One of the main tenets and attractions of a cultural festival is the freedom and joy of expression. The Hindi Activities Society, commonly known as HAS, is one of the clubs that fulfils this requirement. We, at the Oasis English Press, had a small chat with Gargi Gupta, coordinator of HAS, before the workload of Oasis (and midsems) kicked in.

HAS is organising events under the music and quizzing section, and is playing a major role in the oratory section. Being the tightly scheduled fest that Oasis is, HAS’s activities will start on the night of the Inauguration Ceremony itself, with ‘Antakshari’. On the first day, they shall host the film quiz. However, the real excitement only begins Day 2 onwards.

‘Bol Baby Bol’ and ‘Bluffmaster’ are their most awaited events which test a participant’s creativity, spontaneity and quick response. In ‘Bol Baby Bol’, participants are put into an unusual situation to which they have to come up with an imaginative response. Other contestants are allowed to interrupt the speech and this brings in the dynamics of the event. “We got a participation of 200 last year for ‘Bol Baby Bol’”, said Gargi.

‘Bluffmaster’, the game of deception, involves concocting persuasive answers to various questions followed by rounds of voting among players. It was also the coordinator’s favourite event and received a participation of around 250 last year.

Gargi believes in the equality of every member of the club and even allows the first years to have a direct impact on the proceedings of each event. “Being the coordinator gives me the power to change” – Gargi plans on introducing major changes in ‘Mock Parliament’ this year with rounds of group discussion followed by regular debate. “The major problem is that BITSians generally do not take part in our events. We’re organising a session of ‘Antakshari’ and ‘Mock Parliament’ before Oasis for the BITSian crowd. The winner of Antakshari gets a direct entry into Oasis”, said Gargi.

However, the pinnacle of HAS’s work is N2O – the professional standup comedy show. Only two names need to be mentioned here – Kenny Sebastian and Neville Shah. This is an event nobody would want to miss.

We wish them the best of luck in making Oasis 2016 a memorable fest for every participant.