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November 2014

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Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani Campus organized its annual cultural festival, OASIS 2014 from 31st October – 4th November. The carnival saw star performers and personalities visiting the campus during this 96 hour long tribute to the period of 90s. Concerts by Benny Dayal and Raghu Dixit were accompanied by laughter riots from East India Comedy and inspirational speech from Dr. Kiran Bedi. Sunburn Campus with Lost Stories, Anish Sood and Kash Trivedi on the second last day of the festival justified the plethora of such events.

On the competition front for the four days, Oasis attracted over 1500 outstation participants from across the country striving hard to prove their mettle in fields on dance, drama, music, debate and fashion. Delhi University contributed with mammoth participation and emerged winners in most of the events without any surprise. With College of Vocational Studies and Lady Sri Ram College taking the lead, here is how the Winners’ Tally at Oasis looked like. 

Mr. & Ms. OASIS 2014

Mr. Oasis – Shivam, College of Vocational Studies
Ms. Oasis – Vidhushi Diwedi, BITS Pilani

LSR Dance Society performing for the Choreo event | Image Credits - Shaurya Sahai
LSR Dance Society performing for the Choreo event Image Credits – Shaurya Sahai

Dance

Choreo – The Choreography Dance Competition

Ist – Lady Shri Ram College
IInd – Gargi College

Consolation – BITS Pilani

Razzmatazz -The Western Dance Competition

Ist – Miranda House
IInd – Lady Shri Ram College

Street Dance Competition

Ist – Trinity College
IInd – BITS, Pilani
Consolation – PGDAV, VGI

Desert Duel – On the Spot Dance Competition

Ist – Ganesh, PGDAV College
IInd – Yogesh Kumar, PGDAV College
Consolation – Vignesh Kumar, Shiv Nadar University

Fash-P, the fashion show at Oasis'14 | Picture Credits - Shaurya Sahai
Fash-P, the fashion show at Oasis’14 | Picture Credits – Shaurya Sahai
Tandav

Ist – Aarhie Kaushik, Lady Sri Ram College
IInd – Abhirami Ajith, Bharati College

Fashion Show

Fash- P

Ist – Trinity College
IInd – College of Vocational Studies
IIIrd – NIFT, Delhi
Best Wardrobe – NIFT, Delhi

Femina Miss India Contest

Winner – Palak Gupta, Amity University

Street Play Competition | Image Credits: Kashish Madan
Street Play Competition | Image Credits: Kashish Madan

Theatre and Movies

The Street Play Competition

Ist – Sri Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce
IInd – Lady Sri Ram College
Consolation – IGTDVW

The Stage Play Competition

Ist – Deen Dayal Uphadyaya College
IInd – Shri Ram College of Commerce
IIIrd – Shaheek Sukhdev College of Business Studies

Mime Act Competition

Ist – Lingaya’s University
IInd – PGDAV College, Delhi University

Metamorphosis – Short Film Making Competition

Ist – CineClub, St. Stephens College
IInd – Effulgence, Sri Venkateswara College
IIIrd – The Half Ticket Shows, BITS Pilani

Check out the Oasis@BITS Pilani album by DU Beat

Photo galleries by Department of Photography – OASIS: Day 0 | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3| Day 4

Music

Swaranjali Vocals

Ist – Navdeesh, IP University
IInd – Parul, PGDAV College

Swaranjali Instrumentals

Ist – Divyash Saxena, JP University

Andholika Singing Competition | Picture Credits - Kashish Madan
Andholika Singing Competition | Picture Credits – Kashish Madan
Tarang

Ist – Shiv Nadar University
IInd – College of Vocational Studies

Best Vocalist – Kiran, BITS Pilani

Best Guitarist – Aseem, BITS Pilani

Pitch Perfect – Capella Event

Ist- Lady Sri Ram College
IInd – Amity University

Andholika – Eastern Vocals

Ist – Tuhin, Amity University
IInd – Mridul, College of Vocational Studies

Andholika – Western Vocals

Ist – Kabir, Amity University
IInd – SS Shrishti, Pearl Academy

Battle of Bands at Rocktaves 2014 | Picture Credits: Chirag Sharma
Battle of Bands at Rocktaves 2014 | Picture Credits: Chirag Sharma
Rocktaves – Battle of Bands

