APOGEE 2019 was, in many respects, a huge success. It was the first time in many years that the fest made a profit. It had an attendee population higher than usual, and the quality of events, competitions, demonstrations, and speakers had been praised by many as exceptional. However, the fest was very nearly marred in its infancy, as a drama played out at the Inauguration Ceremony (Inaug). The tension was palpable as the Vice Chancellor had to intervene to stop the write-ups. A delayed start to the ceremony and a scuffle between the CoStAA and the Music Club were discussed at length both right after the Inaug and at the APOGEE Review Meet. The EPC got in touch with both parties, and each presented their take on the matter.

A Summary of Events

Day Zero kicked off with the Inaug scheduled to begin at 19:00. The Music Club was slated to open with a 50-minute performance, with six songs in their setlist. The Vice-Chancellor and the Chief Guest were to be attending the programme with strict instructions to the CoStAA to conclude no later than 21:15.

Due to low attendance, however, the Audi Controls and the Stage Controls decided to delay the start by 45 minutes, after which the Music Club began to perform. The VC and the Chief Guest were escorted by the President, the General Secretary, and other CoStAAns to the Main Auditorium during the third song. Halfway through the fourth song, the CoStAA conveyed the VC’s directive to cut short the Music Club’s performance immediately. However, the Music Club was allowed to play one more song. In the meanwhile, a senior member of the club approached the VC to request his permission to complete their setlist – despite being explicitly denied by the CoStAA to do so. The VC granted this request and also suggested that the throne ceremony be cut short accordingly to accommodate the Music Club’s performance.

The CoStAA, however, continued to have the throne ceremony and its significant part—the write-ups—in their entirety. The language and content of the write-ups infuriated the VC who lashed out at the CoStAA. This resulted in a couple of write-ups being scrapped completely.

The issue was immediately taken up for discussion in the SU Room where the Music Club was vilified for their actions. The Music Club went on to bring up the matter in the APOGEE Review Meet as well, leading to the CoStAA directing Gurukul to open Inaug in the following APOGEE. In protest of this decision, Department of Sounds withdrew from APOGEE 2020.

The CoStAA’s Take

The EPC got in touch with a CoStAAn to understand their stance in the matter. The CoStAAn admitted that the delayed start was a mistake on part of the Audi Controls and not the Music Club. However, sensing the VC’s discomfort during the fourth song, the CoStAA requested the Music Club to end their set so that the ceremony could conclude by the scheduled time of 21:15.

After repeated requests from the Music Club, they were allowed to perform one additional song. The Music Club further requested multiple times to speak to the VC directly, only to be denied on the grounds that it would not be appropriate and that the SU is the body through which students put forth their requests to the VC.  However, despite being denied permission, a senior member of the club proceeded to contact the VC directly for his permission to complete their setlist. The CoStAAn condemned this action and remarked that the said senior member had earlier mentioned that he was not the representative of the club when the CoStAA asked him to cut short his performance.

Despite the write-ups being sent in just moments before the Inaug, the CoStAAn claimed that they were vetted and edited behind the stage. However, one write-up ended up having explicit content, which infuriated the VC. The VC lashed out at the Students’ Union representatives and questioned their competence and professionalism publicly. This led to the write-ups of the President and two CoStAAns not being read out.

On being asked about the CoStAA’s direct disobedience of the VC’s directive to cut short the throne ceremony, the CoStAAn suggested that they do stand by their decision and had already explained the reasons for doing so in ARC.

The meet in the SU Room that followed the Inauguration saw the President and the General Secretary communicating their displeasure to the Music Club. The club condemned the language and the behaviour of the representatives, claiming that they were extremely crass and rude in their conversation. The CoStAAn did admit that the language was unwarranted to some extent, but he largely stood by the actions of the President and General Secretary. ‘I will say that we, as CoStAAns, believe that what went down there was justified’. He also attempted to justify their rude actions by claiming that they were emotional after having been publicly humiliated by the VC. ‘I know the VC shouted at them in public, and that is reason enough for anyone to get angry… When you’ve been humiliated in public and when emotions come into the picture, I’m not sure if someone gives a lot of thought to the language.’

The Music Club’s Take

The EPC interviewed the senior member of the club who handled the issue per procurationem the coordinator of the Music Club. The member refuted the accusation that he was a hypocrite to have not represented the club in the dialogue with the CoStAA but he volunteered to speak to the Vice Chancellor. ‘When the CoStAA approached me, the coordinator had not asked me to represent the club yet. However, he entrusted me with this responsibility before I went to the VC. Also, I think this is a non-issue. I see no reason for the CoStAA to be any happier if the coordinator himself spoke.’

The representative felt that the delayed start was no reason to cut short the club’s performance, as it was not their fault. Also, he added that he had received communication from a member of a CoStAA department that the VC was displeased with the club, which prompted him to approach the VC directly.

He further went on to claim that during the meet in the SU room after Inaug, the CoStAA used crass and unwarranted language against the club and tried to ‘pin the blame on us’. He reasoned that the delay was the fault of the CoStAA, but was willing to accept responsibility for going to the VC. He said that barring Music Club from playing next year would not solve the problem, which was the mismanagement of the inauguration by the CoStAA. He also took issue with the fact that the CoStAA failed to publicly address their own mistakes, and instead blamed Music Club for a violation that had a significantly lesser impact on the ceremony.

The member said, ‘The measures taken by the CoStAA are only reactionary and do not help in addressing the actual problem. While the CoStAA has made it amply clear that write-ups are very important to them, one would expect that, if nothing else, the CoStAA ensure that the write-ups did not contain content that would embarrass our college in front of esteemed dignitaries. Clearly, that was not the case.’

The club claimed that they were not fully aware of the circumstances surrounding the directive when asked to cut down on their performance. The CoStAA, despite being fully aware of the dignitaries’ schedules and deadlines, failed to start the ceremony on time. ‘Despite mistakes on the CoStAA’s part, they did not voluntarily make any compromises. While the VC may have been annoyed at the delay of the Inaug, the foul language and obscene content of the write-ups surely played a big role in him reacting the way he did during the ceremony’, said the representative. He added that any performing club would have also stood their ground in a similar fashion, had they been put in the same position.

The CoStAA governs the functioning of the fest, and in that capacity had directed the Music Club to cut their performance short. However, the fact that they did not compromise on their own write-ups only begs the question of the extent to which they can use their power is the Club’s argument.  

The Outcome

The entire incident that took place in the Inaug, the interactions between the parties involved, and the decisions taken subsequently led to the directive from the current CoStAA to not let the Music Club perform at the inauguration of APOGEE 2020. This responsibility was instead passed to Gurukul, who accepted it and said they would try their best while ‘being transparent to the CoStAA.’ The Department of Sounds, who had been defending the Music Club’s actions in the ARC, claimed this to be a ‘tyranny’ and announced that they would not be working for the fest the following year. This incident also brings further scrutiny upon write-ups, which has been a point of contention between organisers and the Vice-Chancellor in the past. While it is hoped that an amicable agreement will be eventually reached, as of now, both sides are standing firm, an immediate resolution looks unlikely.