With Oasis ‘25 only a few days away, the Oasis English Press caught up with Palash Kohli, Coordinator for the Department of Stage Controls, for a quick chat to get an idea of their preparations for the fest.

He began by explaining that the department’s main focus is to handle the logistics for any events that happen in the auditorium, and to help anybody that is conducting an event in the auditorium with whatever they need. Talking about his role, he said that he had been a part of the Department. of Stage Controls since his first year, and had been working on the same events for the last four years, something which he is quite content with. When asked about the events they handle, he explained that the Inauguration (Inaug) is an event which is handled almost entirely by them, wherein they work on scripting, scheduling, logistics and collaboration with others like Mime Club and Dance Club. In addition to this, he continued, they plan on organising Jeopardy, an event that is handled by the department’s junior workforce while another event, the BITS Language Aptitude Battle (BLAB) had to be discontinued as the payments to the judges couldn’t be cleared. With regards to what they had in store for Inaug, he said that he was thankful that this year’s Inaug had no special requirements and would be strictly “run-of-the-mill.” He continued that to honour the legacy of the department, this year too, like every other, they would be making a small functional statue. For this year, he said, it would be a Pikachu which would electrocute anyone who touched its cheek. When asked about challenges, he said that the biggest challenge was almost always scheduling, since the chief guests want to come and go as they please. Another issue, he added, was handling delays in events at the auditorium, citing the massive delays ‘Rocktaves’ historically faces as an example. Elaborating on the role of the new recruits from the 2025 batch, he said that they would be involved in doing the groundwork for this year, with more complicated tasks like scripting being reserved for their seniors. In his words, the first years ‘follow orders and have fun.’

Addressing everyone on campus, he concluded that audi is a fun place to be, and urged everyone to hang out there sometimes.

PS: The Backstage Coordinator later contacted the editor to convey his sincere wishes for everyone to ‘stay sober’ during the fest and enjoy themselves in their sobriety.