(Click on the name to download manifesto. Scroll down to see the video.)
How do you propose to tackle the declining enthusiasm and standard at Lit-Soc?
Kalkar: To tackle the declining enthusiasm, I have planned to commence the club sessions by having an introductory lecture by a professional in that field. This would be a major step as it would enthuse a lot of people to participate in club activities. That would further help the Lit-Soc events as well because then people would actually have an idea about the event. When it comes to standard at Lit-Soc, it is very important to nurture the upcoming talent. So when the freshies come in, care has to be taken that literary secretaries give them proper fundaes regarding literary events and also make them come to the club activities. This would be a major stepping stone for them to participate in the Lit-Soc events and then further at Saarang where they would be tested against people outside. So we can make it happen by the integration of clubs with Saarang, by improving the club activities by getting more professionals to come in and conduct workshops and by asking people in insti who are good at certain activities to help freshies improve.
What is your motivation behind standing for the post of CAS (Lit)?
Kalkar: It was something that started long ago. When I entered the institute I felt that the connect with institute culture was lost. So I wanted to revive Indian culture in some way or the other. The first thing that came to my mind was the Cultural Affairs Secretary’s role in this. And when it came to Saarang – Saarang has always been very close to my heart – this year while organizing the professional shows at Saarang , the amount of happiness we gave to the 7000 people dancing in OAT was another very big driving force- to make people happier during Saarang. To drive to get people to participate in more and more literary even is one other factor that motivates me to stand for this post.
What is the one point in your manifesto that you would like to highlight?
Kalkar: The one major point would be the integration of Cultural Clubs with Saarang and Lit-Soc. Now this should be a major organizational change, especially when it comes to the clubs in Saarang. Here I would have the Club conveners become an integral part of the events at Saarang. They would be mainly responsible in selection of coordinators for the respective events and it would also be important for them to improve the activity of the clubs so that there would be more and more people willing to participate at Saarang.
What do you feel are the major issues that require to be addressed in the coming year?
Kalkar: In the coming year we really need to address the issues of the declining activity of the clubs and participation in Lit-Soc events. It had been observed over the past few years that participation and activity at the Lit-Soc level has reduced drastically. So my attempt to integrate Culture Clubs and Saarang would me a major boost since we would have the club conveners come to the hostels, give fundaes to freshies and also literary secretaries will have to make people participate in Lit-Soc events.
What is your vision for Saarang 2020?
Kalkar: That’s a long time to go! But when I look at Saarang, I think Saarang 2020 should be the biggest college festival in the country. It should also be something that goes to the international level, a destination for all the literary activities, just like how SunBurn Goa is for all the DJs and music activities. For the institute students, I want it to be such that it’s not just the organizational perspective but something having everything for every student. That’s what I’m really aiming for in 2013 as well. I want every institute student to not only organize Saarang but to also participate in Saarang. That’s why I want them to come out of their rooms, participate in Lit-Soc and come to Saarang. If I come to Saarang 2020, I would want to see everybody in the country to consider Saarang as THE destination from a literary perspective.
