It was in T-lawns, amidst midsem-motivated pious visitors, that Manas Luthra decided to give his interview to the English Press Club. Accompanied by his famous diary, which is rumoured to contain thought-provoking confidential information, he sat down to explain how this Oasis is different from any other edition in the recent past.

Earlier this year, a lot of deliberation had thrown up 19th to 23rd October as the dates most suitable for Oasis, falling a week after Dussehra and a week before Diwali, or at least, until the good folks at IIT Kanpur and IIT Delhi deliberated and placed Rendezvous and Antaragni at around the same time.

However, the new General Secretary seemed to firmly believe that participation in the fest is not going to be affected in any way. He quoted a number of reasons, apart from the time-tested ones, like ‘this Oasis is going to be bigger and better.’ Reportedly, more importance is being given to colleges which have not participated in Oasis hitherto. While a certain share of DU colleges might decide to not come to Pilani, this loss is going to be adequately compensated, according to Manas. He went on to explain how the professional shows, with better quality and a significantly hefty budget, are going to attract a lot of crowd, with not one, but two bands – The Lightyears Explodeand When Chai Met Toast – performing for the English professional show. It remains to be seen if the monumental holes in Oasis’s wallet are going to be worth it. 

The General Secretary of the SU is responsible for inventory, as opposed to the President who is the StUCCAn for finance. When asked what he would do differently as a member of StUCCA, he replied he could think about it if only he knew what the earlier General Secretaries did. Nonetheless, he assured the concerned BITSian that he would do everything within his power to ensure that nothing would come in the way of pushing up the quality of the fest.

Luthra appealed to all the BITSians to stay on campus during the fest, to make it more colourful, and said, ‘The first years, in particular, should stay because these will be the best four days of their first-year life on campus.’