Bay Area Telugu Association (BATA) celebrated its annual Summer Picnic (Vanabhojanalu) on June 3, 2012 at Lake Elizabeth Central Park in Fremont, California. More than 200 adults and kids gathered at the picnic. The weather was perfect with glorious summer breeze. Also, with lot of shade from the trees in the picnic area made it a pleasant day for all guests. With Telugu music (patalu) as background, casual conversations between adults, and with kids running around and playing made the gathering like a family gathering for a festive occasion. The picnic brought a Telugu festive look to the park with kids and parents dressing up in traditional Indian dresses. It was more like a family get-together, with everyone pitching in for various activities from food preparation to organizing games.

Traditional spicy Maramaralu mixture (Muntha Kindha Pappu) and Mokka Jonna Kandelu was a big attraction of the picnic. Several guests were seen around the BBQ grill casually chatting on different topics and catching up with their friends. Mouthwatering dishes prepared by BATA volunteers were another biggest highlight at the event. There was a long list food items included in the sumptuous home-cooked Telugu bhojanam brought by BATA volunteers and served at the picnic. One could hear guests talking about the tasty Telugu bhojanam throughout the day at picnic.

During the picnic, Mrs. Vijaya Aasuri (BATA Advisor) introduced special guest from India, Mr. Ramu (Chennai), who was visiting California.  On a popular request from guests, Ramu sang couple of original songs of S.P. Balasubrahmanyam. With his melodious voice (closest to the S.P. Balu's voice), Ramu mesmerized the guests with his singing.

After delicious lunch, the guests turned focus onto the sports and games activities. Vijaya Aasuri, Durga Kondal, Sridevi Pasupuleti, Karun Veligeti, Kalyan Kattamuri, Srinivas Kolli, Sumanth Pusuluri, Prasad Mangina, Srilu Veligeti, and other BATA committee members organized fun filled Telugu aatalu and Telugu patalu activities. Adults and kids have enthusiastically participated in the games like Volleyball, Three-legged race, Lemon in spoon, Tug-of-war, Water balloon, and Musical Chairs. Kids also have thoroughly enjoyed playing in the colorful jump house throughout the day.