Albany Telangana Friends (ATF) Celebrate Telangana State Formation

July 7, 2014 7:06 am

Celebrations over Telangana State formation continue across foreign shores. Albany Telangana Friends, an association of Telangana natives did a grand celebration of our historic achievement of statehood. The celebrations happened in an all day event on June 29, 2014 from 10:30 am to 5:30 pm at River Road Park, Niskayuna in Albany of New York State.

Around 350 people gathered and participated in this event to mark Telangana’s freedom for self-rule. Many spoke at the event and recalled the Martyrs sacrifices for the cause and observed 2 minutes of silence in their memory. Everyone recalled the historic struggle that went into achieving statehood and how Telangana society fought unitedly for the cause. They expressed joy over statehood and shared the hope they have for a prosperous Telangana. Among those who spoke were Ram Mohan Lalukota, Sridhar Tirumala, Srinivas Arvapally, Sridhar Kothagundla, Rajesh Katukojwala, Jagath Ganneboina, Sridhar Arvapally etc.

Attendees introduced each others’ families and stressed the need to be interconnected for the betterment of Telangana community in Albany. Ladies performed “Bhathukamma” celebrations to mark the happy moment while kids and grandparents cut the cake. The participants enthusiastically sung at the event which can be seen in the video below. Adults and Kids alike played games which are popular back home in Telangana and danced to the tunes of popular Telangana music and songs. The gathering enjoyed the sumptuous Telangana delicacies and snacks like Sakinaalu, Harishelu which were brought from Hyderabad, Telangana State.

The gathering vowed to continue their efforts to foster Telangana identity among the community and do more such events.