BATA raised $15,000 in Deepavali Celebrations for the Vegesna Foundation to serve needy people in AP.
Bay Area Telugu Association (BATA) in association with Rational IT and Vegesna Foundation organized Amara Gayakulu Late Sri Ghantasala Aradhanotsavalu (85th Birthday celebrations) on November 10, 2007 at Indian Community Center, Milpitas, California. Popular singers Gayaka Siromani G.V. Prabhakar ( Hyderabad ), Gayaka Ratna Mani Sastry ( Houston , TX ), Raju Eduri & Gayitri Avvari ( California ) along with several of BATA artists have performed on the stage; it was a non-stop musical extravaganza ran for more than 3 hours without any break in between. In spite of rainy day, the auditorium was fully packed with approximately 700 people. This was an amazing performance by the artists that kept the full hall of crowd till the end. This event received a tremendous support from local businesses as follows: Grand Sponsor: Rational IT; Event Promoted By: Ravi Tax Services; Platinum Sponsors: DirectTV – AAA Satellite, AAA Gems & Beads, Shree Travels, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage (Mr. Neil Sheth), Precious Dental Care (Dr. Vaishali), Century21 Realty (Kamala & Mali Venkatesan); Media Sponsor: The Indian Express & Cinemaya Media Group, and Raffle Sponsor: BharatFamily.com.
Vijaya Aasuri of BATA served as Master of Ceremony for the evening. Veeru Vuppala and Karun Veligeti of BATA managed the tracks and sound system and coordinated the event. To kick off the main event, Dr. Chitten Raju Vanguri and Dr. Vamsee Ramaraju (Vegesna Foundation) along with artists and BATA committee members have lit up the ‘jyothi’ in the honor of Ghantasala.
Mrs. Aasuri introduced singers G.V. Prabhakar and Mani Sastry. Prabhakar and Mani Sastry immediately took the audience into their musical mesmerism with Ghantasala’s very popular songs such as “na hrudayamlo nidurinche cheli”, “ chita pata chinukulu padutu oonte”, “manase andala brundavanam”, “repante rupam kanti”, “pagale vennala jagame vuyala”, etc. Both of the artists were very interactive with the audience through out the program. They asked the audience to guess the songs by providing some clues. They were very impressed with audience guessing the songs correctly.
Singers Raju Eduri & Gayitri Avvari have also sang several of Ghantasala songs which received great applaus from the audience. During the program, Dr. Chitten Raju Vanguri and Dr. Vamsee Ramaraju of Vegesna Foundation shared their organization’s vision in helping poor and disabled children, and appealed the audience to support their effort. In response their appeal, Sri. Jayaram Komati (TANA President Elect) contributed $5,000. Additionally, Jayaram also shared that he has visited Vegesna Foundation in India and witnessed the great work done by the foundation. Jayaram appealed the audience to generously contribute to this great cause. Audinace have responded very well by contributing small amounts to large amounts, and the final tally of contributions reached close to $15,000 during the event. Vegesna Foundation was very pleased with the generous support and thanked the audience.
In addition to above mentioned singers, several of BATA artists (namely, Jhansi , Jyotsna, Smita, Malli, Sanjaya, Sudhir, Srilu, Madhuri, Kolli, Rajesh, Venkat, Ravi , Kamesh, Kalyan, etc.) have performed dances on popular Ghantasala songs such as “mama mama ma ma”, “aakulu pokalu evvaddu”, “maa vullo oka paduchundi”. Some of these artists such as Ravi , Kalyan, Kolli, and Srilu also serve on the BATA committee. Also, there were more than 50 kids of age group 3-10 years old have performed dances on songs such as “chengavi rangu chira”, “rajashekara”, “radhika Krishna ”, “town pakka kellodduro”, “sariganchu chira”. All of these artists have performed excellent. Vijaya Aasuri and Srilu Veligeti have choreographed these dances. Srilu not only choreographed, she was also one of the performers for the dances. Kalyan and Venkat performed comedy scenes. In spite of minimal time from the program announcement to the program date, all the artists have worked hard in preparing for this event.
Just prior to the main event, Ghantasala songs singing competition was held. There was lot of enthusiasm and participation for this event too. BATA committee members such as Mangina and Konda were among the participants, and G.V. Prabhakar served as the Judge. The first place (Vijay Vemuri) and second place (Babu Movva), Special prize (Himaja Movva) winners from these competitions were recognized on the stage.
There was colorful decoration in the auditorium depicting colors of Deepavali. Some of the audience came in traditional dresses like kurtas, sarees, etc. The gathering reflected the Deepavali festivity atmosphere. The reception table was decorated with brass elephant statues, and table was managed by Chava, Pola, Mangina, Shree, etc. The banners and stalls of sponsors were seen busy with many people in the program area. Owners of several of local businesses, NRI TDP leaders, and TANA leaders were seen among the audience. Also, representatives from Direct TV and the Indian Express were seen at the program. It was all in all a great performance by all artists. Brilliant songs, dances, and standup comedy kept all the audience till the end of the program. Every performance received great appreciation and a round of applause.
During the concert, BATA President Mr. Yugandhar Reddy mention that BATA has been hosting fund-raising events in support of several of non-profit community service organizations. These events are above and beyond BATA’s regular events. Yugandhar stated that Bay Area community has been supporting all of these events with generous donations. Yugandhar thanked the community for their continued support, and the hard work of all BATA volunteers. He, then, introduced BATA executive committee Ravi Thiruveedula, Prasad Mangina, Kalyan Kattamuri, Srinivas Kolli, Sreedhar Chava, Ramesh Konda, Vijaya Aasuri, Srini Mangipudi, Satheesh Pola, Ramesh Mandalapu, Karun Veligeti and Veeru Vuppala on the stage. Audience have appreciated the hard work of the BATA committee members and volunteers with a great round of applause. Ramesh Konda on behalf of BATA thanked the sponsors for their financial support for this event. Konda invited the sponsors onto stage. Yugandhar and Jayaram Komati have presented the plaques and certificate of appreciation to all sponsors. Towards the end of the program, raffle was held for IPOD, MP3 Player, DVD Player, and Dinner Set. This raffle was sponsored by BharatFamily.com. At the conclusion of the program, Prasad Mangina of BATA thanked all the audience and sponsors for making this event successful.
Additional photos are available at :http://bata.org/2007events/diwali/photos/
