ATA Women’s Day March 16^th 2019

A beautiful March evening set the tone for an event like no other. International Women’s day 16 March 2019 organized by ATA (American Telugu Association) has come a long way since its inception in 2017. What was once started as an initiative to involve more women into the organization has given wings in more ways than the eye can comprehend to the ladies who helped organize it and thereby allowing the program to take flight at soaring frontiers.

American Telugu Association is a national organization of Telugu Diaspora in the United States. ATA was formed more than 25 years ago and spreads across the entire country with more than ten thousand registered members. The mission of ATA is to maintain our culture and serve the Telugu community in North America.

ATA offers several benefits including discounted prices for conventions, duty free shops at GMR airports across India, free online IT trainings and several others.

Senator Elizabeth Warren could not attend the event, but sent her inspiring message, which was read at the gala by Ms. Sunitha Nalla. (include couple of lines here from the message?)

Ms. Anitha Reddy Yajnik kicked off the evening to an incredibly high-energy start, welcoming the keynote speakers, dance performers and the entire audience with her gracious and warm demeanor. The vivacious and ultra-glam Emcee and hostess, Ms. Yajnik has hosted many gala events, including a few for ATA.

Dr. Aparna Repaka from Madhuravani group sang to the tunes of Telugu movie numbers, which had the audience humming to the beats. There were three dance performances to Bollywood music, including one by our very own ATA volunteer Ms. Shilpa Sripuram. The creative Ms. Shilpa was also responsible for the beautiful decorations throughout the space including the stage and photo booth. The theme resonated with the bold, but gentle embodiment of a woman in the modern world.

Ms. Ranjani Saigal, the keynote speaker graced the occasion with her ‘larger than life’ presence and impeccable oratory skills. It is no wonder that she was awarded India New England Woman of the year 2012 and the Asian American Lifetime Achievement award in 2018 presented by the State of Massachusetts. Ms. Saigal touched upon about two very important thoughts. “Don’t wait for the future when you will start giving back to the society. Start now. Now is as good time as any other”. This thought resonates personally to her involvement as the Executive Director of the Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation of USA. Another key point that she shared with the audience is ‘Grant to us the serenity of mind to accept that which cannot be changed; courage to change that which can be changed; and the wisdom to know one from the other’.

Ms Saigal: “The ATA women’s day event was unique. It was a great way to address the interests of a new generation of multi-talented successful women. The gathering was not only fun but also filled with interesting thought-provoking discussions. This model would be good for other organizations to emulate.”

Ms. Priya Samant spoke eloquently about her involvement as a speech coach to several big names including some from the Bollywood fraternity. She is a social entrepreneur and a multi-talented professional with experience working on Presidential campaigns and non-profit leaders, C-level executives, members of media and entertainment industry at a grass root level.

Ms. Samant: “Thank you to the American Telugu association for inviting me as one of their guest speakers for the International Women's Day celebration. I truly enjoyed sharing my journey of choices with the attendees.”

Ms. Gopal: “ATA Boston has once again shown its commitment towards keeping the rich cultural heritage of India alive. It was such a pleasure to see that women’s issues find resonance within ATA. Looking forward to more such exciting community events in the future”.

The event was catered by Bhog restaurant in New Jersey with finger licking delicacies from the Hyderabadi region. The spread was expansive with 27 items on the menu including 4 desserts. DJ Ravi set fire to the stage with his pulsating music from Bollywood and Tollywood alike. Abhinay Burra of Cliq photography captured some candid and memorable moments of the audience, speakers and the team alike

A beautiful event empowering and inspiring women, but would not have been possible without the dedication, time and effort from the ATA New England team.

Krishna Dyapa, Board of Trustee, Ramesh Nallavolu, Board of Trustee, Somashekar Reddy Nalla - Regional Director, Malla Reddy Yanala - Regional Coordinator, Laxminarayan Reddy - Regional Coordinator, Laxma Poreddy - Regional Coordinator, Chandra Manchikanti - Emergency Seva Team, Sahiti Rondla - Regional Coordinator, Meghanth Reddy Dasari - Regional Coordinator, Ravi Karkutla – DJ.

Women volunteers Lakshmi Reddy and  Madhu Yanalaare appreciated for their time and effort to make sure event is planned and executed successfully. All the women attendees praised ATA for hosting such a women centric event.

"There is only one thing in the universe which a Woman still needs to learn and that one thing is that, ‘she has the power to turn the direction of the wind on her own".

HAPPY WOMEN’S DAY

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