The Oasis English Press sat down with Aryan Hans, the StuCCAn of the Department of Publication and Correspondence (PCr), to get some insights into their work for Oasis ‘24. 

Aryan explained that most of the department’s work — primarily correspondence — was done before Oasis. He added that this work began about three months before Oasis when they started reaching out to different colleges from a large database. He explained that colleges submit preliminary video entries for the events they want to participate in, which are then judged by the Department of Theater (DoT). Following this, PCr reaches out to the shortlisted colleges. 

Aryan explains that PCr was also responsible for reprography, wherein they printed posters and Snaps souvenirs. He said that PCr also worked on designing brochures that go to participants and the different fest passes. PCr also organised Snaps at Sky Lawns for various departments and clubs.

Elaborating on the challenges they encountered this year, Aryan revealed a decrease in participation from colleges. Around 70–80% of enlisted colleges could not attend this year due to the fest timings being too close to Diwali. He mentioned that there were some restrictions on the fest dates, since the dates of IIT Kanpur’s cultural fest were clashing with Oasis. He elaborated that if the two fests were to clash, there would be some participation issues as the prize pool offered by BITS events was around INR 50,000 compared to INR 4,00,000 given away at IIT Kanpur.   

On a parting note, he mentioned that his work as a StuCCAn had been hectic and extremely time consuming, but said that he thought it would be worth it in the end.