23 October 2013
Hyderabad

North American Telugu Association (NATA) celebrated NATA “Meet and Greet” on the weekend of October 18-19 as part of the Board Meeting in honor of the FIRST visit of billionaire philanthropist Dr. Prem Reddy and Tri state business tycoon, Dr. Malla Reddy to Atlanta along with the NATA Advisory council, President Dr. Sanjeeva Reddy, the NATA Board of Directors and other dignitaries. The occasion was extremely special to NATA Atlanta team for several reasons. The prestigious NATA 2014 Convention will be held in Atlanta on the July 4th weekend and this visit and board meeting is a great way to trigger the groundwork for this exciting convention!

The biennial NATA convention, held once in 2 years, is going to be a mega event of its kind where over 10,000 people of Telugu origin are expected to attend at the Georgia World Congress Convention center (GWCC) in Atlanta downtown for the three day period of July 4th – 6th. In addition, the convention will be transmitted LIVE through many leading TV channels to millions across US, Canada and India. All arrangements are in full swing to make the 3 day fun festival surpass all expectations and provide maximum value to all the people in attendance. Over 50 groups of committed volunteers across US, Canada and India are working tirelessly to ensure the event goes off smoothly.

The festivities started with a social night on Friday October 18th at the famous Holiday Inn conference center in Roswell, GA. At the delightful get together, sponsored by Dr. Pailla Malla Reddy, enthused NATA Atlanta team members and VIPs from all areas were thrilled to meet and greet with Dr. Prem Reddy, Dr. Malla Reddy, NATA Advisory council, NATA President Dr. Sanjeeva Reddy, and all other NATA Executive committee members and Board of Directors, SCs, RVPs and RCs from across the country. The NATA culture of positive thinking and cordiality was evident in the informal and warm way the leaders greeted all of the attendees in a fun filled atmosphere with respect towards all. After a delicious dinner, the team moved to Marriot Marquis in downtown Atlanta for an extended social hour in the presidential suite of Dr. Prem Reddy. Many aspects of NATA 2014 Convention were discussed actively and there was a complete synergy across the various teams in the brain storming that followed late into the night.

On Saturday October 19th, the Board meeting presided by President Dr. Sanjeeva Reddy started on schedule after Secretary Ramasurya Reddy declared the presence of quorum. The president went by the agenda and intense discussions followed on all aspects and matters of importance to NATA in their mission and goals. The NATA 2014 convention activities were discussed earnestly and NATA BOD &Convener Bala Indurti provided Convention update to the Board. Bala praised Atlanta Team efforts especially coordinator Srini Vangimalla for making seamless arrangements at Marriott Marquis to conduct the Board meeting. He also praised Co-Convener Dr. Satyanarayana Reddy & RVP Ravi Kandimalla, Convention Core Committee members Goutham Goli & Ramesh Chaparala for taking care of overall arrangements. A 13 member core committee was announced for the 2014 Convention. By-Laws Chair Amulya Reddy presented the revised by-laws for approval of the Board. President kicked off the pledge drive for the 2014 Convention. Treasurer Srinivas Reddy Anugula announced that a record amount of $700,000+ was raised on the single day, which was greatly appreciated and applauded by the Board. Dr. Prem Reddy and Dr. Malla Reddy generously pledged $100,000 each, Dr M.S.Reddy and Mrs Shama Reddy pledged $50,000 , $25,000 and above was pledged by 7 donors Serenity Infotech (Srini Reddy Vangimalla, Dilip Reddy Tunki), Paramount (Murali Sajja, Pramod Sajja), Dr. Sanjeeva Reddy, Dr. Haranath Policherla, Dr. Rajendra and Jhansi Reddy, & two other anonymous donors. $10000 and above was pledged by Everest Technologies (Ravi Kandimalla), RapidIT (Goutham Goli), Bharath Madadi, Vishy Dasari, Upender Reddy Kadire, & Vensai (Srinivas Nimmagadda). Several leading dignitaries from Atlanta and other board members announced their pledges. in their commitment to leading 2014 Convention to a grand success. NATA SEVA days, events to promote charitable work in India and USA, were also discussed and details of major activities were shared. SEVA Days coordinator, Mohan Reddy Talamati and overseas coordinator Dr. Dwarakanath Reddy went through the progress and milestones achieved in charitable work.

