Tune into campus culture

(From left) Gaurav Gambhir and rapper Siegen Moopanar recording the podcast

When we were in school, we couldn't wait to get into college. And once we got admission into one of our choice, we couldn't wait to get out of it. After roughly three years of graduating, the campus - or whatever is left of it in Mumbai - is still our favourite trip down memory lane. That's the thing about nostalgia; you keep going back to the same memory over and over again, wishing you could change something and sob about the fact that you can't. Our most recent trip down those lanes was when we chanced upon ATKT Talent Tent on IVM Podcasts this month.

Conceptualised in February by Saurabh Kanwar, the founder of ATKT - India's first nation-wide community of, by and for culturally talented youth - the podcast sheds light on young personalities and their campus stories. The hosts, both employees of the platform, Krupa Gohil and Rohit 'P-Man' Pereira, put up an episode every Tuesday featuring personalities including illustrator/poet Priyanka Paul and beatboxer Gaurav Gambhir of hip-hop crew Bombay Lokal. Each episode highlights a different theme - the four so far have been the college hip-hop scene, mental health, dress codes and side hustles during your college days.

Krupa Gohil and Rohit Pereira

But every episode delves into deeper issues. For instance, while talking about juggling graphic designing and academics, Paul mentions how young people are exploited in the market when it comes to jobs and internships. This also struck a chord with 23-year-old Gohil. "It was a revelation for me because if Priyanka had to go through this, I can't even imagine what students who have lesser experience must be going through," she says, while Pereira recalls another instance. "We had Nashwaa Shahrukh, who went to college in Delhi, speak about student politics there and I wondered if we need something of that scale in Mumbai."

Even though the podcast features young voices, the hosts maintain that it is for everyone. "I'm 40 years old. So, there's a generational difference but I get to learn something new from this. In my time, we had no BMM or BMS courses and dealing with mental health issues was seen as craving for attention," Pereira shares. And although these may be topics spoken about in campuses today, Gohil says that a podcast facilitates community building. "All these conversations are universal. But we felt the need to give it wider visibility."

Log on to ivmpodcasts.com/atkt-talent-tent

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