Ist – Chronic Legion (Delhi)
IInd – Confuzone (Darjeeling)

Consolation – WireWeed (Shimla)

Rocktave – Unplugged

Ist – IMS (CVSPU)
IInd – College of Vocational Studies

Consolation – SPA Bhopal

Drums Duel

Ist  – Sri Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce
IInd – College of Vocational Studies
Consolation – SPA Bhopal

Axetacy – Solo Guitar Competition

Ist – Sentiwapang, BITS Pilani
IInd – Kaartik Sharma, Deen Dayal Uphadyaya College
Consolation – Ekyum Singh, Sri Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce

Oasis Debate

Ist – Prakriti Roy, Pratheek Shankar, Anubhav Chakraborty (Hindu College)
IInd – Rajat Rai, Pranav Vijay Shah (NIIT University)

Note: This Winners’ tally includes the highlight competitions. For the informal section, visit http://www.bits-oasis.org/
With inputs from Department of Controls, Oasis-BITS Pilani

Feature Image Credits: Chirag Sharma

Iresh Gupta
[email protected]

With her fifth studio album, 1989, Taylor Swift finally departs from the country music which catapulted her to stardom in 2006’s eponymous debut album. Keeping up with the buzz that 1989 has been creating ever since its announcement in August and the high expectations in terms of sales, the album released on 27th October under much speculation as Taylor’s first ‘officially documented pop album.’
So what new does 1989 offer? Well, apart from the new pop, electro pop and bubblegum pop music, one legacy that Swift continues to take forward while leaving the sound of basses and banjos behind, is her songwriting which is one of the top reasons 1989 is going to be another milestone in her eight year long career.

The album opener, ‘Welcome to New York’ is one of the first songs through which Swift apparently shows that she is capable of amalgamating catchy pop-anthem music of drum machines with close lyrical observations.

With the next song, ‘Blank Space’, Swift has shown that she has matured and knows what she wants while she sings, ‘Cause you know I love the players and you love the game’. Swifties will find the change that she has developed in her lyrical and musical style at the most in this song while still connected with her confessional lyric writing style.

While the third song ‘Style’ carries on carries on the heavy pop element, the (rumored) Harry Styles inspired song, ‘Out of the Woods’ is quite catchy with its heavy chanting of the chorus and the ballad of the stanzas of , ‘Your necklace hanging from my neck, the night we couldn’t quite forget’.
While she explores love and power in ‘All You Had to Do Was Stay’, we come to the already Billboard number one hit single ‘Shake It Off’ which is a fine piece of writing and is a fine change from her themes of love and heartbreaks.

The other half of the album includes pop ballads and songs of breathy voclas including songs like ‘I Wish You Would’, ‘Bad Blood’, ‘Wildest Dreams’, ‘How You Get the Girl’, ‘This Love’, ‘I Know Places’ and the closing track ‘Clean’.

While she delivers a strong vocal performance in almost all the songs, the lyrics of some like ‘Clean’ and ‘Wildest Dreams’ stand out exceptionally.

Overall, 1989 is a good album with the exceptionally famous lyrics Swift is known for. For fans who don’t like the pop sound of the album and the entire transition in her music, the lyrics will surely make up for the lost country sound. The reinvention of sound, themes and persona that Swift sings in this thirteen song masterpiece will be another memoir for her fans.

Interstellar has been one of the most awaited Hollywood movies of the year, with a lot of hype surrounding it-something which isn’t surprising given that it’s a Christopher Nolan movie.

The plot is set in a futuristic world where saturation of resources has made Earth unsustainable for humans, and revolves around Cooper (Matthew McConaughey), a pilot, engineer and father of two. Cooper along with astronauts from NASA (Dr. Brand, Romilly and Doyle) set off to explore three prospective worlds in another galaxy (courtesy a wormhole that’s been “placed” near Saturn) based on data transmitted by explorers from NASA ( Dr. Miller, Edmunds and Mann) from an earlier expedition. They hope to find at least one suitable new home for the future generations of mankind. Back on Earth, Cooper’s daughter Murfy along with Dr. Brand’s father are attempting to solve an equation related to gravity that could potentially save humans currently living on Earth. Certain anomalies in gravitational patterns play a crucial role in the incidents during the movie.

