TANA 2007 in Washington DC Convention Center

In my 16 years in US, I never cared to attend any Indian or Telugu Association functions assuming they are all either boring or waste of valuable weekend time. 2007 changed all that for me after I had to forcefully attend Capitol Area Telugu Society (CATS) Ugadi function with my son who performed dance for the famous "Devuda Devuda" song from Pokiri. Even if my son didn't perform that day, I would still have fallen in love with the Telugu Association functions as it's a very special feeling to be with so many people who have similar roots as we did. Food and entertainment don't really matter once you get there as it's the environment of being in the middle of so many Telugu people that will get you.

Ever since that day, I made up my mind to attend TANA (Telugu Association of North America) 2007 being held in Washington DC Convention Center on July 4th weekend. After all, I might see only one more TANA being organized in DC Metro area in my life. I almost missed attending TANA as I got tied with on-call responsibility that week at my new job at Washington post.

Fortunately, I was able to switch my responsibility at work for that week with a co-worker. I went there on the second day and joined my friends for lunch as I walked in. Lunch was let down but it will be stupid of me to expect good food when I can see over 12,000 people attending the function. It was decent enough to eat but I decided all my next meals will be from the food court area where Minerva and Mirchi were selling enjoyable food.



To me the best part of attending TANA is the probability we have in bumping into our good old friends from yesteryears. I happened to meet one friend after almost 25 years and many after 3-10 years. It was a great feeling. Entertainment, shopping, and food all become insignificant once you start bumping into friends. Also, the feeling you get seeing over 10K Telugu people in the convention center will make you nostalgic about our culture. It's like being at a wedding in Andhra. Very few care to watch the wedding. It's all about meeting friends and cousins and feeling the mood of celebration. Washington Convention center was filled with Teluguthanam those 3-days. It's a feeling that will stay with you for a while. I enjoyed being there so much that I am already trying to plan with friends to make a trip to Orlando, FL in 2009 to attend the TANA there. Hopefully, Mahesh Babu will be the main guest then.

I have to confess I couldn't help myself from not appreciating Nandamuri Bala Krishna. His action in movies isn't to my liking and I hardly even rent his movies on DVDs. Probably, he is the only hero I can't stand watching in movies in the last year or two. But, he stole the show at TANA.

He not only performed exceptionally on stage as Sri Krishna Devarayulu and Yama Dharmaraju but, he was down to earth and it was nice to see him sign autographs for several kids.

I heard 14,000 - 16,000 people attended TANA 2007. I wonder how many more would have attended had Mahesh Babu attended as initially planned? Already TANA 2007 saw too many celebrities (Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Bala Krishna, Narra Chandra Babu Naidu, Murali Mohan, Gummadi(honored with Life Time Achievement Award by TANA), Illeana, Parvati Melton, Sunil, Prabha, Rama Prabha, Mani Sharma, Paruchuri Brother, and many more stars and politicians) attended and it probably didn't need Mahesh Babu. I hope he makes it to the next TANA. It's good to read about TANA in Washington Post.



Congratulations to all TANA organizers for working hard to make TANA 2007 a very memorable one. TANA 2007 will be remembered as Katragadda Krishna Prasad's TANA. He donated not just for TANA and Clinton Foundation for AIDS. Google him or "Katragadda Charities" and you will find about the things he does for his village and for his state. I wish him great success in his business as he is sure to share his profits for the welfare of his state in India.

Sources for great looking and comfortable barstools

Over the years, I spent quite a lot of time in finding the perfect counter and barstools that are not just good looking but just as comfortable. Since most of my active life in house is concentrated in kitchen, I wanted to get ever lasting and very comfortable stools.

Since I am not a normal human like most, I went to extremes to find the best stools for our decor. In the process, I gained enough knowledge about them to admit I am more knowledgeable about bar stools than I am with software programming (14 years working experience).

First, I had to decide between wood or metal. For kitchen it was an easy choice for us with 2 kids below 7 years. Wood was the choice as it will be easy for kids to move it around and also it doesn't damage the hardwood floors. Then, had to decided whether to get swivel chairs or fixed ones. With all our friends having kids, we decided to go with fixed so they get less abused by kids. Had to go with models that have back so, I can relax my back on a long day.

So, my research started on Google. Initially, search was frustrating as several websites that had barstool in their domain name showed up. Most of those sites were selling cheap looking designs.

Frontgate had very nice collection from traditional to contemporary and if you can wait for their 20% off coupon, you might be getting the best deal on great chairs. Also, Horchow, Layla Grayce for traditional, Eurway for low priced contemporary are good places.

Among manufacturers, Artistica Metal, and French Heritage make very comfortable traditional chairs. Furniture Land South in NC state is the best source to buy most brands if you don't find the one's you like at Frontgate.

Frontgate probably gets lot of them made exclusively for them. So, it's very hard to find them any cheaper. For my kitchen I was able to find a model sold by Frontgate on clearance at a local store.



For my basement bar, I have my eyes set on this model at Frontgate and will wait to see it in their outlet before I own them.

NevoSL -More than an Universal Remote

Not many are familiar with this great remote as none of the boxed stores carry it and is exclusively available only through specialized home automation installers.

