On the night of 13th April, the SAC amphitheatre filled up After a short while, the SU President asked if there were
with the CoStAA, coordinators of clubs and associations, any more complaints.
the Election Commission, and other members of the
GBM for the APOGEE Review Committee meeting.
*crickets*
The meeting began at around a quarter to eight with a rollcall of the representatives of each department, club and
association. The SU President announced the budget for
the fest to a mildly positive buzz. Then, it was the CoStAA
departments' turn to look back on their functioning during
the fest.
As the crowds started to thin and EC’s desperate attempts
to rally them back into the SAC amphi failed, the vote on
the necessity of DExA was postponed to later that week.
No fingers were pointed, no heated arguments, no visible
discontent. The ARC meet 2015 ended in a record time of
thirty-seven minutes, leaving behind grinning third years,
ADP spoke about the structures and backdrops they had smirking second years, and some nonplussed first years.
made. Sponz gave us the monetary split up: sponsorship 11.35 lakhs, workshops - 1.4, food stalls - 3.25. Controls One of the respondents to our ‘The State of our Fests’
talked of the outstis' mess coupons and the fest survey aptly summarises public perception of this year’s
competitions. PEP was forgotten; peals of laughter lit up review. “… (People responsible) simply tried to brush
SAC amphi as they indignantly reminded everyone of their everything under the carpet. ARC was meant to be a
presence and went on to discuss the guest speakers and forum to discuss or at least bring up problems which other
paper presentations during APOGEE.
clubs/departments faced during the fest, it is supposed to
be a learning forum, it is supposed to be a place where the
When it came to the complaints, PEP CoStAAn Archit GBM comes to know if they are going to pay for another
Gadhok pointed out that a few coordinators had left fest. It never accomplished that but people actually tried
during APOGEE and thus would not be receiving before.
certificates. Controls CoStAAn Vidushi Dwivedi talked Not a single issue was brought up, no one even accepted
about the glut of root mails, which reduced their that this APOGEE was terrible, to say the least. CoStAA
usefulness as students avoided them altogether.
came, blurted out facts and figures about how they had
worked well and that was it, everyone left.”
I want to tell you about the quaint charm of Pilani—this how to talk to people and,
little place, so remote, hostile, toxic and stubborn, but more importantly, how not
undeniably beautiful and inexorably affirming in its will to to.
pass down a way of life that identifies us BITSians.
So, if there’s anything I
Pilani is synonymous to change. You start out by cursing must pass on, it is this—
every little inconvenience, but in time, grow to expand never regret. You will
yourself—you miss the food that made a man of you, you blunder. Pilani will ensure
take pride in the weather’s unpredictability (well, you do. That is her way.
sometimes), and soon, this place becomes your holy grail She will also offer to pick
you up and guide you
of nostalgia.
(with a mid-April mango
The manifestation of this change is the Imperceptible
shake at Sharma’s). Take
Alteration and not the Great Incident—caused by that one
her hand (and the glass).
pin, sidling up to poke you tenderly, sibling to a million
Walk on. Shame and glory aren’t worth as much as they are
other minuscule pins that go unnoticed.
made out to be. Don’t spend four years mindlessly hacking
That late-night ANC session, that frantic last-minute away at that designated tree, when there’s an unexplored
compre preparation, that chai at RP redi, (enjoyed languidly orchard around.
on a slow Thursday afternoon), that GoT episode on
However, Pilani, as we zuk 11-ers knew it, is dying. The
DC++, that recruitment story, that TDC-of-the-wing joke,
great magical beast has been gutted and faces an
that BITSian sweatshirt, that C’not conversation which
excruciatingly slow death. We’ve become narrow-minded,
seems so childish now—these are the small pins. And they
too quick to judge—harsh critics wanting to see people on
are all that matter.
stage fail, wanting to get the cheap laugh. We now care so
Pilani—she’s given me good shoes—hard and sturdy, yet much for instant gratification that we hardly ever see the
supple and comforting, and when doubts named CG and bigger picture. Or maybe, all that happened was NAB
résumé, purp ose-of-life and fields-of-interest will wash replaced C-lawns, and this is just theory from a brittle,
over me, I know my shoes will keep my feet dry and safe. bitter person unable to relinquish the past.
But she can also turn you inconsistent and hypocritical,
make you more circumspect than is healthy, cause you to
question the entire point of academic rigour and good
physical condition. She never enforces any of it, though,
always letting you choose. A dangerous game, but
incredibly useful—there is no better teacher than
experimentation.
Invariably, the choices you make are the strongest
indicators of the person you are. I have made mine, not
regretting any. I have slept from 8 am to 6 pm for four
whole semesters. I have valued interaction and personal
growth more than academic growth. I have given up on
things and ardently taken up many more. I have learned
I want to tell you so much more, but no rousing eulogy or
striking metaphor will quench the inexplicable feeling that
this whole exercise is fruitless and supremely reductive.
How can you describe BITS-Pilani in 500 words?!
More than anything, though, I want to tell you to
experience things for yourself. Pilani’s as vibrant and
quirky as a Wes Anderson movie, as melancholic and
perfect as Radiohead’s songs, as passionate and nuanced as
The Wire, as engrossing and shockingly purple-and-red as
A Song of Ice and Fire. I shall be so very sad to enter the
real world, leaving this fantasy, the grandest of ‘em all.
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