The First Years Telugu Society of America, popularly known as TELSA was the brainchild of Sri Viswanatha Achyuta Deva Rayalu. Sarma Indraganti, Padma Indraganti and K.V. Baparao were part of the team that gave his ideas the organizational structure it needed. It was incorporated in 1998 and received its non-profit status as a tax-deductible 501 (C)3 organization in 2003. Sri Rayalu, eldest son of the legendary Telugu poet and writer Sri Viswantha Satyanarayana, was an auto-didact in classical Telugu literature and the Vedas and was a traditionalist. He was nevertheless quite tolerant of the radical departures which took over Telugu letters from the mid 1800’s on wards. His stewardship marked TELSA as a forum for small gatherings, often addressed by literary scholars, poets, dramatists,…