In the last week Beaconhouse National University (BNU) has been hosting their annual inter university event known as Bestival. While we are covering the activities of each day in detail, we were very interested to get an insight of the true goals and the motivation behind hosting such a great event. This quest led us to the office of Mr. Zaeem Yaqoob Khan, the Director of Students Affairs and External Relations at BNU.
Now, I know most interviews are held in a strict professional environment where many facts are omitted in the answers by the interviewee, I can honestly say this wasn’t the case here as Mr. Zaeem was very cooperative and gave us truthful answers in detail. I know, this might be a hard pill to swallow for a lot of our readers but the honesty of his answers was determined by the response that “Bestival is called so because it was a name that the students came up with. It was named as such as it is shaped to bring out the best in not only the participants but the students of BNU who in the course of 4 days aim to not only deal with real world problems that arise with hosting an event of such a magnitude but it also helps them come out of their shells and gain the confidence they need to succeed in life.” Of course his answer would had seemed a bit rehearsed if an organizer (also a student of BNU) had not walked in. So what was so special about this student? Well, she had a speech impediment but that didn’t stop her from carrying herself with grace and confidence. For a person who has friends with certain disabilities, I found this remarkable as usually our society can be quite super facial as well as quite effective in destroying confidence in any person who doesn’t fit their bill of normality.
This brought us to our next point of the diversity that BNU offers. While it is the general conception that BNU is an extremely expensive university where only the rich study, Mr. Zaeem pointed our attention towards the 40% of the total student population at the university who were availing scholarships, which ranged from a measly 25% of the total tuition fee to a staggering 110%. Before you ask, no I got the last number right as in deserving cases, the university was even willing to pay the hostel expenditures of its students, which in its own speaks volumes about the open mindedness of its governing body. Of course such diversity does lead to exposure from all walks of lives to the BNU students and which was exactly what Bestival ’14 was set to accomplish. Also considering the fact that BNU also houses students from almost all SAARC member countries, goes to show how much of a diverse culture can you find at the university.
For the duration of four days, people from all walks of life are welcomed (with a bit of prior notice) to come and explore BNU on their own. To observe the quality of life the students have as well as to interact freely with the minds which are being trained to one day not only be the movers and shakers of this country but also the ones who will pay off their debt to society as well.
To be quite honest, I attended many events of such sorts dating back to my university life and this was among those rare occasions when an event was to last more than 2 days. So out of my own curiosity I couldn’t help but ask Mr. Zaeem about it. His response, unlike that of many others, justified the duration as according to him BNU takes these activities very seriously and while things like Drama, Photography are just hobbies and co-curricular activities at other universities, at BNU they are the things that students major in. They are a part of their curriculum and they have every right to not only take these things seriously but also to do justice to them by not rushing these events or cramming them up in the space of a single day. He further went on the record to add that the Bestival was only in its initial stages where it is in need of nurturing and care and after a few years a day will come when these events will spawn a huge competition which might even last for a month at a time.
To end the interview, Mr. Zaeem had these final words to share, “It has been a heartwarming experience for me. I have done dozens of events, within BNU as well as with my previous employers yet I have never seen such an energetic bunch of students. Not only have these students gave it their all, they are also showcasing a positive attitude towards the event as well as life itself. This is an event of positivity and this is the way forward.”
While these were the final words of the interview, I can’t help but take this space to not only applaud the BNU team for organizing the Bestival ’14 (even though I do have some minor issues with some things) but also to thank Mr. Zaeem for taking the time out of his busy schedule to talk to us and to hope that the Bestival really manages to produce a bit more positivity in our society as honestly, at this time of despair and darkness in the country we all can use a bit of positivity in our lives.
