100 unread messages.
Being a part of the Malhar workforce comes with 100 unread messages waiting for you every time you open WhatsApp. A journey that begins with a text and ends with a text, with four months of endless scrolling in between, but definitely not on Instagram.
Let’s go back a little, to a time when you had just finished giving your GD for OG, Coordis, or Volunteer positions. Every waking moment was spent with fingers crossed, waiting for that one specific moment when your phone screen lights up with the WhatsApp notification that alters the course of your college life forever.
Dear applicant,
Congratulations and welcome to the ___ department of Malhar 2026!
Join this group to be a part of the M-workforce: Proceeds to insert WhatsApp link.
And the moment that message pops up on your lock screen, you tap the link, and voilà, you enter a world where anything less than 200 messages is considered a ‘quiet day’.
A fair warning—one group turns into one too many groups in no time.
Formal chats quickly turn into ‘unofficial' ones as soon as the brief introductions are over and calls to go ‘bonding’ take over. Polls go up to decide dates when everyone is free, and trust me, it follows the same pattern for every department.
The OC then restores order with a bombardment of Google Meet links, followed by almost uncountable Google Doc links. Before you know it, the important ones occupy all the space in the group descriptions. And God forbid, if the vital ones get lost among all the nonsensical banter, the messages start getting pinned, one after the other.
Department chats are split into sub-department chats, and as if that was not enough, you get added to collaborative groups with other departments.
After a point, all group names start sounding similar, leaving you scratching your head, confused about which one you originally wanted to open. And then comes the genius from your team with a brilliant name, usually based on a silly inside joke, which eventually becomes the group’s entire identity.
If Vols have three groups, OGs have seven, OCs have twelve, and let’s not even begin to explore the number of group chats Quartet has.
From ideas to event-specific discussions, from RnRs to photoshoot inspirations, from volunteer application forms to Judge prospects, and even fit-checks, the conversations are never static. They are always in constant transition.
Every meeting comes with a debrief on the chat, sometimes the serious ones and sometimes the absolutely hilarious ones. But the best part of it all is, and always will be, Sticker Wars.
One bad picture, one funny expression, and worst of all, when your internet betrays you during a virtual meeting, leaving you frozen in a position that soon becomes a daily appearance on your WhatsApp feed in the form of stickers.
The real turning point, however, is the onboarding of the volunteers.
Post the GDs, when you finally inform them about their selection, their excited reactions are infectious. Their enthusiasm never fails to bring a smile to the Core’s faces.
An introductory message and an ice-breaker, everyone knows the drill that follows. The most controversial takes take centre stage, with all conversations eventually circling back to them.
Then it’s more meetings.
Do you know how difficult it is to gather everyone in one place, with their timetables aligning?!
If not, you need to understand that it is an art.
Everything the core has worked on is passed down to the volunteers. Some ideas are built upon together, while others become guiding directions.
Schedules, evacuation plans, Lounge work timings, and promotion messages soon become a familiar sight.
You become so accustomed to opening the Malhar groups first thing in the morning that even your phone feels the urge to remind you of that.
One day, before the three days of Malhar, come the texts that sum up months of effort finally taking shape. The reflective chats, mostly between OCs and OGs trying to process the overwhelming emotions and the sleep deprivation catching up with them, make their way into the groups. And somehow, they make the entire department feel the weight and magic of everything they have built together.
On the main days of Malhar, the group chat becomes a whole different universe.
A constant stream of:
“Do’s and Don’ts.”
“Things allowed to carry.”
“Where are you?”
“I am here.” Sends picture.
“I am coming there.”
“I am in a judge block.”
“The event is starting, come fast!”
And a million doubts in between.
Then come the concerned texts.
“Please hydrate yourself.”
“We are there for you.”
“Please eat!”
The messages, however, that stay etched in your heart are the ones written after the Aftermovie is screened.
Your vision is blurry as you make your way home with a heavy heart but a suitcase full of memories. You are tired, but content.
One message follows another, as the ‘Thank Yous’ and ‘Proud of yous' pour in. Each one carrying the same intention: wishing that you had lived those moments a little more, stayed in the present a little longer, and spent more time with the people who are Malhar for you.
That day, the WhatsApp group formed four months ago fulfils its purpose. Then comes the saddest moment of all, you unpin it on WhatsApp. Trust me, my heart breaks a little just thinking about it already.
The group never truly disappears. It still comes alive on certain occasions, sometimes with pictures, videos, AMNITE memories, and people who once filled it with endless conversations.
Because at the end of the day, beyond the endless messages, countless groups, and never-ending notifications, these conversations become the threads that connect the entire M-workforce.
An End-to-End Encryption of memories, madness, and moments that last far beyond the last unread message.