31 August 2013
Hyderabad

The much awaited 'Pallesandadi' picnic organized by Greater Atlanta Telugu Association (GATA) was held at A.H.stephens historic park for two nights from Aug 23-25. Some salient points on the wonderful picnic retreat. The park has excellent facilities and amenities including fishing, biking trails, boating, horseback riding, basket ball, volley ball courts and a huge playground. More than 300 people from 75 families actively participated in the event . A grand Five meal course were deliciously prepared and delivered to the venue by the Mayuri Indian Restaurant. The warm camaraderie and joy in the air transported the fun loving , warm hearted telugu families into our homeland.

Some prominent features:

Friday:
* The hungama started early Friday evening which ended only on Sunday after the last guest left!!

* Guests started checking in from 6PM – It was nice to see the park full by 10PM with over 60 cars in the parking lot.

* On their way out to Palle, several participated in “Palle Rally”; out of which we had 6 qualified contestants that have identified all the 8 Rally Spots accurately. In the lucky draw Subbagari family and Prem Dassu family were picked as winners of the Palle Rally contest.

* A delicious dinner was served starting 8:00PM, and people gathered in the lawns near the dining hall and spent time talking, playing, and socializing. This is an experience that cannot be easily translated into words.

* A meticulously planned melodious light music and song show by Satya Karnati & others entertained the guests while the torches planted in the lawns added to the Palle ambience.

Saturday:
* The day started with Morning Yoga -- Raghava Tadavarthi garu mentored the Yoga class and trained the participants with various Yoga aasanas including surya namaskaram

* Steaming hot Idli and Pongal was served starting at 8:00 AM

* Fishing lessons were conducted to kids by the park rangers, more than 40 kids participated and learned through the steps; Sunil Kuturu coordinated the event successfully with his trademark trait of perfection!

* Games for women were organized by coordinators Rani Vakiti and Anupama Subbagari, including Sack race, lemon and spoon, kho-kho & musical chairs

* Kids participated in other games after fishing – this included lemon & spoon and musical chairs etc,.

* Men played Volley Ball and Basketball

* One of the special events of pallesandadi "Vutlu" has invoked tremendous response and involvement from kids and women.

* Lunch was served at noon, Couple of highlights were "Jonna Rottelu" & home grown and prepared “Gongura “ pickle

* Immediately after lunch, Family Movie Quiz was organized by Srikanth Garla, more than 80 participated in the contest in the two hour long well received event

* Sri. Viju Chiluveru of Maitri organized a special event for Senior parents, which was attended by all the visiting parents.

* The Kids under 12 got themselves busy by participating in the “Scavenger Hunt “conducted by teenagers under the supervision of Mr. Rambabu Potturi.

* A cricket match was organized between Under 40 and Over 40, and to every one’s surprise Over 40 defeated the younger team by chasing down 81 in less than 10 overs. Openers Rajesh Vaddi and Goutham Nyalakonda gave a quick start to the chase scoring 34 in first 3 overs

* Volleball finals was held and team lead by Srinivas Avula beat Rajesh Vaddi's team (21-18) with a comeback after huge diff in points 6-13

* A delicious snack was prepared and served at 4PM (Mirchi Bajji, veg bajji, spicy Muramuralu) and ice cream

* Canoeing provided in the adjacent lake was an added attraction, which many families enjoyed throughout Saturday and until Sunday noon.

* Every one gathered in the lawns around 5:30PM for the most awaited event of the picnic "Anthyakshari", Phani Dokka garu organized the event with Satya Karnati being the scorer and time keeper. As did last year Phani Dokka garu helped us with organizing Anthakshari splendidly.

* Grand Dinner served at 8PM which includes Ariselu, Biryani,rasmalai,etc...

* "Mr&Mrs Perfect “ contest was conducted by Rambabu Potturi in which 15 couple of various age groups participated. Bala Indurti garu, Upender Reddy garu and Madhavi Indurti garu adorned as judges which embellished the beauty of the event; no one realized that the program went for over 3 hours while both the participants and audience were thoroughly entertained. The first best Mr & Mrs Perfect couple was awarded to Aparna and Gopal Turaga while Pradeep and Malleswari stood second in the contest.

* Movie "Swamiraaraa" was screened in the lawn as the last event of the day.

Sunday:
* As volunteers started to pack up and clean up the venue, guests started arriving for brunch from 9AM onwards-- Vada, Upma and Kesari Bath were served for Brunch.

* On Sunday morning after brunch the guests stated to leave the park (with sweet memories and goodie bags) thanking GATA and its volunteers for providing them an extraordinary experience of two nights of village atmosphere.

* Weather gods supported the event by not only keeping the rain away but also by keeping the temperatures mild and pleasant. Of course, with such a great team spirit and goodwill effusing among the crowds, the clear skies and cool breeze seemed determined to join the festivities!

* Due to the excellent weather many slept on the lawns for both days remembering the g(old)en days where they had slept outdoors in India(Indian village) in their childhood.

* GATA Chief-Coordinator Venu Pisike, Executive committee members Sunil Kuturu, Rani Vakiti, Madhav Kusam, Guru Paradarami and Anupama Subbagari, thanked all the volunteers including Satya Karnati, Aparna Potturi, Swathi Sudini, Sirisha Paradarami, Jyothi Goli, Jyothi Kasireddy, Vasavi Pisike, Aparna Turaga, Sridhar Vakiti, Prem Dasu, Amar Bommineni, Raj Lanka, Vikram Sudini, Mahesh Nilagiri, Anil Nilagiri, Raghu Goverdhana, Goutham Goli, Raj Kasireddy, Srinivas Avula, Gopal Turaga, Goutham Nyalakonda, Venkatesh Polu, Sujeeth Reddy and Sandeep Namireddy for their dedicated service for several weeks to make the picnic well organized and memorable to all the participants.

• Special thanks to Raghava Babu Tadavarthy garu, Viju Chiluveru garu, Phani Dokka garu, Srikanth Garla garu, Rambabu Potturi garu, Bala Indurti garu, Upender Reddy garu, Madhavi Indurti garu, Mayuri Indian Restaurant for the delicious & timely supply of the food, Sridhar Vakiti garu of Vakiti creations for the photography & videography and Hari Pothukucchi garu for helping us with the write-up..