BITS Pilani Successfully hosts its annual fest Oasis 17

BITS Oasis 17. The third best college fest in India they say. A huge team running it from behind the scenes in one of India’s premier engineering college with a budget equal to a government of India scheme for a small District. Was it really worth it? Aapka Times brings to you the account of the events as we saw them.

The fest began with the inaugural function that took place in the main auditorium. The main events of the day were ‘Tarang’- the musical fest, a band performance of ‘Parvaaz and Ganesh Talkies’ and ‘Onogana’- the Israel International Night. Some competitive events like Street play, Speed Scrabble, Treasure Hunt had also been organized on the same day.

 Street plays for long have been a medium of educating the audience about the prevailing social issues. The BITS Street play competition featured 13 teams from different parts of India. The winners Jesus and Mary College drew the audience’s attention towards the plight of transgender through their act titled “Dua”. It was indeed a very well thought out script which was executed perfectly by the actors. “Expressions”, the dramatic society of Department of English from Jamia performed their act titled “Soch ke dekho” which focused on gender stereotypes and beauty myths.

Indie Night featured the performance of the band Agam which gave an electrifying performance on the night of November 3rd, the penultimate night of the extravaganza. The Bangalore based band comprised of two BITS alumni, the lead vocalist Harish Sivaramakrishnan and the bassist Aditya Kasyap. They mesmerized the audience in the main Audi with songs from different genres ranging from metal rock to soft rock ghazals. The zenith of the performance though was when they sang Hariharan’s masterpiece ‘Dil Se’ after which whole auditorium erupted into cheers and applause spontaneously. It was indeed a night worth remembering.

BITS very own comedy talent hunt The Standup Soapbox was a major hit among the audience. People lined up for tickets like another demonetization. Four performers who made into the finals from different zones namely Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and the online hunt performed in the night full of satire and laughter. The marquee performances were given by renowned comedian Ashish Shakya from AIB and Karunesh Talwar. They yet again showcased why they are one of the best the comedy circuit in India today through their performances.

 The Stage play was held in two slots. The event happened in the main auditorium where the audience witnessed a magnificent display of acting prowess. Colleges like Deen Dayal Upadhyay, Maitreyi, Sri Venkateswara and Jamia Millia Islamia had participated in the event. The event was appreciated a lot because of the unique concepts of the plays presented by the colleges. Deen Dayal Upadhyay presented a play which according to some was more suited for the street, not stage. Yet it was appreciated because of its humorous twist. Maitreyi College performed a play about the state of media and press in India. It began with a lot of satires and attacks directed to the government, taking a serious note towards the end, talking about the dark side to journalism like suicide and harassment. It was quite successfully executed and equally liked by the audience. Sri Venkateswara performed a play about a father daughter relationship. The actors did a great job in portraying the time lapse as it had a lot of flashbacks in it. The acting was powerful and intense.  Jamia Millia Islamia presented a thriller named ‘Witness for the Prosecution’, based on the play written by the author Agatha Christie. The courtroom drama ended with a twist of an innocent woman murdering the love of her life on being betrayed by him. The auditorium rocked with a great round of applause on the last scene especially, which was supported by equally intense acting and haunting music.

Maitreyi college and Jamia Millia Islamia won the first and second prize respectively.

Treasure Hunt was another such event that saw massive participation from students. A long list of objects was handed over to the teams and they had the task to find all of those items in the given time. The game was hard, as the participants said but was well enjoyed by each and every one.

scene from a play in BITS Pilani’s Fest Oasis

Other than the main events, Free Jam was also being performed by the musicians. Students could go up on stage and sing, dance or enact anything of their choice randomly. Free jamming took place nearly every day along with other events.

Apart from these events, the fest had two movies screenings in the Film Fest, one of them being ‘Shaun of the Dead’. ‘A Woman Alone’ was a mono act play performed by Shilpi Marwaha that depicted the struggles of a typical Indian woman.

The fest was rocked by the live performance of Vishal and Shekhar in the concert. The audience witnessed the duo sing their best melodies and was totally mesmerized by their performance. The Electronic Music Festival made the audience step up and groove on some of the funkiest beats.

 

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