The biggest challenge before the Telugu associations in the United States is attracting the second generation Telugus born and brought up in America to the associations’ activities if Telugu culture, language and literature have to be protected and passed onto the future generations, says Jayanth Challa, president-elect of the American Telugu Association (ATA), one of the earliest Telugu associations to be formed in the US.
“This challenge is genuine and as ATA president-elect, my focus is on ensuring the active participation of second-generation Telugus or else the following generation will lose connection with their mother tongue and ancestral land,” opines Mr. Challa.
So, he will be focussing on the ‘Connect-Bond and Bridge’ theme in his term aiming at second-generation Telugu kids: “They need to be enticed into the organisation and this will happen when there are more professional activities.”
The ATA cannot confine itself to just preserving language and culture, which was the prime aim when it was formed. With thousands of engineering graduates and other professionals from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana landing in the US every year and the community growing bigger, there is a vast potential for business exploration between Indian and US companies. The growing trade between both countries has to be exploited by the Telugu companies and that’s where ATA has been doing some good work.
“There is a startup culture in India. Telugus and Indians have the finances to pump money into them. There are millions of dollars ready to be invested and ATA will play a key role in building those bridges between Hyderabad and US business communities,” says the Virginia-based Mr. Challa, who is a strategic consultant.
Having been appointed to the Small Business Commission in Virginia and the only Telugu to have served in such a vibrant commission, he has loads of experience in connecting small businesses. The Small Business Commission studies, reports and makes recommendations on issues of concern to small businesses in Virginia. “The experience gave me scope to explore similar areas in the two Telugu states and I will use that experience to connect the businesses.”
Of the thousands of engineering graduates from Telugu states landing in the US, Mr.Challa says he will use his experience of working with the US government. They face problems with practical training, work permits and immigration, and ATA wants to make a difference.
Mr.Challa worked with ‘IT Serve’, a political advocacy committee that lobbied with the US governments for increasing H1B visas and the need to bring in qualified professionals to the USA thus helping Telugu students.