This has been one of the few experiences I’ve had where the movie hall was completely silent during most of the movie, and barely anyone paid attention to their phones (which is unfortunately very rare these days) because the movie was so gripping and intense!

Everything makes sense at the end with the loose ends tying up in an unexpected manner and once you realise the climax, you’ll definitely be at the edge of your seat wondering what’s going to happen to the characters next. The fine performances by the main characters, Anne Hathaway, Matthew McConaughey and Micheal Caine make the story come alive. Certain scenes will leave you blown away; one death scene in particular, the exploration of Dr. Miller’s planet and the part where the astronauts are travelling through the worm hole. Don’t be embarrassed or surprised if you find your eyes moist during the film, especially during Tom and Murfy’s video messages to their father. Comic relief is included in just the right amount in the form of TARS, the robot’s banter.  Hans Zimmer’s music is brilliant, and makes the scenes even more intense and engaging.

The special effects are indeed spectacular and the depiction of black holes and fifth dimension has been done in a way that makes the concept both understandable and visually appealing. I was particular fascinated by the idea of time as a physical dimension, something which led to a lot of Google searches after watching the film. The theory of relativity of time has been played with well to add another layer to the movie.

However, one aspect that didn’t seem to really add up was the behaviour of certain characters during the course of the movie. Some of the choices made by Dr. Mann, Professor Brand and Tom seem uncharacteristic at times, and can leave you feeling confused about their decisions.  I felt certain parts like Dr. Brand and Edmunds’ story could have been focused on some more (or alternatively, removed entirely), but I guess that just gives the audience more to think about.
Apart from that, I can also see a lot of people feeling as though the plot of the story went above their heads (which also happened with Nolan’s Inception). At times, the science behind the story seemed to overpower the scenes a little too much, which made some scenes feel heavy and stretched.

What I liked the best about the movie is that it reinforces the idea that humans have always been, and always should be explorers by nature; looking towards the next frontier and constantly moving forward. The realisation of our insignificance in terms of the bigger picture and the vastness of the unknown should only propel our growth and curiosity as a race.

To sum up, whether or not you truly liked the movie, Interstellar is a film you’ll end up having lengthy discussions over, long after it has ended.

Oasis ’14, BITS Pilani, turned out to be an exhilarating show for everyone when some great artists came down to the campus to give their best performances. This year, the fest saw entertainers like Benny Dayal, Raghu Dixit, Mysore Brothers, The East India Comedy and Sunburn, which helped the BITSians (as they like themselves to be called), the faculty and over 1400 outstation students to have a gala time. The fest was also studded with personalities like Dr. Kiran Bedi, as her session on ‘India in your Hands’ showed us the truth behind our country’s corruption, politics and policies.

Day 1 – Benny Dayal and Mysore Brothers

Benny Dayal

The evening of 1st November 2014 at BITS Pilani welcomed Benny Dayal, the artist whose peppy numbers have always been able to make each and every one of us move our feet. The scenario seemed to be pretty much the same inside the BITS Pilani auditorium where the singer filled his audience with immense enthusiasm with songs like, “Batameez Dil”, “Disco Deewane”, “Bang – Bang” and “Locha-e-ulfat”. Besides these, he also gave his voice to many old Bollywood and Punjabi songs, which included “Yamma Yamma”, “Hayo Rabba” and many more. Once, during the show he also found a chance to jump down, amidst the audience, which got crowd even more excited. He ended the 100-minute performance by clicking a selfie with the crowd.

