The General Secretary of the Students’ Union, Abhishek Balaji, took some time off his tight schedule, for an interview with the Oasis English Press and provide some insight into his work for the fest. The General Secretary is the inventory StuCCAn of both the SU fests — looking after the inventory of all clubs and departments. He handles merchandising as well. It is also his responsibility to act as a channel for communication between the Institute and the various clubs and departments that work for the fest. 

Work for the fest

Speaking of how this year is different from the previous editions, Abhishek said there are several challenges that the StuCCA has faced this time around, due to Oasis being scheduled almost two weeks earlier than usual. Also, owing to Project Parivartan—which resulted in a significant portion of the staff quarters being put under renovation—they have had to deal with severe accommodation woes, and subsequently the overall capacity of participants has decreased this year. 

The earlier-than-usual scheduling of the fest also resulted in signings for the Rocktaves T-shirts occurring on the 5th of October, by when a lot of students had left for home. It also left little time to finalise an MoU with the merchandise provider. However, he praised his juniors in the SU Executive Committee and the Core Committee for their dedication in conducting the signings, proudly stating that the signings for the Oasis T-Shirts and Sweatshirt have surpassed last year’s numbers, with over 1700 and 1200 signings respectively. Abhishek stated that although they have been working as hard as they can to have the Oasis merchandise delivered before the fest is over—even considering going to the vendor’s warehouse and getting the apparel themselves—he could not make any promises with regards to delivery at the time of the interview.

Abhishek is also trying to set up an Oasis store, which will sell limited-edition apparel, coffee mugs, posters, and other merchandise. He is hopeful that they’ll be able to implement the concept in this edition of the fest.

The Lead-up To Oasis

The pre-Oasis preparations are going in full swing with the StuCCA putting in almost four to five hours every day to manage any last-minute issues cropping up. Initially, Abhishek had heard that because department coordinators in the StuCCA are his seniors, the structure and hierarchy in the committee would not be horizontal, but these claims have proved untrue as he mentioned that the functioning of the StuCCA is quite smooth, with everyone being treated as equal and respecting each other’s decision. In the last week, Abhishek will be focussing on food stalls, ensuring that they start operating on time and have adequate supply and manpower, as he had received complaints about the delayed start of the food stalls in BOSM.

He felt that the theme for this year’s Oasis – Neon-Noir – is quite unique, and the campus decoration will play around with neon lighting a lot, which will add to the overall ambience of the campus during the fest. In parting, he advised the first-year batch to have fun and attend as many events as they can.