PAF. One word for passion, zeal, enthusiasm, hard work and talent. One thing
that IIT Bombay prides itself of. PAFs are the peak of the cultural talent
and excellence we boast of. This year IIT Bombay had its PAFs from the 17th
of March to the 4th of April.
The themes of the PAFs thie time were quite radical and it seemed that many hostel pairs were open to experimentation. H6-H7 and H4-H5 came up with innovative scripts and H2-H10-Tansa experimented with a musical. H1-H3-H11 had a female centred PAF. H8-H9 presented some very unique concepts interspersed with more humour than we've seen in any of the PAFs in the last four years. Many of the themes this year dwelled on the good-evil, man-god funda as compared to the socio-political themes prevalant last year. However, there has been a general feeling among the students that the overall quality of the PAFs has been slightly on the low as compared to PAFs in the previous 3-4 years.
When it comes to judging, time and again, there have been suggestions from the students regarding changes and increased transperency in the judging process. Being the integral part of the PAFs, students generally feel that they are in a better position to appreciate the effort that goes into making a PAF. This year the judges were professors who have had either an experience with PAFs in a personal capacity or as a member of the audience for a sustained period or who have had some cultural accomplishments to their credit. The judging as a whole has had fewer criticisms than in the previous years.
Is it all really worth it ?
On the night of the PAF, thousands of eager eyes are glued to the centre-stage expecting to see a great show. Once people are inside the OAT to watch a PAF, the atmosphere slowly transforms with feelings of hostitility (or, at times, envy) creeping in more often than not. Very few of those who gather in the OAT on that evening can fully appreciate the kind of effort that goes into putting up such a tremendous show. Ironically, all of them, especially the fence-sitters, find it rather easy to criticise and laugh at the most inconspicuous mistake possible. No wonder you get thundering applause when you accidentally switch on the OAT lights and just a mild appreciation when an impactful scene gets successfully executed.
This is, as a matter of fact, a consequence of the love and spirit for one's own hostel... people out there in the OAT are so desperate to see their hostels win that the entire notion of appreciating a good piece of "art" (it's a Performing "Arts" Festival, right ?) takes a backseat. None of the PAFs this year got a whole-hearted ovation, let alone a standing ovation. The best that the winning PAF 'Avshesh' could get after the show was a silent admiration. Other PAfs got, from a section of the people, appeals for 'dayaa' with people on their knees and bowing their heads.
There is more to PAFs than just competition and winning. It's the most looked-forward-to event in the entire cult calendar of IIT Bombay : looked forward to not only by the students but even by hordes of other campusites and even guests from outside. It's one event which makes our GC unique in comparison to similar competitions in all other institutes and colleges. It's one event where the best of the talent on campus gets showcased in the most neatly integrated fashion. No other cult event in the calendar has such a huge audience, participation or effort. However, at times, the attitude of people on the other side of the fence is appalling. People who might never have worked for a PAF or have hardly seen more than four PAFs take the liberty to make comments such as "This hostel pair should be banned from doing PAFs for 5 years for putting up such a disgusting show" on public fora. Let us realise that PAFs are more than just a GC event. It shouldn't spell 'Passion' for some, 'Agony' for few and 'Fury' for most.
Zishaan M. Hayath is a second year Dual Degree student in the Civil Engg.
Department. He can be contacted at d0zmh@civil.iitb.ac.in.