The BOSM Review Committee meeting held in late September, saw the Department of Visual Media exit the fest, alleging a misrepresentation of facts and unfair distribution of blame. In an interview with the English Press Club, the BOSM Controls CoSSAcn, Pavan Pillai, spoke about the CoSSAc’s side of the issue.

Last year, the BOSM app was delivered two days before the start of the fest, at which point no suggestions from the former CoSSAc could be implemented. The purpose of the app was to inform various team members about their scheduled matches. However, the app failed to deliver, and BOSM Controls was forced to call participants individually.

During CoSSAc meetings held in the previous semester, DVM was advised to start their preparations for the app well in advance. At this point, Coding Club entered the picture by proposing to deliver a prototype of their BOSM app to the CoSSAc. ‘One mistake that the CoSSAc made was not informing DVM that Coding Club would also be developing an app’, said Pavan. However, he contends that this piece of information should not have interfered with DVM’s work.

This semester, while DVM continued to delay their work on the app, Coding Club was able to produce a prototype.  Although there was scope of improvement, the CoSSAc was satisfied with its functionality as it successfully addressed the issues BOSM Controls had faced last year. However, the CoSSAc refrained from making a choice between Coding Club and DVM then, and called for a meeting to discuss the same.

In the meeting, the general consensus was that, while DVM’s app was better in terms of User Interface, Coding Club’s app was better suited to the needs of the fest and was thus chosen to be the official BOSM app. ‘It was a close call’, said Pavan.

This controversial decision did not go down well with members of DVM. They refused to reason with the CoSSAc and in an act of retaliation, shut down the official BOSM website during the crucial period of pre-registration. The rash decision led to total disarray; Pavan recollects receiving multiple calls from outstation participants who complained that they were not able to access the payment portal. “I was astonished when I found out that the website had indeed been taken down”, remarked Pavan.

In an intense shouting match held outside RP Bhawan, DVM blatantly refused to see through the rest of their responsibilities. With the fest approaching, they had essentially held BOSM hostage. Forced into a corner, CoSSAc was left with no choice but to concede to DVM. They did consider handing over Regsoft and DVM’s other responsibilities to Coding Club, but Pillai remarked that it wouldn’t have been the right choice this close to the fest.

This short-term solution allowed BOSM to proceed. Despite a slow and malfunctioning RegSoft that delayed the registration process by hours, DVM members did their share of work during the fest. However, certain irrevocable actions in the past would inevitably lead to long-term repercussions. Discussions on the matter were brought up in BRC a week after BOSM.

Presently, the CoSSAc is interested in Coding Club as a viable replacement for DVM. As for the Department’s video production, they are looking into other bodies on campus that have an expertise in such matters. When asked about outsourcing the entire project, Pavan replied that it would only be considered in an extreme situation and it was off the table for now.