Club
• Film Making Club (FMaC)
• Google Developer Student Club (GDSC)
• Hindi Press Club
• Operations and Strategy Club (OSC)
• Photog
• Pilani Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Society (PIEDS)
• Product Management Club
• Quant SIG Club
• Renewable Energy Club (REC)
• Student Alumni Relations Cell (SARC)
• The Debating Society (DebSoc)
• Wall Street Club (WSC)
• Students’ Union Media Team (SUMT)

V. Hobby Clubs

• Association of Rock, BITS Pilani (ARBITS)
• Astro Club
• BITSMUN
• Comedy Hub
• Creative Activities Club (CrAC)
• Cubing Club
• Dance Club
• Embryo
• English Language Activities Society
• Fashion Club
• FitBits
• Gaming Club
• Gurukul
• Hindi Activities Society
• Hindi Drama Club (HDC)
• KalamVansh
• Karaoke Club
• Matrix
• Mountaineering and Adventuring Club (MAC)
• Music Club
• Poetry Club
• Public Policy Club
• Radioaktiv
• Ragamalika
• TEDxBITSPilani
• The Culinary Club
• The Eastern Outlook (TEO)
• The Nuclear Society BITS Pilani
• Mime Club
• SMAC

VI. Department Associations

• Students Academic Cell
• Biological Association (B1)
• BITS Pharmaceutical Society (A5)
• Chemical Engineering Association (CheA)
• Chemistry Association (B2)
• Civil Engineering Association (A2)
• Computer Science Association (A7)
• Economics and Finance Association (B3)
• EEE Association (A3)
• Mechanical Engineering Assoc (A4)
• Instrumentation Forum (A8)
• Manufacturing Engineering Assoc (AB)
• Mathematics Association (B4)
• Physics Association (B5)
• Department of Management

BITS boasts significant social and cultural diversity in the form of its students from across the country. Cultural associations exist to provide familiarity and a sense of belonging in a destination that is foreign to many. It leverages the natural propensity of some individuals to fall back in times of change onto what they have known longest. Furthermore, they have the important duty of spotlighting each culture’s presence in the institute. These associations host grubs, where chefs from nearby cities are invited to prepare dishes from their cuisines. Furthermore, the associations exhibit their heritage through performances and other displays on Founder’s Day and cultural nights.

The cultural associations on the Pilani campus are as follows:

• Andhra Samithi (Telangana and Andhra Pradesh)
• Arunodoi (North-East India)
• Delhi Capitol (Delhi and Delhi NCR)
• Gurjari (Gujarat)
• Haryana Cultural Association (Haryana)
• Kairali (Kerala)
• Kannada Vedike (Karnataka)
• Madhyansh (Madhya Pradesh)
• Maharashtra Mandal (Maharashtra)
• Marudhara (Rajasthan)
• Maurya Vihar (Bihar, Jharkhand)
• Moruchhaya (West Bengal)
• Pilani Tamizh Mandalam (Tamil Nadu)
• Punjab Cultural Association (Punjab)
• Sangam (Uttar Pradesh)
• Udgam (J&K, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Ladakh)
• Utkal Samaj (Odisha)

Attentive readers will notice the omission of departments—distinct from department associations—that play a crucial role in providing a medium for networking and facilitating connections between freshmen and seniors, a feature unique to BITS. The omission in question is made in order to persist with the secretive traditions that the departments in question employ during their recruitment and functioning. 

As the dust settles from the arrival of freshmen on campus, students will become increasingly aware of the electioneering in their environment, as aspiring student politicians run for the positions of President, General Secretary of the Students’ Union, as well as the positions of hostel representative (HRep), hostel sports representative (HSR), and mess representative (MRep) of their bhawans. Of these elected officials, the President, the General Secretary, the HReps of each bhawan, and the Day Scholar Representative form the Union Council (UC), the representative body of the Students’ Union (SU).

As the monsoon creeps up on Pilani, students will find that the only thing keeping pace with their increasing ice-cream consumption are the e-mails from the Election Commission(EC), keeping them informed of the ongoing elections. The SU elections are supervised by the EC.. They are responsible for adjusting the charters for APOGEE, Oasis, and the SU Constitution.

Much like the EC reserves the sole right to interpret the constitution, it is the responsibility of the Society of Students Mess Services (SSMS) to manage the delicate balance between paneer and dal on the menu. The Quality, Health, Safety, and Environment (QHSE), Grub, Menu, Human Resources (HR), and Finance committees are the five committees that make up the SSMS. The SSMS Governing Council includes the SSMS President, Secretary, and Treasurer—who are elected via an internal election—in addition to the previously mentioned Hostel Mess Representatives, as well as members of the Advisory and Monitoring Committee (AMC). The governing council’s primary responsibilities are upholding and maintaining mess timings, hygiene requirements, and the menu. The elections for the MReps of the eight messes on campus are overseen by the SSMS EC, the EC’s counterpart in the SSMS environment.

The SU exists to protect the interests of students on campus; its role is ever more important, especially for freshmen. The SU’s core committee is made up entirely of freshmen, and the executive committee is composed of sophomores. The two committees are appointed by the UC and oversee the everyday functioning of services on campus.

All first-degree students are charged a membership fee to the SU of ₹450 (roughly 22 samosas from Gandhi Redi) at the start of the academic year and are automatically considered members of said union. Ensuring fiscal transparency and tracking cash flows during fests and otherwise is the responsibility of the Corroboration and Review Committee(CRC). Their primary responsibilities for the fests include advance reconciliation, reimbursements, tendering, budgeting, and planning expenditures for different clubs. Moreover, the committee also works year-round on the finances associated with the SU’s endeavours. 

Similar to the CRC, the Sports Financial Committee(SFC) oversees the financial and constitutional matters of the Sports Union and is also responsible for budgeting during BOSM and InterBITS. Post the fest, the committee’s duties include upholding constitutional rights and managing electoral matters for the appointments of the Sports Secretary, Joint Sports Secretaries, and the HSReps. 

The Sports Council consists of the Sports Secretary alongside three Joint Sports Secretaries, who, during BOSM, are all members of CoSSAc. The council is responsible for nurturing the overall sports culture on campus. As a part of their year-round efforts, they conduct BOSM, send teams for outstation tournaments, and organise various athletic events on campus.

In most cases, the only thing BITSians appreciate more than a gulab jamun with ice cream is the placement that they spent four (or five) years working towards. The Placement Unit (PU) and the Joint Placement Committee (JPC) are responsible for training and raising awareness among students, in addition to their existing work in placements and internships. The Awareness Committee, Consulting Committee, and Finance Committee are the three components that make up the PU. 

The underlying beauty of life in Pilani becomes apparent when one realises that it is not so much about what it has to offer, but more so what it withholds. The self-organising instinct we have grown accustomed to when we design and build our fests and student culture is one that was built on the backs of decades of students, and every individual who joins or creates something bigger than themselves becomes part of this cycle of forward movement forever.