Oasis, as a fest, is marked by various events and the ones that draw large crowds are the performing events. Taking control of them, therefore, is no mean feat. The Department of Theatre, fondly called DoT, manages seven such events during Oasis. The diversity of events handled by them is impressive, and if you’re a member of the department, maybe even tiring at times. Street Dance includes street-style dance-offs, Choreo has beautifully choreographed performances with a contemporary style base, while Street and Stage Play include drama performances. FashP has belles and beaus walking down the ramp, strutting and swaying to the beat. Tarang and Pitch Perfect are DoT’s recently acquired musical events, where Tarang showcases vocalists and instrumentalists and Pitch Perfect is Oasis’ salute to art of A capella..

DoT’s work is multifaceted and intensive, involving correspondence with judges as well as participants. They also revise the rules of each event prior to the fest. Apart from that, they screen and filter the participating teams for events like Choreo, Street Play, Stage Play etc. They take charge of the above events and do their best to execute them in a well-planned and appropriate fashion.

Siddharth Pandey, the DoT Coordinator, believes that one of the best things about being the coordinator is that you get to see a social structure in place. Pandey, in his signature nonchalant tone, says, ‘We’re creating work out of a group of people that are not exactly earning here but are still coming together to do something productive.’ For that to happen, he believes that a little sternness and a lot of motivation go a long way, and this is precisely where the role of the co-ordinator comes in. He says that from what he has observed, if the people get along, the work gets done much faster because the department functions as a unit. So, he also tries to encourage bonding among the members of the department. Of course, there are times when the department has to work round the clock but Pandey asserts that such situations are easy to handle if everyone pitches in. On a lighter note, he mentions that fests are a lot of fun and says that he is definitely looking forward to the experience that this year’s Oasis has to offer.