[caption id="attachment_27445" align="aligncenter" width="1024"]Benny Dayal Live at Oasis 2014 | Image Credits: Chirag Sharma Benny Dayal Live at Oasis 2014 | Image Credits: Chirag Sharma[/caption]

Mysore Brothers

Under the name of their concert as the “Violin Duet”, the Mysore Brothers, Dr. Mysore Manjunath and Mysore Nagaraj, performed stunningly in front of the audience. Their immaculate performance left the crowd in an enthralled state. The best part of their performance was the spontaneous selection of the raga depending upon their mood, the ambience and the audience. The concert was the first classical one to happen in BITS in six years organized by Ragamalika, the classical music and dance club of the college. Both percussionists given a free rein over what they want to play, they extracted every single sound possible from their instruments, the mridangam and the khanjira, leaving quite a few heads scratching. The violin maestros concluded wth ‘Baro Krishnayya’ and ‘Raghupati Raghav Rajaram.’

[caption id="attachment_27452" align="aligncenter" width="720"]Mysore Brothers for the Violin Concert | Image by Department of Photography, BITS Pilani Mysore Brothers for the Violin Concert | Image by Department of Photography, BITS Pilani[/caption]

Day 2 – Raghu Dixit, Dr. Kiran Bedi and Banana Man

Raghu Dixit

November 2, 2014 at BITS Pilani was the day when the fusion king of India, Raghu Dixit, with ankle bells tied to his feet, guitar in his hands and his smiling crew, stepped on the stage to set it on fire. He shared, with the audience his memories of how he had visited the college back in 1996, without telling his parents and without the money to get back home because he was sure that he would win the Western Solo event, which unfortunately, he did not. He then participated in a dance competition where he stood first and got the money to get back home. With songs like, “Hey Bhagwan!”, “No man will ever love you, like I do” and “Lokadakalaji”, he managed to revive the audience’s love for his kind of music. Apart from his performance, the crowd also appreciated his other band members who had their efforts devoted to guitar, drums and flute.

[caption id="attachment_27449" align="aligncenter" width="1024"]Raghu Dixit at Oasis for The Raghu Dixit Project | Image Credits: Kashish Madan Raghu Dixit at Oasis for The Raghu Dixit Project | Image Credits: Kashish Madan[/caption]

Dr. Kiran Bedi

Apart from all the fun and frolic, there was also a learning session by Dr. Kiran Bedi, who preferred to come to BITS Pilani over a trip to Germany. The inspirational personality showed an interactive presentation based on the topic, ‘India in your Hands’. Through her talk, she tried to make the youth aware of what is going on in their country and what can the youth do to contribute. She also talked of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and how the present government was genuinely working towards the goal of a ‘Better India’ but at the same time she also cleared that she was not there to support any political party. At the end of the session she also asked for questions from the audience and answered them all, no matter how controversial some of them were.

[caption id="attachment_27453" align="aligncenter" width="1024"]Dr, Kiran Bedi during her session on "India In Your Hands" | Image Crediits: Chirag Sharma Dr, Kiran Bedi during her session on “India In Your Hands” | Image Crediits: Chirag Sharma[/caption]

Banana Man

Besides the popular and known faces, someone also made audience fall in love with him at the first sight. Pierrick St. Pierre a.k.a Mr. Banana was an unfamiliar face, which the students got to witness during this year’s Oasis. Popularly known for his juggling and hat – tricks, the Banana Man managed to bind the audience with his witty jokes and occasional rants. The crowd seemed to enjoy the unusual comedy as much as his juggling act.

[caption id="attachment_27446" align="aligncenter" width="1024"]Banana Man performing his famous rope trick for the crowd at Oasis | Image Credits - Iresh Gupta Banana Man performing his famous rope trick for the crowd at Oasis | Image Credits – Iresh Gupta[/caption]

Day 3 & 4– Sunburn Campus and East India Comedy

Sunburn Campus

On November 3, 2014 – Sunburn came down to BITS Pilani with the EDM Pro Night. Sunburn Campus gave all the inhouse BITSians and the outstation students the freedom to dance to the beats set by DJs Anish Sood, Lost Stories and Kash Trivedi. With security at its best, Sunburn at BITS Pilani attracted a huge crowd.

[gallery ids="27450,27447,27448"]

East India Comedy

Oasis had a lot to offer besides music. With their ‘intended’ puns and vulgar humour, comedians from the East India Comedy made the closing evening a hysterical one.  Sahil Shah, Sapan Verma and Sorabh Pant came on the stage one-by-one to entertain their audience.

