With Oasis just around the corner, Pranav Dangi, the StuCCAn of the Department of Controls, seemed unperturbed despite the immense workload on his shoulders. As he is integral to the department’s operations, it was not surprising to see him finalising minor details and relaying ideas to another member even when the Oasis English Press sat down with him to learn more about his department’s work for the fest.
The department serves as the interface between the Institute and all the clubs and is central to the fest; anything a club requires goes through Controls. Expanding upon the delegation of tasks within Controls, Pranav mentioned “job streams”—various divisions within the department, each with members responsible for ensuring the smooth operation of the fest. Citing an example, he said that members of the “judge-sheets” job stream ensure proper integrity in adjudicating every event. He added that as Pilani is a remote area and there is an influx of numerous artists, judges, and eminent people on campus, handling the “travels” job stream is critical to the fest’s success.
Pre-Oasis preparation work, Pranav said, includes “requisitions” and goes on to explain its working. ‘For example, say if 30 clubs contact the Institute at once, it will create a lot of chaos. Something might get misplaced, and the Institute doesn’t have infinite resources, so we have to optimise every bit of resource that we have, monetary as well as quantitatively.’ Besides that, Controls also goes through the rulebooks to ensure that there is no ambiguity in the rules. The department is also responsible for handing out prize money and certificates to the winners.
The conversation moved to the “Audi” job stream, which includes handling all the events at the Main Auditorium, NAB Auditorium, Rotunda, and South Park. Since multiple departments are working at all these venues to conduct each event, Controls acts as the essential interface between them.
Ensuring that the events happen on time is another significant portion of the pre-fest preparations that Controls undertakes. Pranav said scheduling could be considered the most daunting task that Controls faces. Like every other year, they must prepare the schedule with the utmost care to avoid conflicts and make contingency plans in the unfortunate event of a delay. Confident in the members of his department, he remarked that ‘all of them are competent and working on all of this, so it’s not a big headache for me. All of them know their duties and are working on them efficiently.’
When asked about the challenges this particular Oasis entails, Pranav spoke enthusiastically about his hopes to get the fest back on its feet. He added that as this is the first Oasis after three years, excitement and tensions run high, with the former being more prominent than the latter. Commenting upon it being the 50th Oasis, Pranav remarked that there might be other reasons for the fest being considerably different from the previous editions. ‘It’s only my batch that’s seen Oasis, so for now, it’s important to show everyone what the fest looks like.’ Furthermore, Pranav added that planning for the fest has not proved to be a major hassle as Controls is building up on work done by their seniors. ‘They have archives which they pass down to us, and we build on that and try to solve issues that were there in the previous fest, and that’s one of the most important things we have to do.’
When asked about his experience as a StuCCAn, Pranav had nothing but good things to say. He said it had been a long time since the StuCCA had been together, and he has made some good friends within StuCCA. He emphasised that though stressful and exhausting, his experience coordinating with other departments and the StuCCA is more exciting than not.
Pranav mentioned there is more to the fest than the prof shows. ‘Every event is one of a kind. The quizzes are great; you can see the best bands performing and people from DU singing. He encouraged BITSians to get out of their rooms and try to attend events.