26 January 2017
USA

Silicon Valley, the Bay Area of San Francisco, celebrated Sankranthi festival and Republic Day celebrations in a grand style in Sunnyvale, CA. Bay Area Telugu Association (BATA) hosted the Sankranti festival while the Association of Indo-American (AIA) team joined hands to integrate the India’s Republic Day celebrations part of this daylong event.

Sankranthi, the Telugu traditional festival, contained many creative activities for all ages namely Cooking (వంటల పొటీలు), Muggulu (ముగ్గుల పొటీలు) , Art, Chess, Essay, “Bommala Koluvu’, and the cultural program. Number of prominent elected officials from the Silicon Valley joined the festivities to celebrate India’s Republic Day. In spite of heavy rains, over 1000 guests attended the glittering event which started at 1:30 pm and went until 9:30 pm.

The auditorium was decorated promoting ethnic and festival look of Sankranti, while the entrance was very well decorated with a large colorful creative muggu. The main stage had multicolor backdrops and colorful kites. The decorations coupled with the traditional outfits reflected a festive atmosphere. The auditorium was decorated with India and US flags to reflect the patriotism.

The event started with chess competitions, art competitions and essay writing competitions. Many kids and adults have enthusiastically participated in these activities. After this, the cooking competitions for adults (Super Chef), kids (Little Chef) and colorful Rangavalli contest was organized.

Kids got the ingredients from home and prepared a food item of their choice on the spot without any assistance from parents. The kids demonstrated their cooking prowess with a wide variety of items.

Super Chef showcased the cooking talents of men and women; Appetizers, Main dish & Desserts were the three categories. Yashwant, Arun, Prashant & Varun coordinated these competitions. Sateesh Vemuri, Vinay and Umakanth led the judging team.

The finished Rangavalli was a sight to see and brought nostalgic memories of India. Kalyani & Kondal coordinated these competitions.

“Paatala Pallaki” a popular singing program by talented youth super singers was one of the highlights programs. The singers presented a very entertaining program with many popular Tollywood hits. Prasad Mangina, who coordinated this program, introduced all the singers.

Students from “Paatasala” Telugu School (Initiative by Telugu Times and BATA to promote and teach Telugu language) presented songs, poems & Skits. It was amazing to watch the little kids motivation and commitment to learn and perform in Telugu language. Paatasala is running successfully in Bay Area with more than 5 locations & with over 250 students.

The main cultural program started at 5:00pm. Vijaya Aasuri (BATA Advisor ) officially kicked off the evening cultural program by inviting all the kids for “BhogiPallu”. The congregation of kids & devotional songs by parents and grandparents made it seem like a big family gathering – “VasudhaikaKutumba”. The elders gave the blessings to all the kids.

Shiva Noopuram School of Kuchipudi  (Sindhu Kandi) school presented a classical dance ballot. Tollywood dances by AeroDance group (Ranjani Manda), Kriyaa dance Academy (Uma Dhanpal), Jaya Sharma, Gayatri Joshi & Rhythmic Squad and others presented high energy and entertaining dances.

Part of the program, there was India’s Republic Day segment organized by AIA team. During which, Dr. Ramesh Konda, Jeevan Zutshi, and Raj Bhanot have invited the elected official onto the stage. There was a large number of elected officials came to the event representing the Silicon Valley as follows:

1) AP Government Special Representative to North America Jayaram Komati
2) Deputy Consul General of India Rohit Rathish
3) Assemblymember Ash Kalra
4) Assemblymember Marc Berman
5) Assemblymember Kansen Chu
6) San Jose City Mayor Sam Liccardo
7) Fremont City Mayor Lily Mei
8) Cupertino City Vice Mayor, Darcy Paul
9) Burlingame City Vice Mayor Michael Brownrigg
10) Saratoga City Councilmember Rishi Kumar
11) Sunnyvale City Councilmember Russell Melton

All the elected officials addressed the gathering and conveyed Sankranthi & the Republic Day greetings.

There was a huge support for this event from the businesses. Financially Savvy, Rama Krishna Venuzia, Ravi Tax Services, You smile Dental, Lavanya Duvvi (Realtor), Manu Changotra(Realtor) Swagat Indian Cuisine. Cakes and Bakes was the food sponsor. Local businesses Biryaniz, Shalimar, Valley Tech Force and others sponsored prizes.

Media partners include Virijallu Radio, Desi 1170am,Telugu Times, TV9, V6 TV& TV Asia. Also, the event had good mix of vendor booths such Jewelry, Clothing, Financial, SEF, AAADA.org etc.

Dr. Sireesha Battula, President of BATA, thanked all the audience for gracing the occasion and all the participants for their enthusiastic participation in the competitions and cultural programs.

The BATA executive team consisting of Sireesha Battula (President ), Yaswanth Kudaravalli (Vice President), Sumanth Pusuluri (Secretary), Harinath Chikoti (Treasurer) & Srikar Boddu (Jt. Secretary)
“Steering Committee” consisting of Kalyan Kattamuri, Ravi Thiruveedula & Kamesh Malla.
“Cultural committee” includes Sridevi Pasupuleti, Srilu Veligeti, Taraka Deepti
“Logistics Committee”consists of Naresh Gajulu, Arun Reddy, Prashant Chinta & Kondal Rao.

BATA “Advisory Board” Jayaram Komati, Vijaya Aasuri, Veeru Vauppla, Prasad Mangina, Ramesh Konda & Karun Veligeti congratulated the team members in making the program a grand success.

BATA Committee thanked all the volunteers for their help in making the program successful.