[caption id="attachment_27451" align="aligncenter" width="1024"]Saurabh Pant, Sahil Shah and Sapan Verma from East India Comedy performing at Oasis | Shutter Released by Kashish Madan Saurabh Pant, Sahil Shah and Sapan Verma from East India Comedy performing at Oasis | Shutter Released by Kashish Madan[/caption]

While some of the students took time to realize what the joke was about, the others laughed until their stomach ached. They had their puns revolving different kind of people in India, politics and of course students.

Feature Image Courtesy: Iresh Gupta

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2 weeks from now, every Delhi University student will get caught in the trauma that strikes twice every year. After bunking the classes the entire semester and doing everything in college except studying, we sit down one week before the deadly dates on the calendar with newly brought books that smell as fresh as a daisy and Solved Ten Year Question Papers that work as a Bible for each of us the night before the exam.

While the third year and second year students are very familiar with the mantra ‘to pass Delhi University exams by studying for a week’, the freshers are both confused and nervous about the first semester exams.

Well the mantra to pass still remains the same for freshers too- get your books, go offline, drink up on caffeine, pull up all-nighters(only if you’re comfortable, otherwise you may screw up the paper) and have faith in some invisible power that only whatever you’re studying will be asked in the exam.

The two weeks of penance are coupled with anxiety, crazy strategies which we all develop suiting our own convenience, the constant urge not to watch the latest movie or complete the TV series that you can’t stop thinking of and sacrificing the dear sleep. While there are always people who go all competitive, scare you with Kitna padha?” every hour on Whatsapp and jolt you the day of exam by bombarding terms and phrases which you are totally oblivious of, even after reading the entire book, it’s advisable to stay away from them and give the exam without any negative thoughts.

Since the quantity and quality of studies is an entirely subjective notion differing from each other, one should never try ideas put into their head by others especially during exams. We all have our own reasons, plans and approaches for studying at the last minute for the exams. But each semester exam of Delhi University reminds you the purpose of being at the most prestigious university of India-academics!

Even before we have completely prepared our minds to renounce the worldly things and follow the path of studies (for a few weeks and then back to be the social butterfly), the plans for post-exam parties are always ready.

 If you’re still struggling to sit down surrounded by books for some weeks and abandon the outside world, think of all great things that post-exam break has got you to offer to make you cut some slack on yourself of exam pressure!

I would like to leave you all with my mantra for exam season to chant after you’ve studied by none other than the great Shakespeare-“This Too Shall Pass”! Believe me! It has been working for the past four semesters! Here’s wishing all DU-ites an amazing exam season with books and notes!

Dear Amma, I have been having crushes since my 1st year, but never understood how to express it. Basically the problem is I don’t know how to get along with girls. I mean I don’t know what should I say to make myself interesting to them. Tell me how to start a conversation. I’m in final year now and I feel it’s high time to have girl friend. Please give me some tips.

Ah, a classic problem! No matter how strange and absurd the usual questions get, we always seem to come back to the basic issues every now and then, don’t we, little idli? Well, let me share a few pieces of wisdom I have acquired over the years.

First of all, don’t get intimidated because you are talking to a girl- just see her as a regular person. Secondly, put aside any stereotypes you may have in your mind about what girls like to talk about and how they behave. Every girl is different and has a unique set of interests, so I can’t really tell you what might seem universally interesting. However, some topics that are always good topics are everyday things like books, TV shows, talking about college experiences and so on.

When it comes to starting a conversation with a girl for the first time, be careful not to come across as creepy- it’s sad but true that most girls are accustomed to receiving a lot of unwanted attention. Having said that, you don’t have to walk around eggshells; just be friendly and calm. You can strike up a conversation depending on the context. Met her at a party? Ask how she knows the host or any mutual friend. Met her through society related work? Talk about your shared interest.
Lastly, do not feel the need to see every girl you talk to as a potential girlfriend. If that’s your sole aim, you’ll end up being as disappointed, macchi! You can befriend them too, you know. In fact that’ll help you loosen up and be more comfortable around the opposite sex. And who knows, they could maybe introduce you to some of their single friends too!

