North America Telugu Society (NATS) celebrated Mahila Sambaralu in Los Angeles with grandeur and glitz that is rival to no other event celebrated by any other Indian organization in United States.
For the first time in the history of Indian Americans, this event was organized completely by women with volunteers exceeding over 60.
As part of this event, cooking competitions, games and fruit carving competitions were held in six different cities in Los Angeles Metro Area with over 300 participants. Drawing competitions were held in association with Manabadi for different age groups and about 250 kids participated in these where the theme was about women.
Mahila Sambaralu organized by NATS at Cabrillo High School in Long Beach attracted a lot of attention in United States as well as in India where the organizers called on the community to celebrate the women in their lives.
The event started at 4 PM promptly and the auditorium was full by 4:30 PM with people continuing to pour in. Over 1400 people attended the event which ended up being the biggest telugu event of all times in Los Angeles.
NATS has been known to organize such massive events with meticulous planning in Los Angeles for the last three years. Several stalls were setup by the venue that the attendees, mostly women, enjoyed with lots of shopping including clothing and jewellery.
Fruit Carving competitions held at the venue attracted reasonable crowds who cheered for the participants in the competition. The attendees were seen taking pictures with the carved fruits that showed the skill of the participants.
The real skill was seen on the execution and planning of the event that started on time and ended on time with non stop entertainment and no glitches. Cultural programs were the highlight of the evening.
Every program was so appealing with rich and colorful costumes wore by highly talented women. Classical dances, Modern dances, skits and various other programs entertained the crowd for full 5 hours.
Fashion show with over 70 mom & daughter pairs whipped the audience into frenzy. The back ground music hit the spot keeping the audience feet stomping as one pair after another walked onto the stage. These women knew how to rip a venue and the common thread throughout the evening was fun. The fashion show concluded with all the participants walking onto the stage at once that looked like star gazing.
The video played during the show about the importance of women silenced the entire auditorium as they became very emotional watching it. This video received huge applause at the end.
At the conclusion of this video, the audience maintained a moment silence for the lives of Nirbhaya and others who lost their lives as the women in this world continue to fight for equal justice and freedom. Everyone pledged to spread the message of love for all the women in their lives.
The logo for upcoming Tollywood movie Maine Pyar Kiya was released on the stage by a lucky draw winner. Special programs like Star Mahila and Gadasari Atha - Sogasari Kodalu were held on the stage with the audience competing to participage. Several iPads and Sarees were given away in a raffle.
One of the biggest appreciations that came from the audience was that they barely saw any men on the stage and that this event truly reflected the name Mahila Sambaralu. This event was arguably the best event in Los Angeles held in a long time was the most commonly heard comment from the audience while enjoying the delicious dinner after the event.
Prizes and trophies were awarded to all the winners and participants. There were a number of volunteers who volunteered for this event who worked for over two months making this event such a huge success.
All the key volunteers who spent enormous amount of time including Lakshmi Chundu, Jyothy Kolluri, Anitha Katragadda, Santhi Bodapati, Latha Yalamanchili, Sridevi Madala, Lakshmi Anumolu, Suvarsha Kamarasu, Hema Kanumilli, Ramani Kethireddy, Kanthi Darbala, Radhika Nekkanti, Praveena Kasanagottu, Himaja Ponnaganti, Lakshmi Chimata, Sravani Kode, Madhuvani Kota, Kavitha Ganduri, Srikala Yarlagadda, Santhi Yadlapati, Lavanya Vankina, Suba Subramanian, Rajyalakshmi Chilukuri, Kavitha Anusha, Beena Oruganti, Sudha Kavartapu were very happy at the turnout of the event.
Seeing the response for this event, NATS Executive Committee immediately announced that Mahila Sambaralu will be held by every NATS Chapter starting from 2014 and that the entire month of March every year will be dedicated to Women related events.
NATS thanks all the sponsors of the events including the food sponsor Vishnu Catering, Media Sponsor LATelugu and corporate sponsors SysIntelli, Allure Dental, Technossus, Pyramid Technology Solutions and Connex Info Systems.
Emotional video about Women Power:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHq1LKtlFjc
Photos:
https://picasaweb.google.com/101120222040231113603
