7th AKKA World Kannada Conference

By Jyothsna Hegde

Kannadadigas in Atlanta are suddenly feeling aimless! Yes, the 7th AKKA World Kannada Conference concluded successfully this Labor Day garnering rave compliments from guests for food and the arrangements by volunteers of the hosting organization, Nrupathunga Kannada Koota.

Greeted by the traditional banana and coconut branches’ enclave at the entrance, the decorations and volunteers extended a warm homely welcome to over 3000 guests. The festivities kicked off on Friday August 31 with the Lightening of the Lamp opening ceremony including Lord Ganesha Invocation and Dance. Dignitaries at the event included Her Excellency Madam Ambassador Nirupama Rao Indian Ambassador to U.S.A, Smt. Sudha Murty Infosys Foundation Chairman, Jnanpith Award Winner, Dr. Chandrashekara Kambara, Hon. Ajit Kumar Consul General of India, Atlanta, Hon Chairman, KDA, Dr. Mukhyamanthri Chandru, S. Pradeep Kumar AKKA WKC 2012 Title Sponsor, Director, ULB Realty Ventures Limited, Dr. Shivamurthy Shivacharya Mahaswamiji Taralabalu Jagadguru Brihanmath, Sirigere, Sri. Nirmalanandanatha Swamiji Sri Adichunchanagiri Mahasamsthana Math, Swami. Nirbhayanandaji Ramakrishna Vivekanand Ashrama, Bijapur, Dr.Shivamurthy Muruga Rajendra Swamiji Muruga Rajendra Mutt, Chitradurga, Dr. Swami Veereshanandaji Ramakrishna Vivekananda Ashram at Tumkur, I.M. Vittal Murthy AKKA WKC 2012 International Cultural Coordinator, Padmaraj Dandavati Executive Editor, Prajavani, Sreenivas G. Kappanna AKKA WKC 2012 International Cultural Coordinator, T.N. Seetharam Kannada TV Star Director/Actor, Dr. VidyaBhushana Well known Musician, Sri.Vachananda Swamiji Kayaka Shri awardee TV9 Yoga.

On Friday, Hon Ajit Kumar addressed the Business Forum at AKKA with advancement of Indo-US Business Relations - Indian Consulate's Role and Key Note Address by OfficeMax CEO Ravi Saligram. The Panel also included many distinguished guests. CME Forum had accomplished speakers from Emory University, Southern Osteoporosis Center, Doncaster Royal Infirmary, UK, MBMC, ST.Louis, Washington University, St. Louis, VCU, Virginia and GRD Health. Cultural activities began later in the day with introduction of visiting artists from India, National Anthems of India and USA followed by a kick off Dance item by Natya and Stem Dance Company led by Ms. Madhu Nataraj. The Lighting of the lamp ceremony was followed by Karntaka Vaibhava, Dance drama on history and culture of Karnataka. The highlight of the evening included melodious rendition of Kannada movie songs by ace singers Archana Udupa, Manasi Prasad and Nagara Srinivasa Udupa.

Guests woke up a colorful parade “Meravanige” with Folk Dance theme presented by all participating Kannada Kootas on Saturday Sep 1 . H.E. Nirupama Rao, Smt. Sudha Murty, Dr. Chandrashekara Kambara, Dr. Mukhyamanthri Chandru and S. Pradeep Kumar Inaugurated the ceremony.

“I’m Karnataka’s daughter-in-law” declared H.E. Nirupama Rao in her inaugural address adding that her growing up years in Karnataka had widely influenced her. “There is a special relation between India and the US.” She said adding that the NRIs residing in the US play a major role in maintaining those relations. We are joining hands in fields of Science, Technology, Fuel, Healthcare, Agriculture and much more and all of this is not possible without your involvement, she added. Smt. Sudha Murty shared her own experiences about changing public views about Indians in America and pointed out that Indians residing here were vastly responsible for it. Sudha Murty requested the crowd to continue to help the helpless. She also addressed the Women’s Forum talking about
Modern Woman –Reaching your full potential. Saturday Night Prime rocked the hall with two different genres of music, devotional by Sri. Vidyabhushana and Contemporary by Raghu Dixit, both transporting music lovers to another world.

