Short History of TAMAUSA

Short History of TAM²AUSA

In the Beginning .......

The said.......

" Let there be Movies......"

It was another hot, Sunny, Sultry Sunday morning in August, 1994, a Birthday or a Barmitzwa equivalent was being celebrated in a Brahman's house. My favorite cornered me and said:

What I did not say was:

Yet we discusses the practical difficulties of getting three Tamils together in a place to do anything, without Briyani as bait, and their generosity or the lack of it to support cultural activities. I was wrong! In one week "VEERA" was screened in Tampa and the rest is history! No! Not really !!

In those good old days screening a movie was cheap, the total cost was around $ 500/- and even had some money left over to cover picnic expenses. Initial enthusiasm waned after few good movies and Tamausa was facing imminent and premature death. That is when Edna and Dr. Thabaraj stepped in and resuscitated the dying Tamausa and like Drs. Krishnamoorthy, Krishnaraj and Rathinasamy pumped in some money ( see the list of life members: ).

Name that Tune (): And the TAMAUSA was born but not christened with the name yet. We were looking for a cute name for this precious baby and a contest was held soliciting names. There were many good suggestions but none were exciting but one "Tamil Association of USA - TAUSA" submitted by Giri/Mahendra, showed promise. On that historic night, during my sleep, I heard a strange voice not unlike the one that spoke to Charlton Heston telling me, "Call it TAMAUSA", "But G__", I retorted "they'll not take it seriously........ " "They shall ......", it said, "just square the TAM, it'd grow exponentially." So, it was TAM²AUSA from then on.

Then came the Elite and clamored for some class! Elite snobs like Selvi and Parimala demanded without (poetry without porn or sonnets without sringharam) without (Devotion without detraction), Tamil movies without group dances, Tamil get together without & Virility without Viagra !!! How are we going to achieve these impossible demands except, of course the last one?

But Tamausa wouldn't give up and shall continue to strive for a delicate balance between these elitists and the hundreds of my beloved Thambees who `live' for group dances.

At this time, I gratefully remember the help of Shanmugam who single-handedly moved those heavy movie boxes, Ravi who moved even heavier IRS, and the former Treasurer Rani K, who single-handedly terrorized all the men around her demanding all the right things. There are too many to thank and all the new blood to welcome! I'll be miserably failing, if I do not mention the support from Charlotte (county), riches from Richey (New Port), benevolence of Brandon & Bradenton, and what Seabring shall bring to us and all the wonderful souls in the surrounding (Pinellas, Pasco, Hernando, Citrus etc.) counties, all the way from Arcadia thru Orlando to Zephyrhills.

It is hard to believe that such a small band of tribal's have done so much in so short a time with so little........., and the nation had chosen us to host THE NATIONAL TAMIL CONVENTION in TAMPA in the year 2000 AD.

Rajasekaran,

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