With Oasis barely a day away, the members of the Students’ Council for Cultural Activities, or the StuCCA, were busier than ever. The core committee, consisting of the President, the General Secretary, and student representatives from all major departments, is responsible for organizing and managing the entire fest. This is no small feat, given the limited preparation time and the large amount of background operational work involved. The StuCCA members sat down with the Oasis English Press to talk about their collective plan for Oasis and their vision for the fest, among other things.

‘Our main focus this time was to increase the quality of the prof shows and events, as they haven’t been up to the mark for the past few years,’ said Chirag Parikh, StuCCAn of the Department of Art, Design and Publicity. His counterparts from other departments echoed his views. ‘With many other cultural fests being conducted at around the same time as ours, this was a crucial investment. I’m very proud of our lineup this time,’ said Amritanshu Jain from the Department of Visual Media.  The StuCCA was delighted with the BITSian crowd’s favorable reaction to the artists listed to perform this year.

Another issue that the StuCCA wished to tackle this year was the under-representation of art forms other than music and dance in Oasis. ‘We wanted to bring film-making, food, photography, and poetry into the foreground,’ said Punit Batra, the StuCCAn of the Department of Sponsorship and Marketing. In an attempt to do so, they’ve introduced events like “Purple Prose” (a slam poetry competition). Moreover, the Food Festival and the Film Festival are to be conducted for the first time ever, during this Oasis.

In an effort to expand the outreach of the fest, the StuCCA decided to conduct elimination rounds for various events in cities like Lucknow and Jaipur, which weren’t under the banner of Oasis earlier. ‘We’ve tried to accommodate the tastes of the Hindi-speaking audiences through events like Purple Prose and Stand-Up Soapbox. Winners of photography competitions will get an opportunity to learn from professionals at the Indian Institute of Photography. The basic idea is to generate incentives for better participation,’ said Batra.

The StuCCA is planning to scrap the use of ticket stubs for prof shows and introduce a QR code scanning system this year. ‘This digital wallet would eliminate the need for paperwork, thereby making every transaction more convenient and transparent. I think we at DVM are equipped with sufficient technical knowledge to accomplish this,’ said Amritanshu. The Controls StuCCAn, Yash Devnani, said that the idea was still in the testing phase, and that they hoped to perfect it before the fest started.

When asked about their vision for Oasis, every StuCCA member focused on a different aspect of the fest. Yash said that he wished to use the fest as a platform to propagate art and throw light on talented budding artists. Amritanshu wanted to ensure it was hassle-free. Batra stressed on making the fest more inclusive by including innovative new events. Chirag stressed on the importance of punctuality during the fest. ‘We hope we don’t end up following the BITSian Standard Time this year too.’

The RecNAcc StuCCAn, Rahul Unnithan, said that their team is highly prepared to tackle Oasis. ‘Last time, there were some problems regarding accommodation of female participants. So, this year, we have taken measures to ensure their safety and comfort.’ Aditi Pandey, the StuCCA representative from the Department of Publications and Correspondence (PCr), hoped to implement all the plans that the Council has fixed upon, with regard to handling prize money, campus registration, accommodation, and entries to prof shows.

The proactive members of the StuCCA are determined to execute the fest smoothly and make it unforgettable for both BITSians as well as participants from visiting colleges. ‘I think we as a StuCCA are a great team. We have no internal conflicts and we work very efficiently,’ said Yash. The General Secretary, Akash Singh, said that the StuCCA is trying its best to help other clubs and departments with their work. He also mentioned that the coordinators’ timely efforts helped make the StuCCA’s work infinitely easier.