R.A.F.
One of the events that every BITSian looks forward to is a movie shown in the Auditorium by the Recreational Activities Forum, or RAF as it is popularly known. Every semester, people sign up to this spectacle that can be experienced exclusively in institutes like BITS Pilani and IIT-Powai (I know of these two institutes for sure. There might be some more). No college takes the effort of spending money to get the latest (which means about 2 months old) movie to the college auditorium and screen it at dirt-cheap rates (yeah, you get to see 12 movies this semester for the price of one ticket at a decent multiplex) for it’s students.
True, we do swear about the pathetic sound, the poor video quality of the video screened, and last, but not at all the least, the quality of movies screened. But, we still go to the Audi everytime the RAF notices are put up on the mess notice boards. Why? Because every BITSian has a love-hate relationship with RAF. The RAF experience is rarely about the movies themselves. People get better quality prints on LAN, which they can watch at their leisure. In fact, the RAF experience is about watching the movie with your entire wing (or your girlfriend/boyfriend, if you are that lucky) sitting right next to you. It’s about laughing together, crying together and passing comments about what is being shown on the screen. It is about the shouts of ‘1,2,3,4, ??? ??? ?? ????????’. It is about the memories that will come back to us once we get out of BITS, go to a multiplex, see a fantastic scene, and feel like screaming to your heart’s content.
Here’s what I wish from RAF: that it should continue it’s work in preserving the BITSian cult, which it has become a part of. I also hope that the RAF committee members will kindly consider showing classics instead of showing the 4th flop of the season in a row.