While my Home Theater was getting ready, I considered several remotes from Harmony to Universal MX300 to even the very expensive Phillips Pronto Models. I ruled out all of them as I wanted a remote that feels like a remote and looks incredibly cool. Then, I visited the Mecca of Remotes - Remote Central and soon discovered Nevo^SL. First I fell for the looks. Then, I started information gathering about this remote and soon decided that it's the remote for me. It's Wi-Fi capable with touch screen operation and button controls. I first tried to work with a local dealer but the price was insanely high. Almost $1.5K which included customizing the remote and programming all equipment in my theater.

The price definitely scared me but didn't let me rule out the remote as I decided to risk warranty and get from ebay. I paid less than $400 and I also purchased NevoLink for less than $100 which is needed for my setup as my equipment is located in the back of the theater. Nevo^SL can transmit the remote commands on WiFi to home network. NevoLink picks up those signals and fires IR to the equipment it's located near. If you know to setup wireless network on your laptop, you sure can figure this.

The remote setup and customization is a breeze and addictive. It has got unlimited potential for creative customization with the Nevo Studio that comes with it. Make sure you update it to the latest version. You can do this from the software menu.

If you are ever in the market for a perfect remote, take a serious look at this one. It's sure to exceed your expectations. If you have a Media center, you can customize the remote to show up images of your media collection and play them remotely.

If you already happen to have this remote please let me know how you like it.

Washington Post's Local Explorer

Washingtonpost.com recently launched "Local Explorer" on their website which is a very useful tool for locals and those who want to be locals. It's local to Washington DC Metro area covering areas in Maryland, Northern Virginia and DC.

For anyone shopping for a house or looking to move to the area, it should be the go to place to research the area before you buy or rent a place. Local Explorer uses Google maps to show Places in the Area, Recent Home Sales, Schools, and Crime. You can click on point-marks to get more details of that place including Home sale information, School Reports, Crime Reports, etc.

It's also very helpful for people like me who already live here. I am able to look for restaurants, movie theaters, bus stops, daycares, etc around my area. Also, I can keep an eye on crime, home sales, etc around my area. After all, it makes me feel better when I see house prices going up while crime rate is coming down.

Pepper Shrimp

Shrimp, Bacon, Fresh Green lemon, Lemon Pepper or any Pepper Mix found in McCormick type seasonings, Bell Peppers, Pam cooking spray, toothpick sticks.

Mix Pepper seasoning to your taste to shrimp. Cut Bell peppers to thin strips. Cut each slice of bacon to 3-4 pieces. Mix all these together in a bowl and squeeze fresh lemon to your taste and leave for 15-20 mins. To each shrimp, put one strip of bell pepper and roll the Bacon over it and insert the toothpick from head side of shrimp to tail side.

Spray Pam on non-stick oven double grill tray that can drain liquids to bottom tray as shown in picture. Put oven in Broil medium and let it heat for 2-3 mins. Now, put the tray in middle rack. Take the tray out in 2-3 mins and turn the shrimp over and place it back in oven for another 2-3 mins.

Ready to serve hot. Add more lemon if needed.

TIP: Don't let shrimp over cook. Believe me, 5-6 minutes in medium Broil can sometimes over cook the shrimp. So, keep an eye on the oven. Since this dish takes less than 10 minutes to cook, it's always better to cook it when the guests arrive.

Banana65

(Picture Courtesy: www.nandyala.org)

If you like, call it anything else!

I used green veggie bananas. Peel them well, slice them and marinate in a mixture of anything to suit your taste. I used a mixture of red chili, salt, little garam masala, amchur powder, besan flour(very little), rice flour(very little), lots of pepper and little water. Marinate for about 30 mins to 1-hr.

Deep fry them. You don't need a pan full of oil. Just enough oil to drown the bananas. If you prefer fry in small batches to use less oil. Fry them until well cooked. Spread them on Bounty paper napkin to remove any oil. For healthy eating, substitute deep frying with baking in oven at 375F for 20-30 minutes.

Now, fry green peppers, and curry leaves. Add some red chili powder and salt to taste. Add jeera powder. Add fried/baked banana, stir them and add finely chopped coriander leaves and add lemon juice to taste.

The appetizer is ready. Makes an excellent side with sambar or rasam.

Apollo Fish

Use Priya fish masala (The packet specifies the amount of fish that can be used) to marinate the fish (prefer Tilapia) for couple of hours. Marinate should be made of Priya fish masala, salt, red chili powder, jeera powder, ginger paste, lemon juice, and some ground pepper.

Semi deep fry the fish (For fat conscious diet oven it at 375F for 7 mins and then 3 mins in Broil Mode). Keep the fish aside and fry hot green peppers, and lots curry leaves. Add 1 or 2 onions that are cut thin and long and stir fry for a 5 mins. Taste deep fried (or oven baked) fish to check the taste of salt and chili and add more salt and chills as needed to your taste. If needed, add more Priya fish masala and some amchur powder to get a tangy taste to the appetizer.

Add finely chopped coriander leaves to the stir fry mix and immediately add deep fried fish. Turn very slowly to avoid splitting the fish. You don't have to fry much once the fish is added.

Apollo fish is ready to be enjoyed. Remember, a good presentation can help enhance the psychological taste of your dish. Enjoy it with a raspberry fruit wine.