With APOGEE ‘25 just around the corner, the APOGEE English Press sat down with Shrey Saxena, the coordinator of Nirmaan, to gain insight into their work for the upcoming fest. 

Shrey began by stating that Nirmaan is an NGO working on the campus of BITS Pilani since 2008. It works in different domains for social welfare—women empowerment, education, and fund raising to name a few. Funds raised by the club would be distributed to these domains according to their requirements, such as, investing in clothes and fabric for the women empowerment domain, and books for the education domain. 

When it comes to APOGEE, Shrey mentioned that Nirmaan organises similar kinds of events every year, saidevents being two stalls set up next to each other—a food stall and a handmade crafts stall. The latter is a showcase of various crafts made by the women beneficiaries of Nirmaan. Shrey added that the stalls set up by Nirmaan would stand out not only because they are interactive and the winner would receive a prize, as opposed to just a refund, but also because people know that the work of an NGO is important. Furthermore, there would also be some games accompanying the stalls. 

Discussing the preparatory work for the fest, Shrey stated that the work involves ideating products, creating a timeline, and finalizing the vendors for the food stall. Due to the sheer amount of workforce in Nirmaan, Shrey said that coordination amongst the team could be tricky. To address this, a core team of twelve to fifteen members, who can regularly work and be present at the stalls would be created, and the work would be divided amongst them. 

When asked about the challenges faced so far, Shrey noted that everything has been going smoothly, owing to Nirmaan’s decades of experience. Shrey added that the vendors have been finalized and ‘everything is quite chill’. Additionally, he highlighted the benefits of maintaining good relations with vendors, as it has helped them avoid uncertainties regarding prices, especially because APOGEE coincides with the wedding season in Pilani. 

Talking about his experience as coordinator, Shrey stated that it has been ‘quite chill and interactive’. He also expressed gratitude for all the people he had the opportunity of meeting during his time as coordinator. He added that the good thing about being a coordinator is getting to meet people of all batches. On a parting note, Shrey urged everyone to show up to the Nirmaan stalls during APOGEE.