TLCA 35th Anniversary Celebration

The 35th Anniversary of the Telugu Literary and Cultural Association was celebrated in a grand style on Saturday, December 9th at the Hindu Temple auditorium. Started in 1971 by a visionary group of Telugu enthusiasts, the TLCA is the oldest Telugu organization in the US.

The evenings festivities started off with a short invitation by Venkatesh Mutyala, Secretary of TLCA. This was followed by programs by our talented local members. Vidya Kotika and Rosey Raina James began with a dance to a medley of hit songs. This was followed by our young Rock Stars Srinath Gandham, Prashanth,Nitin Vanama, Sahithi Kovuri, Vini, Gayatri, all of them about 5 years old, in a dance choreographed by Krishnasri Gandham. Pavan Gedala, Kameshwari Kotikalapudi and Shabari Vanama followed this with a sizzling number Thobare Thoba from Stalin, again choreographed by Krishnasri. The next item was a dance set to a blend of songs from Pardesi and Nee Sneham, brought to life by Sriya Bhumi and Shravya Saladi, choreographed by Sridevi Bhumi.

This was followed by a musical medley. Sanjay Jonnavithula started this off with a soulful rendition of Maa Telugu Talli, setting the mood for the evening. Mrs Aramalla sang a song from Missamma, accompanying herself on the keyboard. Monika Kommu then came on stage, with a beautiful song accompanied by James Kommu on the keyboard.

Then it was back to dances again, starting with the long awaited Ushaarugaa, a performance by the ladies of TLCA. Surya Basavaraju, Sridevi Bhumi, Shailaja Challapalli, Krishnasri Gandham, Seetha Garikapati, Suhasini Jonnavithula, Rama Kambhampaty, Nandana Muthuki, Niraja Nalamothu, Kalpana Vanam performed a dance choreographed by Sridevi Bhumi and Kalpana Vanam, set to the song thom tananana. This was followed by Alumelumanga Vilaasam, a classical dance ballet set to a string of Annamacharya krithis - jaya lakshmi vara lakshmi, alarulu kuriyaga aadinade and chakkani talliki chaangu bhala. Sabrina performed as Goddess Alamelumanga, Preeti as Lord Venkateshwara and Ramona, Denise and Sreshta as the Sakhis. Choreography was by Sadhana Paranji of Sadhanalaya Dance School.

This was followed by the dinner break. A sumptuous dinner was set up in the halls downstairs, and enjoyed by all.

The second half of the program began with a unique Opening Ceremony, an All TLCA production. Durga Prasad Varanasi composed a poem Johaaru Johaaru, which was set to music by Vatsala Gabbur and choreographed by Satya Pradeep of the Nritya Saagaram Dance Academy. Anuhita Basavaraju, Lekha Grandhi, Pratyusha Mutyala, Harini Nori, Yamini Nori, Meghana Reddy, Akhila Sankaramanchi, Srivatsa Sankaramanchi were the dancers. The vocals were by Sriram Garikapati, accompanied on the mridangam by Sunil Kunnakkat and on the Veena by Sitadevi Pillarsetty. This unique piece was set in a garland of ragas, and ended with a musical tribute to TLCA on her 35th birthday.

The Chairperson of the Board of Trustees, Usha Aramalla, then welcomed the audience to the function, and gave a short speech about the formation of TLCA. Prasad Kambhampaty, President of TLCA, joined in thanking the audience for attending, and narrated the highlights of his recent meeting with the honourable chief minister of Andhra Pradesh. The grand sponsors for the evening Anumolu Subbarao and Pailla Malla Reddy were then invited on stage to formally begin the programs by lighting the lamp.

The chief guest for the evening, renowned comedy star and director AVS (A.V.S.Subramanyam) was then introduced. He came on stage in his trade mark hat, and became an instant favourite with the crowd when he announced that the only reason he had the hat on was to be able to say "Hats off" to TLCA! He continued to keep the audience in splits of laughter for almost a half hour with his string of jokes, delivered in a perfect deadpan which made you laugh all the more.

The highlight of the evening was the honoring of the Past Presidents and Chairmen of TLCA. These stalwarts were responsible for leading TLCA towards this great moment through 35 long years, and this was an opportunity to pay our respects. Different members of the current Executive Committee and Trustees took turns to introduce the Presidents, who were each presented with a plaque by one of the guests of the evening.

Mohan Badhey, the Life Trustee of TLCA, then gave a short speech on the history of TLCA. This was followed by the release of the TLCA 35th anniversary Souvenir. The editorial committee of Sreenadh Jonnavithula, Apparao Sunkara and Nehru Cherukupally were invited on stage, and the book release was performed by Sri.AVS.

This was followed by the musical program for the evening. With his golden voice, Gangadhar started off the evening with a powerful rendition of Maanikya Veenaa from Mahakavi Kalidas. Close your eyes, and it was easy to imagine that Ghantasala himself came here to sing for us. Suneetha followed this with a beautiful rendition of her recent hit from Ramadasu, idigidigo naa raamudu eedane nilacunnadu. The third musical guest Mohan soon joined in transporting the audience to higher planes. This continued, with each of the singers outperforming the other, until late in the night; Nobody noticed the time pass .. and everyone was surprised to see that it was past midnight when the program ended! Apparao Sunkara, Secretary of the Board of Trustees, gave a vote of thanks.