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Hindi
Activity Society better known as HAS in BITS-Pilani campus.
I have
been the member of this club since August 2000.
The Journey at BITS wouldn't
have been same if
I won't
be& the member of HAS. When it comes to history of HAS I personally don't
have a clue about
when it
was started and who started it all.... so I thought of asking the senior
members about its HISTORY.I was
almost lost reading this so decided not to edit the information
given by Rahul Kaul.So here
is the history of HAS in his words ....
I will always consider BITS
Pilani as an institution where a student
has the opportunity to compete with the 'top-guns' of the country
along with exploring his/her creative side by participating in the
plethora of extra curricular that keep on going throughout the
calendar year. Organizing so many 'festivals', executing them with
clinical precision and still
managing to be country's elite academically is a salutation to the
amalgam which we call a 'BITSIAN'. I was fortunate to graduate from
this institute in 2000 not only with a dual degree; but also with some
eternal nostalgia and lifelong friends.One of the things that left an
indelible mark on what i call 'my bitsian days' is HAS - Hindi
Activities Society - a club
for propagating Hindi.
If you are reading this, there is a high probability that you too have
been associated with this club and seldom would it have crossed our
minds as to how it started in first place. It sure was moving with
great momentum when i joined it as a fresher in the summer of 1995.
'Antakshari' was a rage already; FM and Kshanika were top Oasis
events. In my first meeting in SUB, while i was giving introductions
to other seniors in chaste hindi {or atleast 'trying' to do so},
getting their intros and trying to understand the club lingo of
'software banana hai', 'elims date', 'recording' et al; my eyes did
gaze upon a board hung on the wall where quite a few names were
written ... some dated back to 1990. And i wondered .... how long has
this club been there and who after all started it?
Now its 2004. And someone who just graduated asked the same question a
couple of days back. The 'stacktrace' has come to me and i find asking
myself the same question that had rattled my neurons way back in 1995.
After consulting a 'buzurg'{:-)} of 1992 batch .... the answer still
remains skewed. Maybe a couple of hindi zealots one fine afternoon in
BITS pilani decided to brainstorm about the ways and means of creating
more awareness about the national language on campus. And given the
demography of BITS; it was a daunting task indeed. 'Play and
Propagate' must have been their creative answer and what better
to get rolling than conducting popular hindi events like ANTAKSHARI
and IHIM {DumbC}. And in Oasis, a hindi newspaper. [Yes, HPC was not a
separate club initially... all HPC activities were carried out under
the auspices of HAS and the board that i had seen in HAS room in 1995
had two columns: one for the HAS Secretary for the year and another
for the HPC Co-ordinator. ]
I do believe that these small efforts bore fruits. Such was the
enthusiasm that Antakshari recordings were done on loaned
'double-deck' systems .... on 'loaned' audio tapes. Other events like
Kshanika, Vaad Vivaad, Kavi Sammelan were introduced gradually and the
activities of HPC also increased. Popularity was on a high and this
only demanded proper segregation of responsibility. HPC branched out
from the paternal mould of HAS to focus on the 'hindi-reporting'
aspects. HAS needed to strengthen its events and make them more
popular. These efforts saw the emergence of Antakshari as one of the
first sponored events of the clubs.. maybe in 1993[NESTLE-POLO
Antakshari]. Kshanika's scoring was made computerized and it used to
be so impressive that people offered to buy the software. Audi and QT
events used to have a screen with hilarious onspot 'banner' comments
being given by the club's 'computer-operator' members.. scoring was
automated for Antakshari in 1998. So many more things must there be to
add... but alas my waning memory ! :-)
And still to-date, the show goes on.............
Making reality out of a mere concept is the hallmark of stalwarts. I
know a few personally and some are just names; but without the likes
of Alok Sawant, Amit Kakkad, Prashant Upadhaya, Akhil Jain, Kuldeep
Parikh, Vipul Kumar and Sanjay Motwani; maybe HAS wouldn't have been
what it is today. Each one of them contributed their time and effort
to the 'making' of HAS and it deserves commemdation.
HAS to me will always remain an achievement of some enthusiasts who
kindled the flame and passed it to those who would nuture it. As a
member of the club i believed that our responsibility is not only is
to see through HAS activities in our tenure, but it is far more
important to secure the future. We have to groom others to continue
this prodigy. I am happy that it is being done; otherwise would i be
writing this four years after i graduated? :-)