Various other forums kicked off including Literary, Chairty, Singles Mingle, Spirituality, Sports, Women’s and Youth. Singing competition for aspiring singers– AKKA IDOL 2012 – Haadu Baa Kogile had about 35 contestants participating from across the US and three winners Saanika Mahashetty (Junior), Pranitha Kaaginele( Teen) and Seema Murthy Kasturi (Adult) were announced.
Youth Forum had various activities and winners were announced. Dance AKKA Dance, a dance competition with 28 contestants declared their winners. In the Classical 7 -11, Ishika Girish won 1st place, Revati Vijayan , 2nd place, and Medha Rao (3rd place). Classical 12 -16 - Niveditha Rao (1st place), Anusha Gopali (2nd place), SriVidhya Vijayan (3rd place). Classical 17 -21 - Ranjini Murthy (1st place), Kesha Acharya (2nd place), Joshika Money  (2nd place). Non Classical 7 -11 Rishi Gowda (1st place), Ishika Girish (2nd place), Esha Sringeri (3rd place), Group Performance - non classical Namoora Diva's  - Ist Place(Esha Sringari, Pragna Rao, Naksha Kashyap, Disha Baglodi, Kirti Bharadwaj, Jyotsna Rao, Ananya Kumar, Neha Rao, Spoorthy Bharadwaj, Gal Gal - 2nd place (Spoorthy Bharadwaj, Akanksha Sharma, Arjun Murlidar & Vibha. Other competitions included Debate with Winner Abhinav Patil, Wii Tournament with winner Nithin Naren, Scavenger Hunt with winner Shalini Setty, Rani Schwartz, Anil Schwartz, AKKA Apprentice  with winner Anisha Anand (1st Place), Ashwin Haritsa (2nd Place).
 
Various Sports Champions were announced. : Big dhandigas DC/Maryland were winners of Gandaberunda Cricket Championship and Detriot auto XI, Runners-up. Best Bowler was Pramod Pradhan of Big Dhandigas, Best Batsman: Santhosh Swaminathan of Big Dhandigas, Best All rounder: Nataraj Laxman of Detroit Auto XI. Gandaberunda Chess Champions in Adults category included Vinay AP – Winner and Kalpana Ramaswamy - Runner-up,
Youth-1 , below 12 years - Nina Bhat – Winner and Vishruth Madhusudhan - Runner-up, Youth 2 –b/w 12 – 18 yrs - Nagaraj Bhagwat – Winner and Sahrudh Dharanendra - Runner-up. Gandaberunda Carrom Champions in
Youth Finals: Champion - Charit Arkacharya, Runner Up - Dhruv Urs, Adult Singles: Champion - Dr. Ramesh Kenchappa, Runner Up - Omkar Naik, Womens Singles: Champion - Vani Parashette, Runner UP - Anuradha Sastri, Adult Doubles: Champions - Dr. Ramesh Kenchappa & Sunil Ramegowda, Runners Up - Sundaresh Srinivasa & Manjunath Shankar, Mixed Doubles: Champions - Kalyan and Vani Parashette, Runners Up - Dr. Ramesh Kenchappa & Anuradha Sastri.

Fashion Show Shringaara showcased fusion of east and the west with colorful, classy clothing backed by slick choreography, luxurious backdrops and music featuring supermodel Sonia Dara as one of the showstoppers.

Kannada Literary enthusiasts had a wonderful opportunity to mingle with legends in the field with various activities including an evening with Dr. Kambara, Poetry recitation and competition With famous poet DundiRaj, Debate competition and quiz competition and many more programs with Prajavanni Executive Editor Padmraj Dandavate by and for kids including talks on Media, TV and the theatrical world with cultural icon T.N. Seetharam.

