Detroit, MI (USA): Life is a picnic when you park it! Faced with 5 months of winter and snow in a year, Michiganders’ cravings for outdoors will be too evident, come summer! And the Telangana Development Forum (TDF)’s calendar event, Telangana vanabhojanam on Saturday provided them the picture-perfect setting. The venue, Shiawassee Park in Farmington Hills was a sea of Telugu people with around 300 families thronging in.
Cloudy weather early on and intermittent showers around noon however failed to dampen the spirit of those converged at the Park to cook, eat, sing, dance and play. They used the occasion to get behind the lens and take photos with their friends and families in the natural settings.
Games and fun activities like running races, water-balloon toss, blind-fold, musical chairs and anthakshari for children and adults were organized and all those who gathered, participated with unbridled energy.
With the summer vacation just begun, kids had a whale of time taking part in various games and sports and fun events. At regular intervals, they made a mad dash to the ice-cream truck with their parents for choicest kulfis and icecreams to cool down with.
Whether you relax on a blanket under the shade of trees, sit at a table under the shelter or cook outdoors, the food just tastes better outside! The spread of Telangana flavors, some of them prepared on-site even before the crowds swelled, was there to savor. Strong aroma of fried rice (Bagaara), chicken shorva (gravy), mutton (lamb) dalcha, Tomato Dal (pappu), pacchi pulusu and delicious desserts filled the air. In addition, many families brought to the venue food cooked at home and served to the gathering. Each item rewarded their sense of good taste. Inspired by the food artisans and crafted with authentic ingredients and tantalizing recipes, the spread (of items) fed many a passion for gourmet foods.
Several participants, who spoke on the occasion, underscored the importance of many such events regularly to build a strong camaraderie in the community.
“It was a fantastic day for all of us. We thoroughly rejoiced the event. Such outings provide a refuge from life’s fast pace and a chance to enjoy the tranquility of the surroundings with family and friends,” says Swapna Chintapalli, a software engineer by profession.
“I really thank TDF Detroit for giving us this occasion to celebrate today. It helps the community to connect and know each other well,” said Hari Shetty, a busy pharmacist working in metro Detroit area.
Special feature in this edition was the ‘health desk’ which was a huge hit. Doctors, Jahnavi, Sanjay, Rakesh Lattupally, Amitha Kakulavaram, Anupama Nadimpally, Sudha, Vinay, Neelima and Hima Katukuri, Sudha, were handy for senior citizens from India visiting their sons and daughters here with tests such as blood pressure, glucose levels, provided tips for their healthy well-being and prescriptions as necessary.
The huge attendance on Saturday simply signified the character of a strong Telangana community living in Michigan and excellent planning and execution by TDF Detroit chapter. More than
Over 30 volunteers diligently worked for the event under the stewardship of TDF Detroit regional coordinators Raj Gaddam, Yadagiri Ileni, Krishna Reddy Chellemela and Karunakar Kandukuri and TDF USA Board of Trustee (BoT) Praveen Kesireddy.
Srinivasu (Vasu) Dundigalla, Mahesh Venukadasula, Ashok Veludandi, Damodar Gankidi, Krishna Prasad Jaligama, K.L. Reddy, Madhu Mallepally, Manohar Gaddam, Rajan Thattai, Rohith Seelam, Sainath Lachireddygari, Mallik Padukone, Sunil Earla, Venkat Kanala, Vinay Lakkakula, Yugandhar Bhumireddy, Deepthi, Lakshmi, Nisha, Prabhavathi, Prem Reddy Chintapally, Ram Reddy Manda, Karunakar Kesireddy, Sri Ram Jala, Venkat Nathala, Gopi, Shankar Verma, Aravind Kancharla, Santosh Kakulavaram, Jithender Yedulla, Raj Geddadi, Nagarjuna and students from Lawrence Technological University provided their services for the successful conduct of the event.
TDF thanked the Telugu community for turning out in big numbers. On this occasion, they remembered Telangana ideologue Late Prof Jayashankar, who awakened the latent Telangana community and helped them realize their decades-old dream of a separate State in 2014. It was also an occasion to call upon the people to observe and practice International Yoga Day on June 21 for overall well-being of the mankind. Even though TDF celebrated Telangana State Formation on June 2, they however cut a big cake for the benefit of many families that missed the festivities previously, and distributed it.
At dusk, as everyone left home marveling at a Michigan sunset and with fair share of memories from the day and longing for yet another edition of the event next year, TDF Detroit however, taking heart from this great show, are looking up for the National Board Meeting on June 27 with over 100 active TDF USA office bearers and few dignitaries from government of Telangana are expected to arrive in Detroit for a brainstorming session and discuss projects for development of Telangana followed by Telangana Family Night the same evening.
Venkat Reddy and Linga Reddy were declared joint winners in the musical chairs seniors (60+ years) men’s category while Amrutha Lakkakula bagged the prizes in the senior women’s section. The ladies event was won by Srujana Pingali after an intense battle. Sowjanya Yatham won the ladies’ blindfold event.
In the juniors and sub-juniors section, Varun Goli, Anish, Neel Podduturi, Varun Nalla, Srijan Pingili, Sohan Yedulla, Sankalp, Sriram Reddy Kura, Anish Reddy Manda, Manjusri and Swathi won the titles in various events.