Raahgiri Day itself is so vibrant that you find many forms of activities happening in each and every block of Cannaught Place. Sunday morning, 6AM to 10 AM, Cannaught Place – Inner Circle is the most happening place in Delhi. This Sunday, the 1st of November, Enactus SRCC had organised a marathon demanding the participants to run 5 rounds of the inner circle. The aim of the marathon was to bring together all the Enactus teams in North India together.

At 6:45 the stage was set; around 22 teams from a majority of the Delhi University colleges, Delhi IIT and a team from Patiala had also come to participate in the Enactus marathon. The day started off with a warm up schedule by a certified Reebok trainer. She surely got the crowd going and for people who don’t know how to dance (like me) and we learnt a few moves ourselves.

Around 7:30 the chief guest had arrived, Honourable Member of Parliament from the New Delhi Constituency, Mrs. Meenakshi Lekhi. She addressed the crowd with a 10 minute speech in which she mentioned how Enactus is a great initiative taken up by colleges around the country. Citing, a project that Enactus SRCC is currently working on, Project Azmat, she said – “The Idea of helping manual scavengers, is surely a great cause and is somewhat related to the Swaccha Bharat Abhiyan Campaign”.

After her speech, all the teams were asked to get ready for the marathon. The chief guest kicked off the marathon and one could find students in Enactus Tees running their hearts out. There were people who were offering free hugs and high 5s to motivate the contestants and some volunteers from Enactus SRCC carried placards stating motivational quotes as well.

After the marathon ended, everyone was asked to assemble in the amphitheatre inside Central Park. There was a twist in the plot when people were handed chits which mentioned the name of a country. Ultimately it was found out that people having the chits of the same country would form a team. For example – I received team Malaysia. And my team consisted of students from IPCW, NSIT, Miranda House, Hans Raj, Maitreyi and Motilal Nehru College. It was a fun experience as we had to rename our team and complete a task as a team. The task consisted of four activities which had to be conducted with a group of five people per task. After the task had been completed we would have to hand them an Enactus badge and then click a group selfie. The tasks were – singing a Bollywood song, teaching a dance step, doing the opposite and identifying a dialogue from a film.

After the tasks were completed we had to assemble near the amphitheatre and get our group photos clicked. The event was a huge success and definitely helped people find new friends.

WhatsApp recently got updated. Now not only it will tell the user that the message has been delivered but also that the receiver has read your message.

And here is how the twitter world reacted to this “relationship-threatening” update.

“When I realized the nature of this season, that it was going to be so brutal, I realised we’re going to need a bigger beard,” said Andrew Lincoln, who plays protagonist Rick Grimes in the AMC horror-drama The Walking Dead, in an interview to EW.

Season 5 is 3 episodes through and it is continuing to keep viewers on the edges of their seats as the lead characters ditch death by fine margins day after day after day. The season begins with Rick, Glenn and Daryl nearly getting murdered by the folks at Terminus before Carol, a character who has since season one proven her worth time and again, blows the ‘sanctuary’ up, enabling the group to escape. Carol, Tyreese, Michone and little Judith are reunited with the group in a touching sequence.

Carol does not stay for long as she and Daryl sight the car he believes was the one that took Beth last season. The duo decides on going behind the vehicle. Some killings, amputations and acts of cannibalism later, Abraham and his friends, along with Glenn and Maggie, leave for Washington D.C. in their quest for the apocalypse’s cure. Daryl returns without Carol, but with an unnamed new character. Popular belief is also that Morgan Jones, the first living man to encounter Rick after his

coma period back in season one, is set to cross paths with Rick sooner than later!

SPOILERS AHEAD:
Teasers of episode 4 make clear the reconciliation of Beth with the group, but not so easily. Where did Carol go and who’s the new guy? If you’re wondering, be sure to catch the next episode! We’re also aware of Glenn and Maggie’s bus crashing on their way to D.C. as was revealed by AMC at a Comic Con.

Andrew Lincoln also accidentally blurted out the fate of Rick’s beard, suggesting it would be shaved or cut-off in this season, though later he backtracked. Will you miss the forestation that had become Rick’s pride?

Catch The Walking Dead every Monday on Star World Premiere HD!