Telugu People of Dallas Celebrate Formation of AP

Telugu People of Dallas/Fort Worth area celebrate 53rd Anniversary of Formation of Andhra Pradesh and the recognition of “Classical Language Status” to Telugu

Dallas, TX: Telugu speaking people of Dallas, Fort Worth and neighboring areas gathered at Pasand India Restaurant, Richardson, TX and celebrated the 53rd Anniversary of formation of Andhra Pradesh State.  Coincidentally they also celebrated Government of India’s recognition of the grant of “Classical Language Status” to Telugu language.

Nearly 150 Telugu language speakers participated in this memorable luncheon event.  The chief guests included Prof. Avula Manjulatha (retired VC, Sri Potti Sreeramulu Telugu University), Prof. Y. Venkatrami Reddy (former VC, Jawaharlal Technological University, presently Chairman Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission, and Dr. CN Gopinath Reddy, IPS, Additional Director General of Police and Director, Andhra Pradesh Police Academy).

The program started with invocation song “Maa Telugu Talliki” sung by Dr. Srinivasa Reddy Alla and Rekha Pudur This was followed by welcome address by MVL Prasad who welcomed all shared the significance of the day.  In a detailed PowerPoint presentation, he shared the History of Andhra Pradesh, pictures of various famous Telugu people from the beginning till today’s leaders, important facts, sights of various tourist areas and several foods of Andhra Pradesh.  He also explained about the significance of “Telugu as a Classical Language” along with Sanskrit, Tamil and Kannada.  In a brief speech, he talked about the greatness of Telugu language as observed by various poets – nationally and internationally.

Dr. Srinivasa Reddy Alla spoke about the importance of next steps in the recognition process as developing a full-fledged plan of action in preservation, propagation and extension of Telugu language to people all around the world including future generations.

Prof. Pudur Jagadeeswaran recited an extempore poem the greatness of Telugu language.  Dr. Tara Kumar Reddy spoke about the reasons why Telugu is called the Italian of the East as all Telugu words end with a vowel like in Italian language.  Dr. Ramana Juvvadi quoted an exquisite poem from “Abhignana Shakuntalam” in Telugu.

Prasad Thotakura traced the history of Telugu language from its glorious days to present potentially endangered status.  He urged the urgency to revive it by every Telugu speaker around the world. He mentioned about the Telugu classes at University of Texas in Austin city are being held with the financial support of TANA where more than 17 students are pursuing studies in Telugu language now.

Dr. Gopinath Reddy reiterated the need to love the mother tongue and explained the various ways to increase the literacy among Telugu speakers to keep the Telugu language alive.  He stressed the need for young children of overseas Telugus to learn the language and use it.

Dr. Venkatrami Reddy shared his observations of raising children of overseas Telugu speakers and the difficulties involved.  He expressed a desire to have reverse-brain drain happen so that India can benefit from the experience of so many well trained Indians – particularly NRI Telugu speakers into Andhra Pradesh.

Dr. Manjulatha exemplified the beauty and grace of Telugu language and stressed the need to perpetuate the language as the responsibility of current generation of Telugu speakers.

Ananth Mallavarapu regaled the people with a famous Telugu song “Tenela tetala matalatho…”

Everybody joined in cutting the special cake (made by Hotbreads, Inc.) which had Telugu words “Telugu Bhasha – Madhuram- Amaram- Maravam” written in celebration of the Government of India’s recognition of the “Classical Language Status” to Telugu.

The entire event was photographed by Rao Kalvala and compèred by MVL Prasad along with Sridhar Korsapati, Dr. Srinivasa Reddy Alla and Prasad Thotakura.

The Telugu Association of North Texas (TANTEX) Executive Committee (Shyamala Rumalla, Sridhar Korsapati, NMS Reddy, Suresh Manduva, Ananth Mallavarapu, Venkat Mulukutla, Uma Yalamanchi, Subhash Nelakanti, Chandra Bandar etc) and Board of Trustees (Srinivasa Reddy Alla, Satyan Kalyandurg, RK Panditi) have participated in the event by presenting the three distinguished guests each with bouquets of flowers, a shawl and a memento.  Chairman of Board of Trustees of TANTEX RK Panditi and President Shyamala Rumalla both shared a few words about their great pleasure in celebrating the event with these eminent guests from Andhra Pradesh.

Rao Kalvala proposed a vote of thanks and has thanked the distinguished guests, all the audience, various volunteers, restaurant management etc. with special mention to main organizers such as Dr. Srinivasa Reddy Alla, Sridhar Korsapati, Manohar Reddy Mayaluru and Srinivas Reddy Kuturu.

-Filed by Ananth Mallavarapu & MVL Prasad