July 12, 2008
NJ

July 3rd to 5th of 2008 turned out to be very special for Telugu people living in the United States and those who came all the way from India and other countries – since these were the days during which American Telugu Associaton (ATA) has organized its 10th ATA Conference and Youth Convention in the grand Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey. The convention set a new record by drawing “about 14,000 Telugus” and the participants were thrilled by seeing such a huge gathering during this long weekend. Those who have witnessed all the activities and programs during these three days expressed their amazement and wondered about how long it took to put on such a great display of our cultural extravaganza. Well, as they say, “Rome was not built in a day!” and this holds good for this mega event too! Hundreds of volunteers and convention committee members worked with ATA leadership and standing committees for the last 18 months to make this happen and the result is the greatest display of our Telugu culture. Following is a brief account with emphasis on some of the highlights of this memorable convention.

When the doors to the cultural treasure opened…
The doors of the Verizon tower of Prudential Center were opened at noon on July 3rd and the guests started walking in to be treated by several Registration booths named after prominent Telugu personalities from the past. While the pre-registrants could go to the booths based on their last names, others could go to designated booths for spot registration. The registration bags and packages were pre-assembled and were handed over to the registrants along with the convention badges that served as the entry tickets for the conference events. The conference website provided a listing of several hotels that offered discounted pricing for the participants and the organizers also arranged shuttle buses to these hotels for participant pick up and drop off during these three days. It was a pleasant and thrilling experience to see the guests coming in large numbers with many wearing traditional dresses – it was a feeling of being in our Motherland!

When the guests were treated by Grand Banquet Dinner…
The banquet dinner, hosted on July 3rd, started with a meet & greet reception followed by seating of the guests in the main arena. Nearly 4,000 guests attended this dinner – almost 1400 more than anticipated number. Guests were invited with a beautiful welcome song followed by introduction of chief guests and prominent visitors by ATA leaders. “The Governor of New Jersey, Hon’ble Jon Corzine, graced the occasion and this is the first time a sitting Governor attended an ATA event”. The banquet event, also called Awards banquet, featured a very well organized “Awards Ceremony”. ATA awards have a high prestige attached to them and they are given out biannually during the convention to Telugu people who have achieved significant laurels and international recognition in their respective fields. During the July 3rd banquet, ATA has given out “11 excellence awards in 10 categories”. This year ATA has also given out “10 Meritorious awards” in different areas to prominent personalities who have made significant contributions to community, arts, medicine etc., Distinguished service awards were also presented to ATA leaders who served the association during 2004-06 period. The Awards ceremony was followed by entertainment program - a mesmerizing musical night, by Drums genius Sivamani and melodious singers Mano and Gangadhar.

When the Mega Conference began…
The morning of July 4th, 2008, marked the inauguration of the Conference. A serene, spiritual and uplifting atmosphere engulfed the guests when “His Holiness Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji” graced the occasion and walked to the main stage while greeting everyone on the way with his inimitable and indelible smile. He initiated the festivities with Deepa Prajwalana. The Conference Convener, Sri Balaram Pammi, then conveyed the welcome address by duly complementing the mammoth efforts of the people who toiled to make the convention happen. Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji then gave his blessings and conveyed an enlightening message emphasizing the importance of culture and the aspects that are unique to Telugu language. He complimented the Telugus in USA for their efforts in keeping and perpetuating the Telugu culture. Then came the inauguration song magnificently portrayed by 165 children and adults. It highlighted various aspects of our Telugu culture and history and brought all the Presidents of ATA on the stage displaying the evolution path to the 10th incarnation – 10th ATA Conference & Youth Convention. Dr. Chandra Reddy Gavva, President of ATA, eloquently conveyed his message in Telugu by saying that we are all one Telugu family. He emphasized the importance of culture and traditions and the need to perpetuate it for the posterity. He also thanked the numerous volunteers and committee members who made the event happen and asked every one to enjoy the event and interact with fellow Telugus who came from USA, India and other countries. About 200 political leaders and their associates attended the ATA Conference and several of them addressed the audience by expressing their satisfaction in seeing so many Telugu people coming together for the cause of “preserving Telugu culture”. The cultural program consisting of many classical, contemporary and fusion themes entertained the audience throughout the afternoon following a typical “Andhra Bhojanamu”. Several seminars were organized in hotels around the Prudential Center that educated and entertained the participants on various topics. Following are some highlights from different seminars:

