With Oasis ‘26 just around the corner, the Oasis English Press sat down with Hemavardhan Juvvi, Coordinator of the Department of Firewallz, to understand their workings and preparations for the upcoming fest.
Hemavardhan said the department’s main duty is to manage the Outer Booth (at the BEED gate) and the Inner Booth (near FD-I). They would receive participants and guests at the Outer Booth, where they would complete initial formalities, including preliminary registration and frisking. Volunteers would accompany participants to Controls and RecNAcc booths for fee verification and allotment of accommodation, respectively. After completing the registration process at the Inner Booth, the participants would be issued their Firewallz ID cards.
In addition to this, Hemavardhan explained, they conducted inventory acquisition from RecNAcc and met regularly with the Chief Security Officer for ‘guard estimation’ and other security concerns. Their work began one day before Oasis, when participants, vehicle vendors, and stall staff started to arrive. They provided IDs to stall staff and performed registration for the participants.
A major hurdle that Firewallz had faced before was the long walk between booths, which the volunteers had to navigate several times a day, causing unnecessary delays and exhaustion. An alternative they had suggested was to move Controls and RecNAcc booths to the Outer Booth to streamline the process. Hemavardhan added that this would not only give volunteers more time to enjoy the fest but would also reduce the registration time by at least two hours. However, they had not yet received any reply from StuCCA regarding the proposal.
StuCCA played an important role in deciding the specifics of the workings of the department; thus, constant communication was required through meetings, which Hemavardhan said had been going smoothly.
He mentioned that his work as Coordinator only grew more hectic as the fest drew close. However, due to his prior experience, he could manage it just fine.
On a parting note, Hemavardhan asked the students to enjoy the fest without breaking the rules to help make it a fun experience for all attendees.