The Oasis English Press met up with the Coordinator of the English Language Activities Society (ELAS), Aakarsh Mishra, to gain insight into the club’s activities for the upcoming edition of Oasis.

Aakarsh explained that ELAS, as a club, was mainly involved in organising quizzes. He stated that in the previous edition of Oasis, the club had organised three quizzes, namely, The India Quiz, The Travel and Living Quiz, and The Oasis Quiz, all of which were very well-received.

He revealed that the club would organise two additional quizzes: Kaun Banega Cinephile (KBC) and The Cinema and Literature Quiz, in collaboration with the Film Making Club (FMaC) and Matrix, respectively.

He mentioned that while both quizzes might sound very similar on the surface, KBC would be a more trivia-based quiz, whereas the Cinema and Literature Quiz would be more difficult and more ‘ELAS-esque’.

Regarding ELAS’s work in the days leading up to the fest, Aakarsh remarked that most of their time would go into making the questions and that it was a challenging task to strike the right balance between the questions’ difficulty and accessibility.

Besides that, their other work mainly involved reaching out to quizmasters, scheduling the quizzes with them, and arranging for their travel and accommodation.

Aakarsh stated that his experience as a coordinator had been quite different from any notions he previously had in mind, and that it was not all ‘sunshine and rainbows’. He added that it came with its own set of merits and responsibilities, but he was content with it and considered it his little contribution to preserving the art of quizzing.

In a message to everyone attending their first Oasis, Aakarsh suggested that they should try and enjoy the 96 hours as best as possible, as their first Oasis would be their most memorable one.