"Kaisa chal raha hai Techfest?" ... This is one question that an
organising member of Techfest team faces almost everyday. So I decided to
sit down and write an article on it. And who knows, if I am lucky, the
article might find some readers! But before you read on, I might as well
warn you that you will find this article an ego trip in the lanes of a
city where every signboard reads 'Techfest'. Couldn't help it ... this was
the pivot of the very nature and topic of this particular article.
So ... what is Techfest?
As of now, let's settle with the answer that Techfest is the annual
science and technological festival of IIT Bombay. It spans 3 days on the
last weekend in Jan every year. Some 15000 students from 750 colleges and
about 1500 corporate and faculty are part of the fest. The aim of the fest
is the confluence of Students, Academia and Industry.
How big is the fest?
The first in India to have a VideoConference in a student fest, the first
to launch Mercedes Benz SL 500, the first to land an Airforce chopper in
its grounds, the first in the country to call international student
participation ... and a lot of other things. A fest to have colloborated
with 6 of the Top-10 global brands including Daimler Chrysler, Sun, IBM,
Microsoft, GE, Coca Cola as its corporate partners. The only fest to offer
7 lakhs in cash as prizes to students. Simply put, a fest with budgets
that have varied between 30 to 45 lakhs over the years. Or say, the
biggest student collegiate festival in Asia within a span of just 6 years.
How many students are involved in organising the fest?
A core team of 20 managers headed by an OC (Overall Coordinator) and the
300-plus coordinators and organisers who form the backbone of the work
force.
What does it take to do a Techfest?
About 100 core-team meetings over a period of 9 months where students
discuss the event right from the conceptualisation stage through the
planning stage to the execution stage. And another susbtantial number of
manager-coordinator meetings. And of course, meetings/ interaction with
the industry and the market for the events and sponsorship. That
definitely makes it a lot of man hours.
Where do students find so much motivation to put in?
There we hit the nerve of this article. Somehow, the system has found its
way of survival. While some join in to learn and have experience working
in a team, others drop in to have fun and friends while making things
happen. While some are motivated by their seniors and role-models, others
are driven by a passion to do something new and challenging.
But what ever be the reason, the underlying truth beneath all of them is this - One chooses to do a Techfest for himself/ herself ... For ones own satisfaction and joy. And although some of us might realise this while others may not, this is the driving force, the motivation behind all the effort and time one chooses to put in organising Techfest.
So I come back to my first question again. What is Techfest? Is it just a 3 day fest that will see some popular names, big companies and a lot of college students come and go? Is it just 72 hours of competitions, lectures, workshops and entertainment?
To an organising member, it is the 9 months of conceptualisation, planning and execution where the hearts and minds are laden with nothing but Techfest. It is the 100 odd meetings where you discuss, debate and fight over your thoughts, ideas, beliefs and principles. It is the friends that you will make in the team. Or should I say Techfest is the best thing to happen in your days at IIT? More importantly, Techfest is an opportunity for a student to shape his dream into an idea and his idea into reality.
Another eternal question that has been the guiding force behind the working of each team - Why Techfest? Somehow, no one seems to have found answer to this question. Yet, subconsciously, everyone seeks the answer to this question as he/she devotes his/her time organising Techfest.
PS: The seventh editon of Techfest unviels on 24th Jan, 2004. All are invited. And in the meantime, you could probably ask me a question that is different from "Kaisa chal raha hai Techfest?" when you see me next. :-)