With the fest right around the corner, the Oasis English Press sat down with Hrishikesh Sriram and Mahika Gupta, the Joint Oasis Coordinators of Ragamalika, to understand the club’s inner workings and its events.
Being the Indian classical arts club on campus, their primary objectives included showcasing a major production each semester, while also regularly holding Rangapravesha Chamber Concerts, performing at departmental and international conferences, as well as marking Vasant Panchami every year with the Tyagaraja Aradhana.
They started off by stating that during Oasis ‘26, the club would be organising the same three events as in previous years: ‘Swaranjali’, an Indian classical music competition; ‘Tandav’, a classical dance competition; and the Classical Prof Show, which brought internationally acclaimed artists to campus. The club was also preparing to put forward a beautiful performance during the inauguration ceremony.
Mahika explained that the judges for these events were also well-versed in their specific artforms. For ‘Tandav’ they were inviting the dance teacher from BBVP and as for Swaranjali, it would be judged by Prof. Hricha Rashmi, the music professor at BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus. She further added that the judges looked for creativity, synchronisation, and command over the respective art forms — raag in ‘Swaranjali’ and taal in ‘Tandav’.
Hrishikesh reported that this year’s Classical Prof Show was a Carnatic vocal concert led by Srimati Kriti Bhatt, accompanied by Sri Vittal Rangal on the violin and Sri Arjun Mahesh on the mridangam. The lead artist had also planned to hold an interactive session at the end of the program to spark interest among people who were novice to classical music.
The coordinators mentioned that the preparations for the Classical Prof Show had begun during the summer break, with club members suggesting names and contacts of potential performers and discussing their feasibility. The list was then filtered down, budgets were discussed, and the final choice was made after consultation with the StuCCA. They further recalled that for ‘Swaranjali’, the work mostly involved arranging the judges and their fees, while for ‘Tandav’, it involved preparing pre-recorded pieces for the rounds.
When asked about their experience as coordinators, they described the role as ‘stressful’ but were welcome to change of pace. They reiterated that the toughest part of the job was to find the perfect artist for the Classical Prof Show, as the funding, venues, scheduling, and travel had to line up around the artists’ tight schedules. They added that preparations for ‘Tandav’ were of similar difficulty and length. However, they were grateful for getting to meet internationally acclaimed artists and bond with their fellow members. They also reported no major setbacks, thanking the StuCCA for their assistance and cooperation.
On a closing note, the coordinators addressed the common perception of the classical arts as being ‘boring’, and revealed that they loved to surprise their audience through performances such as ‘Sangamam’ — where thematic dance dramas ,entirely classical in form, travelled across Western and Indian stories alike. They urged the GBM to look beyond these pre-conceived notions and ‘just give the classical arts a chance’.