TLCA Celebrated Dasara and Deepavali

New York, NY: Telugu Literary and Cultural Association (TLCA) of New York celebrated its Grand Dasara and Diwali Festival on Nov 17th in Flushing, New York with great festive spirit. The 800 plus members of TLCA were elated with excitement and the festiveness brought by the colorful decoration of the auditorium, numerous cultural programs by the local talent and the artists from India, not to mention the sumptuous dinner hosted by the organization.

The program started at 4:30 pm in the well decorated Hindu Temple auditorium. The theme, Diwali, depicted in the hundreds of lamps lit all over the auditorium, reception hall, auditorium and the dining hall. Guests donning traditional attire arrived with the expectation of great show, which is typical of TLCA.

The program got a traditional start with the Ganesha stuti. TLCA conducts cultural competitions every year in various disciplines, classical, folk song and dances, art work, elocution etc. The winners are given an opportunity to perform in front of the tri-state audience during the Diwali celebrations. Likewise, winners from songs and dance disciplnes performed to the entertainment of the audience. Amazing performance from the kids has awed the audience and the auditorium reverberated with their claps applauding the performers. Classical, modern, film dances and songs enthralled the audience.

TLCA organized sports competitions during July and August months in various disciplines like Tennis, Ping Pong, Cricket. The participants were invited to the special prize distribution ceremony and were handed over the prizes. The generous donors, sponsors and the elite of the community gave away the prizes. Shri Gupta commended Sri Jaya Prakash for his commendable services and Sri Uday Dommaraju and Yogi Vanama, TLCA Executive Committee , for taking care of the arrangements. He also thanked the other EC who were involved in the smooth conduct of the games.

The audience broke for a sumptuous dinner hosted by TLCA. The members relived the festival enjoying the panduga bhojanam and socializing, greeting each other.

The post dinner session started off with scintillating songs by the singers from India Dinakar and Ranina Reddy.

President, Shri Nagendra Gupta opened the session with his presidential speech. At the outset, he empathized the hardship faced by the New York and New Jersey residents because of the unprecedented devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy. He expressed grief and sorrow for the people who suffered from lack of basic amenities like electricity, heating and drinking water and the ones who lost everything because of the flooding which made every piece of furniture and fixtures in the house worthless.

President Gupta also has commended the TLCA youth who volunteered in the affected areas and also for mobilizing funds and providing monitory help to the victims. Shri Gupta emphasized the need for the community to involve the elected representatives and make sure we get the attention we deserve in the social, economic and political spheres.

President Gupta has detailed the programs undertaken by the Association for the benefit of the community like Picnic, Independence Day celebrations. He also made a mention of the first ever India Parade held in Long Island and the fact that TLCA's float was adjudged the best float and the cultural program presented by its members has won the laurels as the best patriotic presentation. He also made mention of the sports activities conducted by the organization for promoting the physical well being.

Shri Gupta has praised the generous donors who have been supporting various programs organized by the Association and said the Association wouldn't have grown from strength to strength without their generous donations and sponsorships.

The chief guest of the day, Hon'ble Consul General of India, New York, Sri Prabhu Dayal graced the occasion. Sri Prabhu Dayal has been serving as the Ambassador, Consul General of India, New York since 2008 and every Indian is proud of his service to the nation in various roles with the nation and internationally. Dayal said he is very proud of the accomplishments of the Telugu Community in various important fields like Medicine, Engineering, Software and Research. He was immensely pleased the TLCA has been promoting and nurturing the fine arts for the last 41 years and wished it a brighter future.

The Diwali special cultural program, Mana Inti Pandugalu was a big hit among the audience. Six major festivals of the Telugus, Sankranti, Ugadi, Chaviti, Bonalu, Dasara and Diwali, were presented in the form of the dance ballet. It was the brain child of the president who wanted the Association to be instrumental in passing on our heritage and cultural value. He conceived this idea for the future generation to understand the background of the festivals and the cultural and spiritual importance. He also wanted this to show case the talent within US and motivate the future generations. The ballet was choreographed and meticulously orchestrated by the experienced teachers and the participants stole the hearts of the audience. The colorful costumes and well coordinated dances depicting the background of the festivals were the main attraction of the event. Guru Sadhana Paranji, Guru Satya Pradeep, Krishna Sri Gandham, Roja Tapi, Uma Putane and Padmini Emani have choreographed the dances, Shri Ashok Chintakunta provided the costumes and stage property. Sri Srinivas Guduru coordinated the show.

Raja, noted cine hero, spoke on the occasion and said he was thrilled to see the performances by the local tallent and appreciated the participants and also their parents for inspiring the children to take part in cultural activities and sports. He praised the Executive Committee for their untiring efforts for making every program a great success and taking TLCA to the next level in each event.

The artists from India, Shri Gunturu Shiva mimicry artist, singers Sri Dinakar and Ms. Ranina Reddy stole the later part of the show with their performances.

Secretary, Smt. Krishna Sri Gandham, proposed vote of thanks.