You surely know (or maybe not) the surreal amount of hard work that has gone into making that really cool graffiti you spotted on the walls of the sidewalk, or your favourite road painting. The hands of flair behind these are the Publicity and Printing (PnP) team, an ever-zealous lot of extremely talented people doing what they love. We, at MTTN, had a candid conversation with them in order to understand what this category does, and why they prevail, time after time, helping the fest achieve success.
“When I was a volunteer during my first TechTatva, I didn’t get an opportunity to interact with my seniors, and even so, the interaction was generally limited to the HR head. What I really wanted to do was work as a team and interact with different people. PnP gave me that opportunity,” says Vaishnav, a member of the PnP family.
MTTN: It is a lot of work, isn’t it?
Vaishnav: I wouldn’t deny that. However, when you work as a team with a bunch of people with similar interests, it hardly seems like a task.
We then spoke to Nishanth, a first year. Having worked for PnP as a volunteer during TechTatva, he shared his thoughts on PnP as a category,
“The work environment is pretty good. The seniors are really warm and nice. Also, all-night perms!” (chuckles)
Having spoken to a volunteer and an organiser, we were curious as to what things on a Category Head’s end must be like. We had a conversation with Pratyush Sharma, the Category Head for PnP this year.
MTTN: How are you guys planning on approaching this year’s theme?
Pratyush: Carnaval is all about celebration. The rhythm of life, as the tagline puts it. Our main objective, this year, is to ensure that we are able to successfully channel this energy and colour through our work. We are trying to create something that will make people pause and reconsider their definition of vibrant. We just want to get everyone in a festive mood.
MTTN: That sounds very interesting indeed. How do you plan to execute it? What are the projects your team is working on?
Pratyush: We are working on a lot of projects – sticking to standard old ones, as well as exploring newer ways to make the fest brilliant and ‘attractive’. We will be doing the usual road and wall paintings as those are our trademark projects. We are trying not to localize projects but instead, work on something which covers the whole campus. You will soon see the projects for yourselves!
MTTN: We can hardly wait. Would you agree that PnP is the backbone of the fest?
Pratyush: Nope, you can’t consider PnP alone as the backbone of the fest. A fest is considered successful due to the collective effort of co-existing categories supporting each other. We are all in this together.
MTTN: Indeed. Why does this category never fail at attracting a large audience and response from first years?
Pratyush: (grins) I guess because PnP is just plain fun. I have personally been a part of PnP since first year and haven’t left it for a single fest. First years love it because it is cool to roam around the streets when the entire school sleeps. Also, the personal bonds and friendships ensure that we feel more like a family than a category.
MTTN: What are your expectations from your juniors? What qualities do you guys look for, if any?
Pratyush: Anyone and everyone is welcome in PnP. We give you an opportunity to find your own passion and work accordingly. Some paint, some sketch, some just dazzle us with their brilliant ideas. It may surprise you but only 40% of the people in PnP are artists. So to those who think this is an artists’ hub, I am here to break the myth. We are much more than that.
They are definitely way more than that. College fests will hardly look as inviting as they do without the PnP team churning out every small bit of their creativity. Accurate mind calculations, zero retakes. With construction work going on everywhere in the campus and the massive in-flow of outstation participants, it is definitely a challenge that the PnP family has taken head-on. The making of Revels, or any fest really, is a beautiful process. While we gape in awe at their work, the bonds made over each moment behind the scenes are something our backstage heroes will cherish forever.
– Marziyah Husain and Priyanjali Roychoudhury for MTTN
Pictures by Krishna Hemant
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.