The power of VFF USA is in our strong network of passionate donors and volunteers. Prem Gangalakunta, a leading engineer at Cisco/AppDynamics, is one of them. Prem currently lives in the Dallas Fort Worth area, but his family hails from Andhra Pradesh. Prem introduced our work to the CISCO/AppDynamics corporate social responsibility team and visited Rural Development Trust headquarters in Anantapur to learn more about various projects on the ground. Thanks to Prem’s active engagement and CISCO/AppDynamics’ corporate matching program, VFF USA received generous funding for COVID relief efforts, children with disabilities, transformational education programs, and our “Empower a Village” fund.

In addition to all of these activities, Prem decided to use his creative spark to produce a song that describes the secret behind the success of our mission to empower rural communities. This song is called “Take the First Step” and focuses on empathy and care as the driving force for making positive change in the world. Prem agreed to respond to our questions in this short interview.

Why did you decide to produce a song?

Prem: VFF USA’s focus in combating poverty and inequality in rural India is shared by many around the world including Non-Resident Indians (NRIs). The positive impact that NRIs can have was evident during COVID relief efforts over the past two years. With a goal of reaching a wider NRI community, we considered various creative options. One such option is to leverage the talent of NRIs and create a melodious tune with inspiring lyrics. The thought of coming with an inspiring melody was received very well and several graciously volunteered to provide their talent for a worthy cause.

Who participated in the project with you?

Prem: A group of passionate individuals working in tandem has the power to create extraordinary things! We were fortunate to have several such artists help create this musical masterpiece.

Ram Durvasula, who gave the male voice for the song, is a well-known name in the Telugu music community in the US and he has experience organizing and performing at several national level professional musical events with thousands of spectators. He also has experience judging several music and talent competitions.

We are fortunate to have Shilpa Uppuluri provide the female voice for the song. Shilpa has a 4 year course certificate in Carnatic Vocal from Sree Potti SreeRamulu Telugu University and sings a wide variety of songs in Telugu, Hindi and Tamil languages including classical, light, devotional, film songs, Urdu ghazals and Telugu Padyams.

Phani Dokka is a well-known Telugu lyricist and language enthusiast with experience in venturing as an artist in the Telugu movie industry. Ashish Ali is a Mumbai-based music composer who has experience composing music for popular Bollywood movies.
I hope that you will enjoy this song – Happy New Year 2022 to all!

Here is the link to the song: https://lnkd.in/d7D6m3Hm