iNDICA NEWS BUREAU-
Telugu Literary and Cultural Association (TLCA) celebrated its annual Ugadi festival on April 1, in New York. The New York City Mayor was among the VIPs who attended the event. A spring festival, Ugadi celebrates the start of a Telugu New Year. The 2023-24 Telugu year is named Shubhakruth.
More than 500 guests attended the grand celebrations in traditional attires as TLCA, one of the oldest Telugu associations in North America promoting Telugu literature and culture in the New York Tristate region for the past 52 years, celebrated Ugadi and Sreeramanavami festivals together at the Ganesh Temple auditorium in Flushing, New York.
The audience was captivated by songs, dance routines, and drama presented by more than 140 children and adults to showcase Telugu culture, mythology, and history. TLCA aims to nurture and pass on the rich Telugu culture to future generations and every year teachers and parents train the children to perform in the cultural events. Prime attractions at this year’s event were a mythological drama Maya Joodam, a snippet from the Mahabharata, a dance-drama based on the theme of Ugadi, poem recitals, classical dances, and popular numbers from Telugu movies. And, then there was the authentic festival food and delicacies from India that treated the guests with culinary delights.
New York City Mayor Eric Adam was the Chief Guest of the day. Speaking on the occasion, the mayor congratulated the TLCA president Nehru Kataru for the wonderful show put up by his team. Adams said that he supports the promotion of diversity and encourages the communities to come together and work for the overall progress of the region. He said that the Telugu community includes doctors, engineers, and software professionals who contribute immensely to the economic development of the region. He assured full support to TLCA.
Deputy Commissioner Dilip Chauhan said that he has been associated with the Telugu community in New York City and Long Island for decades. He said the community is very humble, and peaceful, and lives in harmony.
Kataru thanked the Mayor and Chauhan for their support. He also praised the parents of the youngsters for their devotion to the Telugu culture and for nurturing it and thanked the TLCA’s executive committee members who worked hard for more than two months to make the celebrations a grand success. He said poetry recital was a new feature introduced this year and promised many more such features to encourage the youth.
The Chairman, Ankineedu Prasad Nannapaneni spoke about the efforts of TLCA spanning over 5 decades to preserve and promote the Telugu culture and pass it on to the next generations. “It provides a popular platform to showcase young talent. TLCA encourages artists, art forms, and literature by bringing together eminent artists from all over the world.
