Atlanta, Dec 2012: NATA Atlanta celebrated the 150th birth year of the famous Telugu poet, radical thinker and social reformer,  Shri Gurajada Appa Rao. The Event was held on Saturday, November 3 at the spacious Banquet hall of “Brindavan” Restaurant in Alpharetta, GA. More than 250 people attended and thoroughly enjoyed the entertaining literary and cultural festival that marked this joyous occasion.

“Maha Kavi”Gurjada, as he is famously known, was unique in many ways. This included his deep empathy for the under privileged , his social reforms,  his strong desire  to bring about social awareness through his poetry & plays  and  his revolutionary style of employing the spoken telugu script to produce plays that stirred the conscience of the literate and illiterate alike.

“While there are many Telugu organizations across USA that hold Gurajada in high esteem, it is a matter of pride to us that NATA Atlanta is the first organization of its kind in the USA to successfully conceive and diligently execute such a cultural event in his memory and honor,” said a press release issued by NATA.

The program began with the traditional “jyoti prajwalana”, followed by reminiscences of Gurjada and his works and the inspiration that members drew from them. Bala Indurti, Dr. Vijaya Vemulapalli, Rao Oleti, Ravi Kandimalla, Srini Vangimalla, Dr. Satyanarayana Reddy, Dilip Reddy Tunki, Goutham Goli, Raman Doddla, & Ramesh Chaparala were invited to perform this traditional ceremony.

There was a fantastic surprise in store for the audience, when Bala Indurti informed them that the great grandson of Guarjada was one of them in Atlanta all along. This little known fact came richly into light, with the revelation from Shri Oleti Rao Garu, one of Atlanta’s literary giants and respected scholar.  Rao garu shared the memorable experiences of his famous ancestor to a spellbound audience and in his gentle tone and rich language, gave a singular perspective of one of the greatest Telugu literary giants of all times.
Melodious songs kept the audience entranced and several among the audience actively came forward and shared their respect for Gurjada.  Venkat Chennubhotla, Ram Durvasula, Phani Dokka, Usha, Sneha, Lakshmi Vedala and Padma Puchha were some of the popular singers that enthralled the audience with their singing.

Gurajada’s famous “desa bhakti geyalu”, including the literary master piece “desamunu perminchamanna” were sung with patriotic fervor by the group from Amrithavarshini that included many young children. Atlanta can truly take pride in not only the current wealth of literary talent, but also in the prolific group of talented youngsters who have been carefully guided by their parents and teachers to preserve our rich cultural values and pursuit of excellence.

“Puthhadi Bomma Purnamma”will remain forever in the hearts of Telugu people, as one of the most touching works of art from Gurjada.  Phani Dokka shared his poetic creation, inspired from this masterpiece. There was not a dry eye in the audience, as Phani combined his rich baritone and gentle splash of words to provide an enchanting view of the epic saga.

On behalf of NATA, Bala Indurti, Dr. Vijay Vemulapalli, & Hanuman (SVK Systems) presented the awards to the team members who had been instrumental in making NATA a house hold name in the South East region. 

Srini Vangimalla proposed the vote of thanks.

It was a day to remember Gurjada and his contributions. It also became in turn, a day that created many fond memories for the telugu community in Atlanta.

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