Cultural programs galore awaited the audience. Veena Recital by Suma Sudhindra, Melodious Janapada Sangeetha Yuvaraj ,Chintan Vikas and Poojya Mohan, Yakshagana skit , Yaksha Manjusha by Vidya Kolyur and her team, Kuchupudi Dance Vyjyanthi Kashi Vyjyanthi Kashi, Suguma Sangeetha Kikkeri KrishnaMurthy, Classical Carnatic music by Manasi Prasad, Songs from various plays Poojya Mohan, Seema Raikar, Chintan Vikas, Sharath Lohitasawa, Mrutunjaya Doddawada, Srinivasa Udupa, Bharathanatyam by Dr.Suparna Venkatesh, Sugama Sangeetha Y.K. MudduKrishna, Dance Sankalana dance Madhu Nataraj Natya and Stem Dance Kampani Karnataka, Dance Drama Mruchikatika by Guru Prasanna Kasturi and Soorya Dance Performing Art members, Bharathanatyam dance Yamuna Sriniddhi. Classical Music - Accompanying Artists included Vidwan B.K. Chandramouli - Mrudanga Vidwan B.K. Anantha ram – Flute Vidwan Ramesh Ramalingappa - Mrudanga Ganesh Kumar Neelakanta – Violin Vidwan Jayaprakash Kannur - Flute Sri.Ramanth – Mrudanga Vidwan S.Srishylan - Ghata Smt.K.Srilakshmi- Taala & Shruti.

Various Vendor Booths displaying clothes, accessories, jewelry, real estate, Karnataka tourism, and various other merchandise were available for the guests to shop around.



“Thank you is inadequate to express our gratitude but we hope you accept it. Beginning from receiving our guests at the airport till we said good bye last night to our guests, you all poured your hearts. You all did it with a sense of pride and definitely not just a duty. No doubt the triumphant success will be etched in the minds of all of us for years to come.” Dr. Ramaswamy, the Convener of the convention said in thanking volunteers for their time and effort. “We thank all special guests, artists, journalists who made it for the event and made the International culture programming very rich in the event. We specially thank Sree. Kappana and I.M. Vittalaamurthy for setting up a very good cultural line up which ensured we did not miss the movie stars much. Certainly they could have closed our event in style.” Srivijaya Srinivasa, Co –convener quoted.

Elaborate menus, exclusive forums catering to various interests certainly compensated for some program scheduling shortcomings. It would not be an exaggeration to say that a successful milestone has been set in the history of Atlanta’s Nrupathunga Kannada Koota.

AKKA (Association of Kannada Kootas of America) is non-profit, Educational, Linguistic and Cultural Organization incorportated under Non Profit Corporation act of the State of Florida to integrate, coordinate, network and unite the activities of all Kannadigas and Kannada Kootas for promotion and preservation of Kannada language and culture in North America. The 1st AKKA World Millennium Kannada Conference was held in Houston, Texas hosted by Kannada Vrinda of Houston in the year 2000 with 2000 attendees. The 2nd AKKA World Kannada Conference held in Detroit, Michigan in 2002 hosted by Pampa Kannada Koota scaled AKKA to greater heights, with more than 4000 Kannadigas attending the conference. The successive WKCs held in Orlando, Florida, hosted by Srigandha Kannada Kootain 2004, Baltimore, Maryland in 2006 hosted by Kaveri Kannada Association, Vidyaranya Kannada Koota of Chicago, in 2008, and Brindavana Kannada Koota of New Jersey in 2010 have always gathered thousands of attendees, gaining and propagating rapid momentum and keen interest, each consecutive conference.

Nrupathunga Kannada Koota of Atlanta hosted the 7th World Kannada Conference. NKK, the non-profit organization was established in 1973 with the intention of providing a common meeting ground to share the joy of festivals and occasions that binds people from Karnataka. NKK has endeavored to participate in community and charitable work. NKK donations have helped families in tragedy, educational institutions and victims of national calamities