Following the BOD meeting, a venue walk through was arranged by Dilip Reddy Tunki. All the guests were thrilled with the sprawling venue facilities and warmly complimented Atlanta team efforts over the last six months. The team then met for an evening of lavish cultural entertainment and dinner at the prestigious ASHIANA banquet hall. NATA Atlanta team members, Kiran Kandula, Jagadeesh Cheemarala, Venkat Mondeddu, Dr. Madhav Durbha, Guru Paradarmi, Siva Gaddamanugu, Hari Potukuchi, Raghava Tadavarthi, and many others, left no stone unturned to ensure an evening of remarkable presentations and display of local talent. Girish Reddy Meka diligently arranged transportation and Ramana Reddy Doddla enthusiastically managed the food coordination. Dr. GV Rao and Sridhar Vakiti helped tremendously in capturing all the wonderful moments through their skillful photography. Narender Reddy and JC Shaker Reddy, Dr. Sujatha Reddy, Ravinder Reddy, Venkat Maddi, Madhu Kota, Srinivas Lavu, Madhu Tata, Goutham Gurram, Anjaiah Chowdary, Mahesh Pawar, Venu Reddy Pisike, Sandhya Yellapragada, Prasheel Reddy Gukanti, Devendar Reddy were among the dignitaries present who enjoyed the get-together and complimented the NATA team preparations for the upcoming 2014 Convention.

The sprawling venue saw a packed audience of 600+ who enjoyed a sensational array of cultural programs. The program started off with a traditional “Jyothi Prajwalana”. Convention cultural chair Venkat Chennubhotla then dynamically coordinated the cultural extravaganza with the team of Ram Durvasula and Neelima Gaddamanugu, that included superlative songs, melodious music, dazzling dances in a fantastic atmosphere of goodwill and entertainment. Leaders from various associations that included TANA, NATS, TAMA, GATA, Amritha Varshini, TCI and many others were among those present and thoroughly enjoyed the proceedings. The NATA Atlanta team under the direction of Convention Short Film Chair Phani Dokka created and presented a short film with minimal budget to the captive audience, which was very well received and stood out as a highlight to the wide mix of cultural programs in the night. Neelima Gaddamanugu choreographed two beautiful dance programs that include a kuchipudi dance sequence and the evergreen telugu song sequence of “Paadavoi Bharatheeyuda”. Atlanta’s Shiva Turlapati, one of the greatest dance masters in USA, wowed the audience with two breathtaking dance sequences from his school of dancing with performers from tender ages.

NATA Atlanta team headed by President Dr. Sanjeeva Reddy and Convener Bala Indurti felicitated the NATA Advisory council Dr. Prem Reddy, Dr. Malla Reddy, Dr. Mohan Mallam, and Dharma Reddy Gummadi for their aegis and support in all ways. NATA twin pillars Dr. Prem Reddy and Dr. Malla Reddy were presented with a gold coin by GATA founding father Dr. T Satyanarayana Reddy and NATA Atlanta team. The beautiful gold coins were sponsored by Goldline LLC. NATA towering personalities Dr. Prem Reddy and Dr. Malla Reddy were conferred an honorary “Dheena Bhandu” award, Dheena Bhandu refers to service to needy, for their outstanding contributions to the social causes for several organizations.

Convention Coordinator Srini Reddy Vangimalla presented vote of thanks.

Saturday’s Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner was sponsored by Dr. Prem Reddy. Sunday morning breakfast is sponsored by Executive Director Mahender Musuku.