The 40th year of one of the oldest Indian cultural institutions in the USA, the Telugu Association of Greater Chicago (TAGC), wrapped up with an enormously successful Dassera/Deepavali celebration.

A beautiful fall day in October drew throngs of families and members to the auditorium of the Lemont Hindu temple. Following a sumptuous dinner served up by Naperville’s Masala restaurant, the crowd settled in to watch a visual feast of local entertainment followed by a prime-time show of the “Grand Musical Night” featuring Tollywood singers, Anuj Gurwara and Vijayalakshmi. TAGC Partners were recognized and honored by outgoing president, Mr. Sundar Dittakavi. Board members for 2012 were introduced and the goals/budget for the coming year were outlined by the President elect Mr. Kalyan Anandula.

The local cultural program displayed eye-catching routines, both traditional and contemporary, for everyone to enjoy. Invocatory prayers were offered through dance numbers – “Sri Ganapathi” (Hema Yaddanapudi) and “Dakshinamurthi Ashtakam” (Asha Adiga).

The little children captured the audience’s hearts with dances from “Bole Chudia/Nagada Nagada” remix (Lopa Banerjee), “Railu Bandi” (Shalaka Kulkarni), and “Band Baaja Baraat/Yamudu” (Karuna Chintapalli).

The classical arts of Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi were showcased with the “Pushpanjali” and “Thaaye Yasodha” (Sobha Tammana), “Navarasalu” (Hema Yaddanapudi), “Nrityasangeeth” (Sowmya Kumaran), “Raja Rajeswari” (Sushmita Arunkumar) and a beautiful rendition of the “Krishna Sabdam” (Janaki Anandavalli Nair).

Tollywood and Bollywood-remixed dance numbers, “Vana Vana”, “Tu tu tu” (Sonia Agarwal), “Chillar Party/Chamak Challo” (Ushasri Munukutla)”, “Kilimanjaro” (Lopa Banerjee), “Barsore Megha” (Shalaka Kulkarni), “Chukkallo Chandrudu/Om Namaste Bolo” (Nikita Vijaykumar), “Chandrakala” (Apuroopa Tipparaju) and “Mayya Yasodha/Dolare” (Manisha Balakumar, Nikita Vijaykumar) were well received by the viewers.

The festive mood of Deepavali was beautifully captured by the women’s dance number, “Diwali Aayaare” (Apuroopa Tipparaju).

Sri Kiran Abbaraju and his talented team of actors continued their quest for “Miss Right” (and vice-versa) in a hilarious sequel of their earlier stage play with “Bobbili Raja – Part 2”. Looks like the search ended happily ever after!

The night, however, belonged to the Tollywood singers, Anuj Gurwara and Vijayalakshmi, who brought a level of energy to the show never seen before! Belting out hits from yesteryear and today, they carried the rest of the evening with great ease and humor. Anuj’s hugely interactive style of performance brought out the best from the audience – both adults and children alike. Kids, teens, and eventually adults, crowded the stage, dancing to the tunes of popular Telugu and Hindi songs. Anuj’s passion for music and his wildly-entertaining presentation skills made an indelible impression in the hearts of the Chicago audience.

TAGC wishes you all a Happy Deepavali and looks forward to another successful year of service to the Chicago community. For membership details and other information, visit tagc.org.

                                                                                                                       - Saroja Ravi