The Oasis English Press interviewed Kushal Poosala, General Secretary of the Students’ Union and StuCCAn of Inventory, to learn more about the preparations for Oasis ’26.
The story of organising this year’s Oasis mainly revolved around mandatory deductions, or the lack thereof. Unlike past years, mandatory deductions were not made. Kushal explained that the Election Commission had proposed that two-thirds of the GBM would need to vote in order to pass deductions. This, he believed, was an impossible feat, further adding that ‘two-thirds of the campus is not voting for anything’. He then recalled people going door-to-door last year to persuade others to vote in favour of mandatory deductions.
When asked about the financial success of Food Fest, which sought to replace deductions this year, Kushal said that it could not be quantified till the end of Oasis. He admitted that the shows held during Food Fest were ‘not a massive success’, and attributed this to many students being away from campus on that weekend. However, he added that the food stalls had been profitable due to the ‘great deals’ the StuCCA had gotten, eventually raising about 56 lakhs.
When asked about the major attractions of Oasis ’26, Kushal said that the fest had not been fully planned yet, as there was still a week left. He added that Mohit Chauhan and Raftaar were being pitched for Bolly Nite and Hip-Hop Nite, respectively, while Aashish Solanki and Chirag Panjwani were being pitched for N2O. He, however, expressed his concern that Indie Nite might become a casualty of the budget and would be held in the Main Auditorium instead of South Park, if it is held at all.
Kushal called his role as the StuCCAn of Inventory an ‘extra opportunity slash burden’. Though it had been fun for him to meet people and resolve their issues, he was also obliged to attend pitching meetings and the StuCCA meetings, where he often had to argue against fellow StuCCAns’ logic while keeping their seniority and experience as 4th yearites in mind. Kushal had previously been a member of the Students’ Union Executive Committee, and added that a major difference between his past and present roles was that the Administration ‘listened to him’ more often now. He further stated that the Administration respected ‘the position more than the person’. Despite this, he admitted that he had not gotten around to many of his manifesto points yet, as being the StuCCAn of Inventory had taken up most of his time.
The recurring theme during the interview was the tight budget of this year’s fest. Kushal appreciated the StuCCA and CRC for their strict budgeting and hoped that this year’s fest would set the standard for future fests to be organised without deductions. On a parting note, he encouraged active participation from the students in the fest to keep it ‘as alive as possible,’ promising that, despite the lack of deductions, it would be a ‘banger’.