ATA Business Seminars were organized by a team led by Mr. Amar Reddy (Chair), Mr. Vasu Vishwanadhula (Co-chair) with Sri Sudhakar Perkari as Advisor. Ms. Neelam Deo, Consulate General of India, inaugurated ‘ATA Business Seminars 2008’. She outlined some of the investment opportunities currently available in India and also explained about the vast infrastructural development that is taking place at a faster pace in India. New Jersey Assemblyman Sri Upendra Chivukula also addressed the seminar. A number of Venture Capitalists have advised the upcoming business owners and IT professionals belonging to Telugu Diaspora to adopt successful business models in the US and launch them in India. Mr. Ram Sudireddy, Chairman and CEO of CHiL Semiconductors, encouraged young entrepreneurs to explore new and innovative ideas in order to determine their business goals and emphasized that new entrepreneurs can approach a venture capitalist for financing at any stage. He advised entrepreneurs to devote their energy to the fullest to the success of their ventures after receiving capital funding. “Until that happens your business plans may be modified or changed to suit the expectations of your financiers”, he added. Raj Lakhanpal, President of TiE-NJ-Philadelphia and Principal of Princeton Ventures spoke about new investment opportunities emerging in the field of health sciences. He explained that India continues to provide services at low cost and that it is wise to invest in new ventures in India in the fields of medicine, hospital management and health related technologies. James Gunton, General Partner, New Jersey Technology Venture Company, spoke about advantages for a new entrepreneur in approaching Angel Investors and Venture Capitalists. Mr. Amar Reddy, Chair of Business Seminars Committee, moderated the session on raising funds from venture capitalists. Dr. Rammohan Rao, Dean, ISB Hyderabad spoke about importance of business education in global economy and success stories of India based business schools among top 20 business schools of the world.

In other seminars, Grirish Reddy, a Wall Street investor, Mark Hebner, and Ram Kolluri spoke about investments in US and Indian markets. Subba Row Chennuri, Editor, Telugu Times and Ravi Prakash, CEO of TV9, discussed issues related to Media and Entertainment. Their comments were focused on establishing media business and financing movies.

Spiritual seminars were organized on both 4th and 5th July where learned spiritual gurus expressed their views on topics ranging from Sanatana Dharma, Peace, Yoga, Meditation, Bhakthi, Science and Technology in ancient India to the preachings of Lord Krishna, Buddha, Vedas and Bhagavad-Gita.

In literary sessions, scholars from India and United States spoke on the theme of ‘Saradaa Saahityam’. The speeches were focused on various aspects of Telugu humor such as in movies, poetry, classical literature, modern literature and dramas. The sessions were conducted by Sri Vanguri Chitten Raju with coordination and running commentary by Sri Suddala Ashok Teja and Sri Gollapudi Maruthi Rao.

Alumni graduates of various educational institutions, such as, Kurnool Medical College, Andhra Medical College, Kakatiya Institute of Techonology and Sciences and Federation of Andhra Pradesh Medical Graduates interacted with fellow alumni during the conference.

Scholars, Engineers and Experts in Water Management took part in a panel discussion on reasons, effects, consequences and solutions of Water Wars. The panel discussion was moderated by Sri Murali Reddy Chintalapani.

Problems of Telangana region and its development, utilization of Godavari waters, and poverty eradication were discussed in a seminar attended by Prof. Ramesh Reddy of Osmania University, Veder Venkat Reddy and Vikram Alula, Eco, SKS Micro Finance.

An extensive discussion on issues related to Non-resident Indians was initiated by political leaders from India that included a number of MPs, Union and State ministers. Speakers in seminars on NRI issues included Sri JC Diwakar Reddy (Panchayatraj Minister of Andhra Pradesh), Smt. Purandareswari Daggubati (Union Minister of State for Human Resource Development), Sri Madhu Yashki (MP), Sri K. Jadava Reddy (MLC). Sri Arjun Dyapa moderated the political forum session.

Cultural, Spiritual, and Entertainment programs for youth were also conducted from morning to evening.

When the primetime events transported the audience to the land of entertainment…
“Youth are the flag bearers of our culture into the future!” Aptly, youth has played a significant part in this convention. In fact, the slogan of this 10th Conference and Youth Convention itself has a component that says “Opening the doors to our Youth”. After seeing the Youth programs and the talent of our youth on Friday (July 4th), the guests were very impressed and felt comforted that the organization would do well in their “good hands”. The Youth fashion show was orchestrated very well with glistening costumes, overflowing enthusiasm, foot-tapping music and above all with commendable talent. There is one event during the primetime that became an instant hit with the audience – the rendition of Telugu dance numbers by Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre, an all American team from Indianapolis. The dance – a fusion of Western style with that of Tollywood was a runaway hit and received tremendous applause and response from the audience. Kalathapasvi Sri K. Vishwanath was highly impressed with the team and mentioned that he has never seen anything like that before. The creativity of the artists in portraying the dance numbers in a new angle touched the audience and the artists were also thrilled beyond their wildest dreams upon tasting such an overwhelming response. The veteran choreographer, Gregory Hancock, who is known for his love for Indian music, dance, and classical theater, was felicitated on the main stage with a shawl. The visit of Hancock Group was coordinated by Vijaypal Reddy (National Coordinator of ATA) and Manasa Gavva (Youth activities Co-chair). During the primetime, three ATA awards were given out – ATA legendary award to Padma Bhushan Dr. Pratap Reddy of Apollo Hospitals and Lifetime achievement awards to Padma Shri Dr. S.V.Rama Rao (a painter of international repute) and Dr. Bhadriraju Krishnamurthi (for his service to Telugu language and literature).

