Banjaara 2.0: All You Need to Know

Himali Thakur, Class of 2019

This weekend, Ashoka hosts Banjaara 2.0, the second instalment of our college fest. The fest kicks off at 9 AM this Saturday (24th February). Formal, informal, and social impact events will run on both days. In preparation of fest, The Edict did an interview with the team to find out more.

Tell us more about this year’s theme.

‘Down Memory Lane’ stemmed from conversations we had on what Banjaara 2.0 meant to us. We wanted it to be a festival that included the Ashokan community and beyond, an opportunity to burst our bubble and interact with other colleges. We also wanted it to be a fun weekend where we kept our stressful and overwhelming lives on hold to just chill at the art zone, or jump on a trampoline. So ‘Memory Lane’ provided fertile ground for this promise. How better to run from your deadlines than actually going out to play?

What should we expect at Banjaara 2.0?

The clubs and societies will ensure this weekend is a fun-filled and thought-provoking one. You can take a trip ‘Down Memory Lane’ with NEEV, our community engagement society, who will display their students’ science experiments; or you can take a quiz on children’s literature with Shabd, the book club. Siyahi will recreate last year’s Banjaara art zone with a giant join-the-dots, and The Yellow Pages will channel people’s creativity through some fun word games. There’s karaoke and freestyle rap organised by Ashoka Radio for the singers, and Abhinaya’s Silent Disco will keep everyone on their feet.

Interspersed with this carnival will be the Haat, where organisations like Nazariya will display traditional Indian board games. Mool will sell environmentally friendly jewellery. If people haven’t been to Delhi’s famous second-hand bookstore market, Daryaganj, don’t worry! At Banjaara, we’re bringing it to Ashoka — along with Bombay Underground’s zines! Enactus KMC will be selling edible cutlery, for we know book-shopping can make you hungry. On the way to the Canteen — where all external food stalls will be set up — there’ll be the Human Library, designed as a sea of stories. Here, we have reused plastic bottles collected from in and around campus for people to leave a message in a bottle and let it drift into the hands of a stranger, who will write you one in turn! This is just a glimpse of all the fun that lies in store!

Tell us more about the performers (Parekh & Singh, Raghav Meattle, and Delhi Sultanate).

Parekh and Singh — well, their real names are Nischay Parekh and Jivraj Singh. They’re a pop duo from Kolkata and, currently, their most famous song, “I love you baby, I love you doll”, has more than a million views on Youtube. It clocked 1,70,000 views in a week after it was released, so we’re quite excited to host them for Banjaara 2.0!

Raghav Meattle appeared on the TV talent show The Stage and made it to the semifinals. After that, he quit his corporate job and decided to pursue music through an ongoing multi-city tour that began in February 2017. As a promising upcoming artist from Mumbai, we are eager to see what he has in store for us!

Taru Dalmia is a New Delhi-based Indian reggae/dancehall artist, poet, academic historian, and social activist. Taru, known by his stage-name Delhi Sultanate, is the lead singer of The Ska Vengers. He is also the mastermind behind Bass Foundations Roots — BFR Sound System along with his partner Samara Chopra, aka Begum X. As a principle, they never perform on the main stage, so you’ll have to follow the music to find them!

Three events that are different from last year?

This time we have Nukkad Natak in Theatre, Unplugged in Music, and a photography event with a twist, Glimpses — it asks the participants to make a storyboard for the two days of Banjaara.

Three events (apart from Battle of the Bands, Dance competitions) that are continuing from last year?

Slam Poetry, Stage Play, and Entrepreneurship Event. However, the Entrepreneurship event this time is like Shark Tank where participants pitch their ideas to VCs and angel investors.

What changes have been made in response to the controversies around last year’s Banjaara? Is dropping the #dedhdin plan part of this response?

There’s no accommodation being provided on campus, as it was last year. Plus, the festival ends at 8PM on both days. So, we didn’t think think parties or #dedhdin made sense. This decision meant that a lot of our time as the organising committee has been about trying to redefine what Banjaara means for Ashokans. And from the response we’ve gotten from the student body at events like Jukebox (that impromptu throwback playlist, sing-song session in the mess) we believe that our collective idea of fun can transcend a party. It’s hard to organise a festival that constantly requires an apology and justification for what it was in the past. We have been and are working very hard to make this two-day festival meaningful and enjoyable for everyone, and hope people bring their friends along to relive the good ol’ days with us!

What else is different about Banjaara this time around?

We have tried to be more sensitive about the administrative toll a festival of this size takes, as well as the environmental one. In terms of the former, we have been in close correspondence with the administration on every detail and plan, and we are grateful for their guidance and help. The environmental aspect has been strictly checked by our Social Impact team; we are trying to make this festival a responsible one in terms of its waste generation and decor usage by making small changes that go a long way. For instance, all our paper used for logistical purposes like the maps and schedules will be recycled. Moreover, our 4-bin waste segregation pilot has made collection of decor material far simpler, and we hope everyone is segregating responsibly for a more environmentally conscious Ashoka even beyond Banjaara.

What precautionary measures are being taken to ensure Banjaara is a safe environment?

There is a grievance helpline number, where members from the student body and administration will handle complaints, concerns, and other requirements. We are cognizant of the fact that instances of sexual harassment and bullying occur at large-scale events, so we have a separate team of volunteers who are working with the administration to ensure necessary precautionary measures.

The team against sexual harassment is actively working on sending a loud and clear message to all visitors and participants about Ashoka’s zero tolerance policy on sexual harassment; they are putting up posters about consent across campus, along with the helpline numbers that people can reach out to in case of an emergency. An aggrieved individual can choose to file a formal CASH complaint, or have immediate redressal with the help of the admin’s helpdesk committee. The volunteers will be working with the admin representatives at the helpdesk to ensure that each case is heard and dealt with fairly.

Anything else you’d like to tell the Ashokan community?

Ashokans, please remember:

• No loose cigarettes will be permitted.
• Remember to carry your ID cards: no scanned ID cards will be allowed. If you don’t have your ID card, you’ll need a permission slip from the warden to access areas like the residences, sports block etc. on campus.
• All University policies on possession, consumption, and circulation of illegal substances stand. As does our no-tolerance policy on sexual harassment.

If you’d like to call your friends, they can register on our website where entry and registration charges are just Rs. 200, and they will be able to avail the free shuttle service from Jahangirpuri (there will be extra shuttles, don’t worry!). On the spot registration is Rs. 250. Remember to tell them that it will only be a one-time entry. This means that we will provide bands on entry for both days. However, they can enter the campus only once per day as the band will be torn at the time of exit. Also they must enter campus latest by 6:30 PM (18:30). On both days of Banjaara, students from outside Ashoka will be requested to leave by 9:00 PM (21:00).

The Road to Banjaara is almost at its end; what are some highlights that you’d like to remember from your own memory lane?

From Jukebox, the pilot Human Library with the RA’s, the Candy Store, Pictionary with WICS, Pokemon Origins screenings with the Anime club, a flash-mob by Abhinaya, to the success of our 4 bin waste segregation pilot — we’ve come a long way! There’s more coming up too: we will be launching a campus-wide sustainability campaign as well as a video series with Ruhi. We hope this build up to Banjaara has been engaging and fun for the Ashokan community, and we want to celebrate the spirit of Banjaara with everyone on the 24th and 25th of February! Remember, adventure awaits so #StartPacking.

To know more about Banjaara, you can visit the website, or follow them on Instagram and Facebook.

A previous version of this article stated that entry to Banjaara is allowed till 7:00 pm. That has now been changed to 6:30 pm.