Behind the Event: with the OC of KScope

This weekend, Sophia College for Women brought back its 2026 edition of their annual fest Kaleidoscope. This year’s theme for the fest was Mehfil-e-Mumbai, an ode to the campus’ city and how it influenced not just college culture but art and performance events even beyond.

We spoke to Isha Sahu, Co-Senior Executive Coordinator from the organising committee of the fest this year. From ideation to execution, and from events to talent, Isha unpacked what truly goes into a college fest like Kaleidoscope. Read on!

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I think what makes it so different, and honestly so close to my heart, is that it’s an all-women’s college. Everything that you see getting organised, every single thing, is done by women.

Because when you think of certain positions at a fest, especially something like security, you naturally imagine these tall, muscular men standing at the gates. But here, it’s women doing that. It’s women handling decor, security, writing, graphics, events, people, conversations, literally everything.

And after being a part of this fest, you genuinely cannot tell me that a woman can’t do something. I’ve seen women here step up and do every single thing, even things you wouldn’t necessarily expect them to be doing. It’s hectic, it’s a lot, and sometimes it feels impossible, but somehow everyone makes it work.

For me, Kaleidoscope is just a very real example of the fact that women can do it all. And I think that’s what makes it so different.

I think the whole idea behind Mehfil-e-Mumbai came from wanting to look at Mumbai beyond what we normally see today. We always think of Mumbai as the hustle: catching trains, running to college, standing in queues, constantly being on the move. But there was this whole other Bombay that existed before that. A Bombay of cinema, poetry, music, theatre, Irani cafés, Art Deco, and just this whole old-world charm.

So with Mehfil-e-Mumbai, we wanted to bring that Golden Era of Bombay back and remind people of that side of the city that maybe gets forgotten.

And we didn’t want it to just be a theme that you see on the poster. We tried to put it into the actual events as much as possible. So you have events built around the music, cinema, dance and theatre of that period, but also events that look at the people, places and everyday life of Bombay. Even our Fine Arts events take inspiration from the city’s streets, transport, old buildings and its artistic culture.

So I think the idea was basically to not just tell people about old Bombay, but make them actually experience it for those two days.

I think people don’t really realise how much goes on behind every single thing they see at the fest.

Every person you see standing, walking, sitting, running around: there’s so much going on behind that. Most of us have classes first, then we come back and try to schedule everything around the fest. Some people also have work outside college, assignments, personal commitments, and somehow everyone is still trying to make everything work.

And then on top of that, there’s the whole pressure of getting things to actually come together and look effortless. The audience is supposed to just come in, enjoy themselves and see everything flowing smoothly. They don’t see the five different things that had to be fixed ten minutes before that, or the conversations happening backstage, or people running around trying to make sure something doesn’t fall apart.

I think honestly, making everything look like it’s flowing naturally is probably one of the biggest challenges.

Definitely the people I would meet.

I never expected to meet so many amazing people through this. Seniors, juniors, teachers, management, literally everyone I’ve had the opportunity to work with.

They’re all so different and so varied, but somehow you end up working together and creating something that is so much bigger than just you. And every single day that I get to work with these people, I genuinely feel very lucky.

I don’t think I would have met these people or had these relationships in any other situation. So, if you ask me what the most unexpected thing the fest has given me is, it’s definitely the people.

I think it’s definitely difficult, but we’re also very fortunate to have the reputation that we do.

Sophia as a college is already a very well-known college, especially in the South Mumbai college circuit, and a lot of that reputation comes from everyone who has studied here before us and everything they’ve contributed to the college.

And then Kaleidoscope itself has been around and has built its own reputation over the years. Every edition before us has contributed to making it what it is today, so we’re able to reach out to bigger names because of that foundation.

And then our hospitality team works tirelessly on the other end of it. They’re constantly reaching out to judges, performers and people from the industry and somehow making these things happen. It’s not easy at all, but the students really do put in that effort.

At the same time, the fest is still built around student participation. We have such a wide range of events across performing arts, fine arts, literary arts, informals and more, so there’s a space for students with completely different kinds of talents.

Honestly, I don’t think I can pick one.

Every single time I go to an event, I’m just like, oh my God, how did they even think of this? I genuinely don’t think I’m creative enough to sit down and come up with some of the concepts that the teams have come up with.

All four of our event teams — Informals, Performing Arts, Literary Arts and Fine Arts — have done such an amazing job, and every event has something completely different going for it.

So I wouldn’t say I have one favourite. Every time I see a new event, I end up getting excited about that one.

Yeah, definitely. Instagram and Reels have completely changed the way we promote the fest.

We’re adapting to the way people consume information now. It’s become much easier for us to reach potential sponsors, judges, collaborators and even people who are outside Mumbai because they can actually see what Kaleidoscope is through our Instagram.

And I think the Reels make it more fun as well. You see people from the fest actually being involved in them, and a lot of them are just genuinely funny. It gives people a little glimpse into the people behind Kaleidoscope rather than just showing them a poster and saying, this is our fest.

And then obviously, all the practical information is there too; the schedule, events, updates, everything. We’ve actually had people reach out to us because they saw us on Instagram, so it has become a really important way of communicating with people outside the college too.

I think when we hear “college fest”, we automatically think of music and dance. But Kaleidoscope has so much more than that.

We have sports events, gaming, fine arts, digital art, designing, literary events, theatre, quizzes, informal events . There’s genuinely something for very different kinds of people.

Even within Fine Arts, for example, you have events where you’re painting, sculpting, designing or creating digital art, and there are events that combine different teams and creative formats.

So I think the idea is that you don’t necessarily have to be someone who wants to go on stage and dance or sing to feel like you belong at Kaleidoscope. You can be someone who loves gaming, writing, painting, designing, acting, sports or even just trivia, and there’s still a space for you.

And that’s what I really like about the fest: it isn’t built around just one kind of talent.

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The OC’s experiences and efforts finally culminated into a grand event as Kaleidoscope came to life this weekend on the 3rd and 4th of September at the Sophia College campus in Mumbai.