The BOSM English Press approached Manas Gupta, the coordinator of the Department of Photography (DoPy), while he was working with his juniors and jamming to music. The discussion revolved around DoPy’s work during BOSM

He said that the primary objective of the department is to generate revenue for the fest. Traditionally, they have done that by clicking photographs—costing 10 rupees per snap per person—of participants and observers.

This year, they have ventured into merchandising as well. Manas mentioned that though they had started off by selling apparel during Oasis last year, they would instead design and manage the BOSM diary, cap and calendar. This merchandise would be available for sale at the merchandise stall, in GymG.

When asked about potential difficulties, he said that weather could potentially play spoilsport. Rain would make it especially tough for them to cover the fest, because of the difficulty it poses for cameras and other equipment. In addition, designing merchandise that appeals to both BITSians and visiting participants would be a challenge.

Manas then went on the describe the distribution of tasks across the batches. First yearites are required to do most of the grunt work during the fest. They are gradually handed duties of increasing importance—responsible for photography in their second year, and the overall management of work in their third year.

Speaking from his experience of handling a large department of around 50 members like DoPy, he said, “It is a task, but it is fun.”