The Telugu Association of North America (TANA) in collaboration with the Telugu language lovers of St. Louis will be organizing a literary fest celebrating the heritage and spirit of Telugu- mother tongue of several residents in the United States of America. The event “Mathru Basha Dinotsavam” for the first time in North America will be held at the Gandhi Center in Ballwin, State of Missouri on Saturday 22nd February 2014 from 6:00p.m. – 9:00p.m.

Velcheru Narayana Rao who has been instrumental in teaching Telugu and Indian literatures for thirty eight years at University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Chicago, and at Emory will be the guest of honor. Shri Velcheru Narayana Rao has to his credit publication of several books in Telugu and English being a perfect bridge in United States considered being the melting pot of languages. Padma Shri awardee and Sahitya Academy winner Prof. Yarlagadda Lakshmi Prasad, an enterprising diplomat who has been spreading the languages of Hindi and Telugu on a global map will be the guest speaker.

The event boasting of these literary stalwarts promises to offer some intellectual insights into the Telugu language that has been spoken and written by over 200,000 residents in United States of America.

Shri. Mohan Nannapaneni, President of TANA stressed on the ever growing interest children have shown towards their mother tongue. He said that though children were born and raised in this country, Telugu kids are enthusiastic in learning their “maathru baasha”, not alone Telugu music and dance. The event has been put together by TANA members Dr. Chowdary Jampala, Dr. Sudheer Atluri, Dr. Babu Dandamudi, Shri. Yugandhar Yadlapati , Shri. Raja Surpaneni along with the young and talented Chairman of the Telugu Promotion Committee of TANA – Shri. Sivaram Yarlagadda.