TAMA Celebrates Silver Jubilee with Two-Day Gala Event
The TAMA silver jubilee celebrations were held on September 2nd and September 3rd. The two day event began with a prayer by Dr. B. K. Mohan, in the presence of special guest Hon. Ken Cutshaw, Honorary Consul General to India from Georgia. TAMA First Lady, Madhavi Indurti and President, Mr. Bala Indurti, lit the lamp and Hon. Ken Cutshaw released the official souvenir. Dr. Madugula Nagaphani Sarma released a DVD about the history of TAMA and Dr. Jaganmohan Rao released a DVD about the scholarships TAMA has presented.
The event kicked off to a start with "Swagatam", a song and dance item that was prepared specially for this occasion. With active participation of more than 150 children, the Kids Fest program became a runaway success! This was well organized by TAMA education coordinator, Ram Durvasula, with assistance from Padma Latha, Ravi Potula, Ramesh Manyam, and Devanand Kondur.
One of the well attended programs in the afternoon was the "Rajathavadhanam", a literary item. It was impressive to see more than 25 community members take the role of "Pruchakulu". This five hour long item was arranged by the literary coordinator, Sreedevi Dadithota, under the guidance of world famous Avadhani Dr. Madugula Nahaphani Sarma.
In the evening, TAMA President, Mr. Bala Indurti, applauded the efforts of the executive committee. Indurti talked about the major accomplishments TAMA has achieved, such as the116 scholarships that were awarded to merit students in Andhra Pradesh (amounting to $33,000. He also mentioned that in the history of TAMA, this was the first time that all the executive committee members were also life members. 87 other members had also become life-members and Indurti was confident of crossing the 100 mark soon.
The Emcees for the Saturday event were Ram Durvasula, Ramesh Duvvuri, Neelima Gaddamanugu, and Sudhamayi Vempati. Mimicry by the famous Telugu cine artist, Siva Reddy, was the highlight of the cultural show. Children born and raised in the US and adults striving to retain their culture, came onto the stage one after the other to entertain the audience. Folk, classical and film based items were presented by TAMA local talents. One of the invited celebrities commented that due to the abundance of local talent, only three guests from India were required to entertain as opposed to dozens!
Navarasala Telugu Paata, a new concept, was developed and coordinated by Venkat Chennubhotla. Dr. Seshu Sarma and Dr. Venu Dasigi were the judges for this program. Music lovers enjoyed the variety of songs that were sung by the participants. TAMA, in their tradition of supporting classical arts, presented a one hour drama based on the last Kakatiya King, Pratapa Rudra II. This was an adaptation written and directed by Dr. P.V. Rao, and produced by Syam Yellamraju. Syam played dual roles of the King and Chakali. Ramakant Rallapalli, Lakshmi Vedala, Venkat Chennubhotla, Eshwarprasad Dontu, and many others completed the cast of 16. The drama was done with period costumes which the audience enjoyed.
The Mahila Sadassu was coordinated by Atlanta based Dr. Seshu Sarma. There was a panel discussion with Dr. Mano Naidu as the moderator and Dr. Rohini Reddy and Dr. Mahendra Shah as panelists. Dr. Sudhanva Char conducted a YOGA seminar with Dr. B. K. Mohan, Dr. Mangaraju Vanapalli, Dr. Sreeni Gangasani as key speakers. Even though this seminar was held early in the morning, the turn out was good. A DVD on yoga by Sri. Jaggi Vasudev was released by Jayaram Maddireddy at the end of the seminar.
Second day: Business seminars and more
The second day began with a business seminar by Kris Gadde (chairman), Deven Reddy, Ravi Kandimalla, and Venu Mondendu. Keynote speakers Dr. Jagdish Sheth, Harsh Agadi (CEO of Churchs Chicken), Dr. Srinivas Reddy and Deepak Raghavan gave speeches on specific topics. Indurti thanked the seminar speakers and thanked Ravi Ponangi, Chand Akkineni, and Kris Gadde for coordinating the speeches.
Lakshmi Vedala, Smitha Yellamraju, Seshu Kumari Duvvuri, and Ram Durvasula organized an Anthyakshari played by seven teams. Venkat Chennubhotla's team was declared the winner. This segment was most enjoyed by the attendees. Annamyya Animutyalu was coordinated by Dr. Seshu Sarma, where a group of classical singers presented compositions by Annamyya (a famous composer) with support on violin by Ramesh Panchagnula, veena by Dr. Sehsu Sarma, mridangam by Krishna Sarangapani and udu by Srinikirshore Bharadwaj.
A unique alumni seminar was held by Moorthy Rekapalli, Srikanth Konda, Srinivas Jemchand, and Jayakumar Mallavarapu. Many students from various colleges participated in this event. Ekapatrabhinayam by Vanam Sankarayya, Padma Latha, Sathya Karnati was an added attraction prior to the prime time show. In the Sahithi Sadassu segment, Dr. P. V. Rao conducted the program and Chitten Raju Vanguri released two books, written by Dr. Seshu Sarma and Dr. P.V. Rao respectively. A lot of local writers came to present their work in the "Sweeya kavitha pathanam" section.
The prime time show on the concluding day of the celebrations also featured an awards ceremony. Dr. Jaganmohan Rao was honored with a life-time achievement award by Dr. P.V.Rao. Venkat Pandiri, Sreedevi Dadithota, Ram Durvasula, Ramesh Duvvuri, Paddy Rao Atmuri, Adi Chinnatimma, and Ramesh Chaparala were recognized as well.
Dr. P. V. Rao, Chitten Raju Vanguri, Dr. Seshu Sarma, Raghava Tadavarthi, Raj Manohar Mahakala. Kamal Satuluru, Dr. Sujata Reddy, Padmaja Kelam, Revathy Komanduri, Sasikala Penumarthy, Neelima Gaddamanugu, Ramakrishna Nemani, Dr, V. V. Rao, Dr. B. K. Mohan, Srinikishore, Dr. Ravi Sarma, T. R. Reddy, Dr. Mano Naidu, Dr. Mangaraju Vanapalli, J.C. Shaker Reddy, and Venu Polisetty were also awarded.
Quantum Bank was the key sponsor of the event. The climax of the 25th year celebrations was the musical night where Ganagandharva Gangadhar, Film actor Siva Reddy and two time Nandi Award winner, Usha, enthralled the audience. Ganagandharva Gangadhar ended the event with a song titled "sivasankari".
Ramesh Chaparala, vice-president of TAMA, thanked the committee, members, invited guests of honor and volunteers for making this event successful.
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