Feb 18th, 2012 was a great day for Telugu music lovers in Metro Atlanta.
Amrutha Varshini organized a grand Musical Night & “Anthyakshari” competition. Eleven groups of active participants played the Anthyakshari event ably conducted by the dynamic duo of Venkat Chennubhotla and Phani Dokka with able support from Sneha Chaturvedula and Shanthi Medicherla.
Dr. Sanjeeva Reddy graced the occasion as the chief guest for the event. Dr Pemmaraju Venugopala Rao was the Guest of Honor. Dr Prem Reddy and Dr. Pailla Malla Reddy were the Grand sponsor and Platinum Sponsor respectively. Srini Vangimalla and Dilip Tunki from Serenity infotech management were the Title Sponsors.
Program started with Jyothiprajwalana by Dr. Sanjeeva Reddy, Dr. P. Venugopala Rao, Narender Reddy, JC Shaker Reddy, Rajeshwar Gangasani & Bala Indurti.
The six hour fun fest over the night would not have been possible without the able guidance and support from our well known community leader, Bala Indurti and his team of committed volunteers.
Amrutha Varshini was originally founded on Feb 18th 2006 by Venkat Chennubhotla supported by Phani Dokka and Lakshmi Vedala. The goals of this organization are to promote Telugu literature in USA and to encourage Telugu light music. Amrutha Varshini organizes literary meets and light music concerts alternatively on a monthly schedule.
Over 600 people were present to enjoy the scintillating evening marked by fierce and friendly competition among the 55 participants from the 11 teams that battled it out to win the Anthyakshari competition. The number of teams and participants itself is an all-time record for Antyakshari competitions organized by NRIs anywhere in the world.
The program left a distinct impression mainly due to a potpourri of creative infusion from Venkat and Phani to hold the audience spellbound in anticipation.
An example of the innovation is a round of dumb charades in Amrutha Varshini. This was probably a maiden venture for many music enthusiasts and held the audience in splits. After 8 rounds of such creative mixes, the team of Vinod Gandikota, Uma Jamshed, Sunitha Medharametla, Sandhya Ganti and Sujatha Eemani took the honors and won the coveted FIRST place and bagged gift cards worth $500.
The Runner up team of Madhavi Indurti, Sailaja Gella, Neelima Gaddamanugu, Pratima Nallagatla & Bala Indurti won gift cards worth $250.
The team of Ram Durvasula, JayaSri, Sandeep Kauta, Vijaya Lanka, Kamal Satuluru was the second runner up. Every participant received a wonderful participant trophy. Dr.Vijay Vemulapalli and Ramesh Duvvuri were the judges for this Anthyakshari competition. They extended their full cooperation during the event.
The event was covered by popular NRI media representatives including Great Andhra, Parthiv Parikh from Khabar, Jyotsna Hegde from NRI Pulse and Ravi Ponangi from India Tribune. Photography for the event was diligently managed by Sudarshan Mamiduri. Sudarshan also designed Amristha Varshini logo. Videography was sponsored by Prashant Kollipara’s Byte Graph.
After Dinner was served, the competitors and audience got back to resume the festivities. The return from the intermission was marked by the melodious presentation of “Tenela Tetala Matalatho” by a group of children. The eloquent rendition filled the air with a patriotic fervor and covered the senses with a deep array of satisfaction. A dozen voices sang in unison and the crowd of 600 watched in silence as the magic of the moment unfolded before them. The moment was an emotional one for all and it was no surprise to watch the normally controlled Venkat’s voice falter emotionally as he declared rightly that the rich legacy of Amrutha Varshini has just been ascertained by the young children.
As we trudge through our daily pattern of life, it is not often we get moments to introspect and relish our rich legacy. Nary a moment we spend, in capturing the best of our culture. It is institutions like Amrutha Varshini that remind us of what we were and what we can be. Organizations like these that foster the spirit of telugu culture and music, will ensure that none of us will ever be lonely in our thoughts, as our memories will always be rich in melody and pure in content.
Amrutha Varshini thanks Ramesh Chaparala, Ravi Kandimalla, Dr.T.Satyanarayana Reddy, Siva Gaddamanugu, Mahesh Pawar, Ramana Dodla, Sreenivas Kotlure, Gireesh Meka, Murali Sajja, Jagadeesh Cheemarla, Pavan Mandli and Ravi Singareddy all the volunteers and supporters of this event for making such memorable moments possible.
