Telugu Maatlaata ® is a program of SiliconAndhra ManaBadi which aims to promote interest in and love for Telugu language among children of the diaspora by sparking their spirit of friendly competition through exciting, fun, popular games with a Telugu language twist!

ManaBadi strongly believes in supplementing classroom lessons and academics with multiple co-curricular and extra-curricular activities. Telugu Maatlaata is the crowning jewel of such activities by ManaBadi. A quick look at Telugu Maatlaata over the years (see: History) shows its popularity among the entire ManaBadi family! We all know that, given a choice between learning a lessons and playing a game, kids will always choose a game! Telugu Maatlaata is our way of incorporating learning in the form of a game contest. We are confident that, just by participating in Telugu Maatlaata games, kids will improve their Telugu vocabulary and knowledge. We are convinced that kids who prepare for the games contest will develop a love for the language and improve their skill levels in reading, writing, speaking and understanding.

The following games are part of Telugu Maatlaata program.

• Padarangam: A game similar to Spelling Bee, involving Telugu words and written spelling (instead of spoken spelling). Padarangam game will not be held in 2022. It will be added back from the next academic year.
• Tirakaatam: A game similar to Jeopardy, involving questions and answers in Telugu language, on a variety of topics. For full details about Tirakaatam, please visit Tirakaatam: Rules and Guidelines.

Format

The following will be the format of the games for the current year (2022).

• Only Tirakaatam will be held this year. Other games (e.g. Padarangam) will be added to the roster from the next academic year, once we are back to full normal operations after recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
• There are two levels of competitions:
  • Prelims: Participants from each age group within the same region will play against each other to determine one winner per Region in each game.
  • International Finals: This event will feature the winners of the Prelims events. 
• This year’s Prelims games will be held online only, via Zoom. Please see Tirakaatam: Rules and Guidelines for further details about technology requirements and the mode of play in the online format.
• At this time, the International Finals event is planned to be a gala in-person event! However, this may change if the COVID-19 pandemic situation makes in-person events risky.

Dates

• Prelims games will be held during the weekend of July 8 - 10, 2022. Depending on the number of registered Players, we may need to conduct multiple levels of Games this year in the Prelims stage before declaring a Regional Winner. Advance Levels of the same Game may need to be scheduled on a later weekend.
• International Finals are tentatively planned for the Labor Day weekend in 2022 (September 3/4, 2022). Venue and further details will be announced soon.

Prizes

• Regional winners get beautiful trophies!
• The best reward will be the Entry to the International Finals, a phenomenal opportunity to play against the best across all participating regions, and possibility of creating history!
• Win or not, every participant will find a huge improvement in vocabulary and reading/writing/speaking/comprehension skills in Telugu! 
• We strongly encourage all eligible participants to come forward and register for playing Telugu Maatlaata games! It is a fun way to learn Telugu!

• All participants must register at http://telugumaatlaata.com/register/
• Registration for Telugu Maatlaata 2022 is free! However, registration is mandatory to participate in the Games (no "walk-ins"!)

• The Game Board consists of a board with a Grid of Boxes, arranged as Columns and Rows.
• Each Column pertains to a Category/topic (e.g. Telugu authors, Tourist places in Telugu states etc.) 
• Each Row has a certain number of Points associated with it, starting from Row 1 = 100 Points, up to Row 5 = 500 Points.
• Each game can be played with 3 to 6 Players, as determined by the Organizers.
• Participants will be randomly pre-assigned a sequence number, from 1 to the max number of participants.
• Starting with #1, each Player will pick a Box (referenced by its Column + Row numbers, or by its Category + Points) from among any of the Boxes that have not been answered yet.
• The Anchor will read out the question/clue on that Box, and display the question on the screen. In general, the question on a Box with higher number of points will have a higher level of difficulty than a Box in the same Category with lower Points.
• Players can choose to Answer the Question or Pass.
• Answer should be in Telugu language only!!
• The Judge’s will rule whether the given answer(s) are correct.
• Depending on the Player’s response, the following Points will be awarded:
  • For correct Answer(s), the participant will get the Points on the Box. Note: for multi-part questions, all parts of the question must be answered correctly. No partial Points.
  • For incorrect Answer(s), the participant will get negative Points equal to the Points on the Box. Note: for multi-part questions, if any of the parts is answered wrongly, it will lead to negative Points. No partial Points.
  • For a Pass: No Points. Players score will not change.
• Scores will be updated on the screen as the Game progresses.
• If a Player does a “Pass”, the Player with the next # in sequence will get the Question, until all Players get a chance for that question, or someone gets the right answer.
• This process continues until all the questions on the Game Board have been completed.
• Once the Game Board is completed, the scores of each player will be announced.
• The Top scorer from the game will advance to the next round of games, which will consist of winners from other similar games.
• Each region will send one Finalist per age group to the International Finals.

Scope of questions

• Questions will be in Telugu language. Some questions may use pictures or other visual clues.
• Examples of subject topics are literature, vocabulary, grammar, poetry, stories, history, current events, places of interest etc., related to Telugu, including Telugu language, Telugu states, Telugu people and so on.
• About 80% of the questions for these games will be taken from the content published at this website. https://www.telugumaatlaata.com/practice. These are questions that have been created and used in previous instances of Telugu Maatlaa.
• The rest will be new content created exclusively for these games. This will ensure that those participants with a broader knowledge will emerge as winners (rather than just by-heart the answers from the published content)

Additional Information

• Players can get familiar with the games by watching videos of Tirakaatam games from the past on ManaBadi's YouTube channel by searching for "Telugu Maatlaata".
• For example, here is a video that shows Tirakaatam 2015 Finals held in Dallas/Fort Worth, TX, USA.

Technology Requirements for Players

• Zoom account
• PC/Laptop with a big screen (at least 13 inch)
• Integrated video camera
• Integrated microphone and speakers (no headsets)
• Dedicated internet connection (50 Mbps or higher)
• Bright Light focused on the participant’s face and surroundings

Game Rules for Players and their Parents

• Player's Video should be on at all times.
• Player's Microphone should be unmuted at all times.
• Player should be in a quiet room with sufficient light to show the Player’s face as well as surroundings.
• No headphones, mobile devices, books or any other reference material.
• Game will not stop if the Player takes a break during the Game! Water, bathroom and other needs should be addressed before the start of the game.
• Parents may help with technology setup but should leave the Player's surroundings before the start of the Game.
• Dishonesty/Cheating will lead to immediate disqualification and elimination from the Games! Dishonesty can include (but not limited to):
  • Prompting by parents or other persons during the game
  • Using books, digital devices or any other source of information for obtaining answers during the game
  • Other creative forms of cheating!
• Player should not answer questions out of turn! This may end up helping or hurting other Players.
• The Game Team may not provide any clarifications about the question/clue, unless it is fair to all Players.
• The decision of the Judge and Host is final and binding. Please do not contest the decision during the game. You can provide feedback to the ManaBadi team by sending an email to maatlaata@manabadi.siliconandhra.org