A notable and touchy moment for many came when Kalathapasvi Sri K. Vishwanath was felicitated with a well orchestrated tribute befitting the image of this great movie director and actor. Sri Vishwanath, is fondly respected by Telugu, Hindi and Tamil audiences as well for his memorable films such as Saragam, Sankarabharanam, Sagara Sangamam, and Saptapadi and his felicitation at ATA was a highlight of the cultural program. The felicitation began with a performance by students of New Jersey based Kalanjali Dance School who danced to the tunes of five songs from movies directed by Sri Vishwanath. The audience also enjoyed performances by Telugu actors Allu Arjun, Raja and Venu Thottempudi who danced to the numbers from movies in which they have acted. These performances continued late in the night with varieties of entertainment programs that included comedy shows by comedians, Sri Rallapalli, Sri Kota Srinivasa Rao, Sri Gundu Hanumantharao, Dr. Harnath Policherla and Rajitha. The evening show concluded with memorable musical performance by Sri Gangadhar.

When the grand final day concluded with memorable “Grand Finale!”
July 5th, the last day of the convention started with Ashtavadhanam, organized by literary committee in the Main arena. Several noted personalities from India and the USA attended this remarkable literary feat and made it extra special. This was followed by many cultural programs in the afternoon with non-stop serving of tasty Andhra food. The cultural extravaganza consisted of a mix of classical, folk and semi-classical dances. A series of classical dances were performed by dancers and students trained by teachers such as Smt. Swathi Gundapuneedi, Smt. Sadhana Paranji, Smt. Divya Yeluri and Indira Dixit. Another highlight of the cultural event was the musical recitation of five kavyas of Telugu literature called ‘Panchakavyam’. It was written by Dr. Rallabandi Kavitha Prasad and presented by scores of artists led by Movie Dance Director Natyakalavisarada K. V. Satyanarayana. The ‘Panchakavya’ troupe was sent by the Government of Andhra Pradesh. Incredibly talented Kumari Vasantha Subbalakshmi stole the hearts of the audience with her melodious rendition of classical songs. As part of the youth programs, Veshadharanalo Roopantharalu was performed in which about twenty performers participated. There were shows like Teen Champs, Mother and Daughter pageant that received the admiration of the audience. Dr. Sindhura directed Vemana Sumathi Bhavana where quotes from Vemana and Sumathi sathakaalu were beautifully presented with colorful costumes, commendable histrionics and admirable background music. The primetime, among other entertaining items, featured a rib-tickling mimicry by Sri Harikishan, nostalgic songs by “Ghazal Maestro” Sri Ghazal Srinivas and unique rendition of famous songs by Sri Vandemataram Srinivas. Major donors for the convention were duly acknowledged and honored by the ATA leadership since they are the people whose support and commitment helped in a big way to bring this event to fruition. Great Grand Sponsors Sri Malla Reddy Pailla & Mrs. Sadhana Pailla and Sri Premsagar Reddy & Mrs. Shanthi were honored with shawls and plaques for their generous contributions and strong support and help throughout the preparatory phase and organization of the event. An event of this mega scale needs a mega, grand finale and this was brilliantly fulfilled by none other than the most talented Musical Director and singer of Tollywood “Sri Devi Sri Prasad”. It was a smashing hit since “Devi” could literally engage Telugu people of all ages in his high-energy, dynamic and charismatic musical. Many got out of their chairs and danced with Devi and later shared their happiness that they would cherish that memory for the rest of their lives.

While a lot of hard work went into this mega event, there were some unanticipated hurdles and unavoidable circumstances that caused some inconvenience to the guests that were efficiently rectified by the convention organizers and ATA leadership eventually. This is a major event and despite a good strategy and great implementation plan, unanticipated things would prop up. This is a family event all Telugus came together as one BIG FAMILY to celebrate the culture. ATA leadership apologizes for any inconvenience that the guests have faced during the event and hopes that they forgive the members of this BIG FAMILY with their big hearts.

The Epilogue…
Jawaharlal Nehru once said, “Culture is the widening of the mind and of the spirit”. Telugus from USA, India and other countries stand out as testament to this statement by displaying the reverence for their culture and extraordinary commitment to preserve it for the posterity. They have also taken it to the next level by including a large contingent of Telugus – a record breaking 14,000 Telugus, as well as by including the leaders and artists of the West in this cultural extravaganza and it is no exaggeration if we call this immensely successful 10th ATA Conference and Youth Convention a “Telugu Olympiad” of 2008. Well, we also have a record of holding this Olympiad even before the Beijing Olympiad. Let us take pride for making the 10th ATA Conference and Youth Convention a grand success – a record breaking mega event that will linger in our minds for many years to come!

“Mana Teluguthalliki Mallepoodanda – Mana Kannathalliki Mangalaarathulu”