A lot has been said in the past few weeks about how Oasis, my college cultural fest should function and how it isn't living up to all it can be. Here's me two penny worth. Writing about what could be my last Oasis, i see students putting in the usual "enthu" for their clubs and departments. These people, especially the juniors, have a right to know about how the fest that they work for functions and is run.
As someone who's been and still is involved in the fest , i feel that the main problem is in how the "Stuccans" run the it. Instead of working for the students of the college, they stab them in the back with sub-standard planning and ham handed decisions. They act like nothing better than inflated air bags. As if being a "Stuccan" is a rare honour.
My personal grudge is in how my club, ARBITS is treated every year. Our work, as defined in the Oasis charter, is to "do what the Stuccans ask us to do". Without knowing the amount of effort and enthusiasm involved, we are written off and given a bad deal. From calling and conforming the professional rock acts (or being asked to cancel our band a week before the fest to save up money for the "bigger" pop acts) to allotting the prize money for our event Rocktaves we are, in lay terms, royally screwed over. In the second aspect we are not alone, and every club that organises events has valid complaints about the prize money. Even approaching and talking to sponsors for our event is frowned upon, like it is against the fest itself. It isn't seen as something the overall fest could benefit from. Like all clubs, we dont have a say in what sponsors are approached for our own events. EVen after our event is sold to a sponsor, a small fraction of the deal sum trickles in for the event itself. We are simply losing out to other colleges who can better motivate participants for their events with bigger prizes. The IIT-K rock show, which almost coincides with ours promises 4 lacs in prizes. Instead of countering them and going all out to attract better bands, we are content with insignificant improvements in our own prizes. And "professionalism" is a word freely thrown around these days by the stuccans. As someone who also travels around a bit participating in quizzes, i know how much of an incentive attractive prizes are. Its so easy now for a college to buy its fest a reputation. No one goes to fests for the "prestige" anymore. But our Stuccans dont realise that. Our fest made its name when all college fests across the country were broke, and ours stood out because of its high quality student run events .
Its not that we dont get enough money from the sponsors. Its just badly used. The professional pop artistes who are called are the biggest drain on the cash pool. We simply cannot compete with the IITs in calling bigger bands. Performers like KK and Lucky Ali play to arena crowds and hence charge a lot. Even smaller colleges in cities get good, mid-priced artictes who deliver good shows but are minus the glam and the fame. We can learn from them. The money that goes into these channels can be used to increase the prizes for the events, and also bring down the prof. ticket prices. Its the events that lend character to a fest, not the professional performers. Now, most of the events have our own students winning them, only because of a lack of competition. As usual, the isolation of Pilani is blamed for the lack of a suitable turnout. The prof. shows should expose the public to new artistes and areas in music. The assumption that the stuccans make is that since the tickets get sold anyway (the people that stay back for the fest don't have much of a choice), its ok to charge them exorbitant prices for artistes that they listen to everyday. Its all about generating revenue, not the music. The biggest losers are the English rock artistes. A common complaint against is that we get heavy metal artistes who only we listen to. What utter nonsense. The last time a proper metal act came here was three years back. Since the english bands cost a fraction what the mainstream popo acts do, its is assumed that they wont attract an audience or that their standard is lower. Catering to the lowest common level dosent always work. There is absolutely no sophistication in the way the fest functions now, right from the bands to the events, and Oasis is in real danger of losing its character. Again, seeing the tickets sell is the only thing that matters, and its easy for the organizers to pat themselves on the back each year after the fest is over.
Its time to stop the rot from spreading. From demanding greater accountability from the stuccans to turning out and discussing issues of real importance (not petty squabbles) at the review meetings, its time the average BITSian stands up for what is his as much as anyone elses's - his own college fest.
