తామా పెద్దలా గద్దలా

From: Devanand Kondur
Date: Sunday, November 16, 2008, 11:09 AM


Dear "Elders" and Friends,

At this point of time we would like to say that we can put the elections behind us and move forward. Since I have the attention of such an "August" audience I would like to make a few points. I was an ostritch till recently and I realized that there were many other ostritches around. Hopefully this will make them raise their heads.

1) Our main intention in asking for the list of voters was more to do with highlighting the fact that there were irregularities in the election process. I see no reason why the nominating committee should not show us the voter lists if there was nothing to hide. Taking the refuge of legal jargon when required and asking that everyone take things on faith when convenient is plainly insincere. We shall no longer pursue this matter. We leave it to the conscience of the nominating committee as to whether these irregularities were intentional or unintentional.

2) We were disappointed by the way in which the so called "Elders" of the community tried to railroad us during the "compromise meeting" conducted at the "Global Mall". Instead of addressing the issues they were preachy about why elections were bad. Here are the real issues as to why the elections really happened.

a) There clearly is a "class" structure existing in TAMA. The four posts i.e. "President", "Vice President", "Secretary", "Treasurer" have always had people jockeying for them. For all assurances that all positions are the same it is duplicitous to say that the "Vice President" should become the "President" and so on. When there is succession there is a "class" system. The facts also point out that this succession is not based on merit but on "bargaining" and "power mongering". The way these positions were "bargained" at the meeting was very amusing nay disgusting. We neither covet nor desire these positions, we really did not need anyone to tell us that there was "other" volunteeer work to be done, because we already do "other" volunteer work. We just felt the need to fight the malaise.

b) It is all fine and dandy to raise funds for "other" charities but who decides which is the most appropriate charity. With personal charities sprouting at the rate of dime a dozen among the "Elders" of the community which ones do we choose? We believe there are many issues that need to be addressed in the local telugu community first before we reach out and touch others. Many people have expressed distress at the lack of support for new immigrants (whether short term or long term). We hardly have any student involvement in our organization other than children of the current community members.

c) The way TAMA is being run is quite franky "unprofessional" to be very charitable. The fact that we may or may not be registered in the "State of Georgia" may leave TAMA vulnerable to libel and law suits, given the fact that we seem to be very desperate to raise funds, which are mostly used to fund other charities. No minutes of meetings are published resulting in the lack of visibility to the community to the inner workings of TAMA. No monthly financial report is published(not even quarterly). Doing this will only bring to bear a 1000 pairs of second set of eyes to our accounts. Maybe we genuinely missed something. Publishing the annual report a year after closing is quite ridiculous.

d) This year there was a clear attempt to influence the agenda of TAMA from outside. As a matter of fact some members of the current committee were coaxed to call for a GBM to impeach the president, thankfully that did not come through.

3) We were taken aback by the negativity expressed by the community leaders to the prospect of elections. For all the vitriol spewed against our campaign, first raising the fear of one caste, then raising the fear of an alignment of castes, the elections, when compared to the spectre of the "previous election" that was raised were clearly better. The only black mark may be the threats to candidates, threats to voters and numerous other deceitful tactics used. We hope the people who spread these unkind words and did these dastardly deeds can look into their hearts and realize the damage "they" have done. We can only imagine what would have happened if we had chosen our panel based on "political" motives rather than on "merit".

4) We are elated at the fact that we took on every single "clique" in the telugu community that was spectaculary arrayed against us. We can only shudder at the deal making that must have gone on behind the scenes. When the agenda of a contesting panel reflects a "cut and paste" of a charity's advertisement one can only wonder. Nevertheless it is the responsibility of all of us to make sure that the interests of TAMA are upheld first and foremost.

TAMA can be cleaned up and it's future ensured only "if" there is indeed a legal entity called TAMA. The first order of business for the executive committee is to see why there seems to be no entity called "TAMA" registered in Atlanta till recently and what the legal consequences of this are. May the blessings and the support of our community be with TAMA.

Devanand Kondur