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Greater Indianapolis Telugu Association (GITA) members celebrated Sankranti on
Saturday, Jan 14th, 2006 at Clarion Hotel in Indianapolis. The program was
attended by around 250 people. Sankranti was celebrated for
the first time by GITA.
Raju Chinthala, President extended hearty welcome to all members. Main
attractions at festival were “Muggula Competitions”; “Gangireddu”, Traditional
outfit competitions, and traditional food items like Nuvvula
Laddulu and Sakinalu. Flying kites at the dinner tables were very attractive.
The Program started with prayer (Ganapathi and Venkteshwara) by Sri Sandip
Shastri, the pujari at the Hindu Temple of Central Indiana who blessed the occasion.
Raju Chinthala, President wished every one Happy Sankranti. He explained to
the crowd the significance of Sankranti festival, and how it is celebrated in Andhra Pradesh for three
days.
New GITA committee was introduced by Raju Chinthala on the
occassion.
The Board of Trustees include Mr. Raju Chinthala, Mrs. Madhavi Jasti,
Mr. Raghu Patibandla, Mrs. Krishna Kumari Vedala, Dr. Satyanarayana Reddy
Marri, Dr. Vidyasagar Tumuluri and Dr. Ramu Yeleti. The Executive Committee
members include Raju Chinthala - President, Manga Rau – Vice-President,
Srikanth Jukareddy - Secretary, Leenatha Mantri- Treasurer.
Madhavi Jasti, Immediate Past President thanked her committee and their families
for their sacrifices.
Cultural programs were very attractive and included Sankranti song from
Sankranti Movie by Mrs. Sujata Reddy and Master Raja Reddy. Mimicry
by
Ravishankar imitated most of the cine heroes, like Nagarjuna, Venkatesh, Mohan
Babu, Krishna. Veena was by Lalitha Ankaraju.
There were three programs presented by Sai Center Children with Telugu
Folk Songs, Annamacharya Keerthanalu, Ramadasu Keerthana were well received
by audience.
Venu Vittaladevuni and team - comprising of Srinivas Manohar Chundi, Mahesh Suravarjjala,
Nagachand Gannapaneni, Srikanth Kondeti and Shivani Suravarjjala - left the
audience roaring in laughter with their skit, parodying TV programs of India's
state-owned channel, Doordarshan.
The skit began with a children's program, in which the host (Mahesh) tries
desperately to promote his daughter's (Shivani) singing talents, but is frustrated
by her reluctance to sing. This was followed by the "Dial-a-Song" program, in
which a village farmer, Yadagiri (Srikanth) calls the program host
(Nagachand) enthusiastically, to request his favorite song be telecasted - only to be distracted
repeatedly by the host. The highlight of the skit was the news program for hearing
impaired, in which the newsreader (Srinivas Manohar) and the sign language expert
(Venu) enthralled the audience with hilarious news and accompanying mime actions.
These TV programs were interspersed with rib-tickling parodies of
advertisements of popular Indian brands, featuring all the above team members.
Gangireddu greeted all attendees, which attracted many children.
Awards were presented to past Presidents Srinivas Rao, Vanaja Rao, Anurada
Bramhanandam, Krishna Kumari Vedala, Raghu Patibandla, Shivakumar Vavilala, and
Madhavi Jasti for their services and contributions to GITA. Awards are also given
to winners for Rangoli competitions and best traditional outfit wearing children.
Trophies for this event were sponsored by Shoba &Vijayapal Reddy and Tulasi &
Gopal Reddy. Vanita Reddy, President Detriot Telugu Association was also
attended this function.
Manga Rau, Vice-President thanked every one for their contributions and
attending the function. The Program was followed by Traditional Authentic
delicious Home made food for Sankranti.
