Telugu Society of America (TELSA)

TELSA's first cultural program of the year was a big success.

The cultural program started with a mini-concert of classical carnatic music in which 12-year old Rishii Sundaram and Caltech senior Pradeep Bugga supported by Arjun Narayanan and Shiva Ramamurthi kept the audience engaged by rendering such staples as ‘chalamElaraa saakEta raamaa’, ‘pakkala nilabaDi’, ‘appaa raama bhakti'  and ‘maadhava maamava’ by composers Thyagaraja and Dikshitar, the master-exponents of the tradition. The concert was followed to enthusiastic reception from the audience by folk dances by a group of women led by Sreevalli Pochiraju about bonalu festival, by young girls and little boys about Holi led by Lasya Rallabhandi and by a group of teen age girls led by Sarala Kal about a romantic tease between ("maayadaari maisamma") folk-gods and lovers.  

The afternoon’s loudest applause and interactive audience participation was reserved, however, for the parody play ‘Rayi Bharam’ a corruption of ‘Raya Baram’(Krishna’s diplomatic mission to the court of Kauravas on behalf of Pandavas). The play, by the famous movie actor and playwright Ravi Kondala Rao, mimics an effort by a group of inexperienced actors who commission a semi-literate to write the script for them in the operatic tradition popular in Andhra Pradesh. Directed by Indraganti Sarma with background music by young Pallavi and costume and stage design by Syamala, actors Shyam Appali, Balakrishna Mudunuri, Prasad Rani, Srinivas Rani, Kumar Rambhatla, Murty Rallabhandi, Sarma Jonnalagedda and Srinivas Pang brought down the house with their practiced malaproprisms and distorted singing.  

The entire program which ended in a raffle and a contest called ‘Guess the Value of Coins’ in a sealed jar, was managed on a shoe-string budget and drew much appreciation for its professionalism. Dr.Swarna Chanduri’s prose as the master of ceremonies reminded the audience of the beauty of their language.