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.

Program

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). For full details about Padarangam, please visit Padarangam: Rules and Guidelines.
• 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.
• ONiMa: A game similar to Just-A-Minute, where players are expected to speak exclusively in Telugu on a given topic. For full details about ONiMa (ఒక్క నిమిషం మాత్రమే), please visit ONiMa: Rules and Guidelines.

Format

The following will be the format of the games for the current year (2023).

• There are two levels of competitions:
  • Prelims: Participants from each age group within the same Center will play against each other to determine one winner per Center in each game.
  • International Finals: This event will feature the winners of the Prelims events.
• Players are expected to sign up for the Center closest to them while registering for the Games (go to: Register)

Dates

• Prelims games will be held during the months of March - June, 2023. 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 2023 (September 2/3, 2023). Venue for the International Finals will be in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metro area in Texas, USA.

Prizes

• All players receive certificates of participation!
• 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 https://telugumaatlaata.com/register/
• Registration fee for Telugu Maatlaata 2023 is $10 per player.
• During registration, players may choose which games they would like to play. Registration fee is the same, irrespective of the number of games played per player.
• Players can register and play at only one Center. If a player does not advance to the International Finals at one Center, they are not eligible to participate this year at a different Center.

Telugu Maatlaata Locations - 2023

Game Flow

• 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 games at the same Center.
• Each Center 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.

The Objective of Padarangam is to improve the Telugu vocabulary of students learning Telugu. Just by practising and playing this game, students will be able to read, write and pronounce better in Telugu. The game is also an excellent tool for students to guage their current skill level in Telugu writing, as well as demonstrate future improvement in a scaled manner through regular practice.
 

Definitions

• Unlike traditional English Spelling Bee format Padarangam is a word-writing contest. The word will be announced and contestant needs to write it on the white board. All words will be in Telugu only.
• There will be three Rounds in the game: Green, Orange and Red.
• Green
  • Simple words.
  • No గుణింతాలు except అం.
  • No ఒత్తులు.
  • E.g. కమల, జలజ, సంపద, భయంకరం, మంగళం.
  • 2 Minutes (120 seconds) time allotted for writing words.
  • No Elimination. Players will continue to the next Level even if they write their given word incorrectly.
• Orange
  • Slightly Complex words.
  • Will have గుణింతాలు & a few ఒత్తులు.
  • E.g. అడవి, దేవత, ముద్రణ, పుస్తకము, చంద్రుడు, అంతః పురము.
  • 1.5 Minutes (90 seconds) time allotted for writing words.
  • Players will be eliminated from the game if they write their word incorrectly.
• Red
  • Complex words.
  • Unrestricted.
  • E.g. అక్కయ్య, బొమ్మరిల్లు, గ్రామలక్ష్మి, శాస్త్రవేత్త, భర్తృహరి, ధృతరాష్ట్రుడు.
  • 1 Minute (60 seconds) time allotted for writing words.
  • Players will be eliminated from the game if they write their word incorrectly.
• Each Round will have multiple Levels.
• All words within a particular Level will be of similar degree of difficulty.
• Words in Level 1 will be more difficult than words in Level 2 and so on.
• The Game will be played in Cycle. Each Cycle is identified by the Round and Level. E.g. Green Level 2, Orange Level 5 and so on.
• The process for picking words in a Level is automated. That is, words are played one after the other in random order.

Game Flow

• Players will be called to play in random order.
• During a Player’s turn, they will hear a word through the audio system. The objective of the Player is to write the word they hear correctly on the White Board.
• Each Player gets a fixed amount of time to write their word. The allotted time is shown on a screen at the beginning of their turn, and counts down to zero.
• Judges / anchors will prompt the remaining time in the Player’s turn as the remaining time gets close to zero.
• A Player’s turn ends in one of two ways, whichever happens earlier:
  • Player puts their pen down, indicating that they don’t intend to make any further changes to the word as written by them on the White Board.
  • The time remaining is zero. No changes are allowed to the word as written by them on the White Board after this point. Whatever remains on the White Board at this point of time will be considered by the Judges.
• During their remaining time, Players can:
  • Write, erase, and re-write as many times as they choose.
  • Ask for the word audio clip to be stopped or started as many times as they choose.
  • Ask for the word audio clip to be changed from male voice to female voice or vice-versa, as many times as they choose.
• After a Player’s turn ends, the Judge will determine if the word is written correctly or not. If the word is written correctly, the Player moves to the next Level. Otherwise, the Player is eliminated.
• Typically, there will be 2 Green Rounds played in each Center. These rounds are for warm-up or practice rounds at the games venue, and also serve to encourage beginner players.

Determining a Winner

• At the end of a Cycle, all remaining Players will continue to the next Cycle.
• If there are enough words for ALL remaining players in a particular Level, then the next Cycle will continue in the current Level. Otherwise, the Game advances to the next Level (1,2,3 etc.) and/or the next Round (Green, Orange, Red) and so on.
• If ALL Players in a particular Cycle are eliminated in that Cycle, then ALL those players will play again in the next Cycle. For example, if a Cycle starts with 4 Players, and ALL 4 Players write their word incorrectly, then they will ALL play the next Cycle (that is, no one will be eliminated).
• If only one Player advances to the next Cycle, that Player will be declared Winner.
• If exactly two Players advance to the next Cycle, then the Winner will be determined when one of the write their word incorrectly AND the other writes their word correctly AND also writes the second player’s word ALSO correctly.
• The Game will continue in this manner until only 1 Player remains, who will be declared Winner from that Center for that age group.
• After the Winner is determined, the game continues until a Runner-up and Second Runner-up are determined using the same process as above.
• Organizers reserve the right to declare Joint Winners after a certain number of Cycles.

Qualifying for International Finals

• The Winner of Padarangam at the Center level will advance to the International Finals ONLY IF they have advanced past Orange Level 5. This is to ensure a minimum standard of competition at the International Finals. Therefore, it is not to be misunderstood that the Winner at a Center will automatically qualify for the International Finals.
• If the Winner at a Center is unable to attend the International Finals for any reason, then the opportunity goes to the Runner-up. If the Runner-up also cannot attend, then the opportunity goes to the Second Runner-up. If the Second Runner-up also cannot attend, then the Center will not be represented in that particular age group.

Additional Information

• Play the game on the Telugu Matlaata Padarangam Practice Site to gain experience as well as improve your Telugu writing skills.
• Coming Soon: Full List of Words in Padarangam elimination rounds for 2023 Prelims.
• This video provides some tips and guidance to players, parents and teachers on some of the more complex aspects of Telugu pronunciation: .
• These videos are good samples of how Padarangam is played in the International Finals: .

ONiMa (Okka Nimisham Maatrame) is Telugu equivalent of Just-A-Minute (JAM). The purpose of this game is to encourage kids to speak well, while also developing keen listening and comprehension skills in Telugu.

Setup

• Each round will have a maximum of 6 participants, and they play against each other.
• Players are given buzzer pods.
• Players are seated in a random order.
• Each Player gets to start to speak on a topic chosen at random.
• Each Speaker gets points based on the duration (seconds) s/he can speaks.
• The allotted time for each topic is One Minute (60 seconds).
• Other Players should pay attention while Speaker is speaking on the topic. If the listeners find an “objection”, they should press buzzer to raise their objections to the Judge.
• At this point the Speaker stops speaking. Judge will then either “sustain” if it is valid objection, or “overrule” if it is not.
• If the Judge “sustains” an objection:
  • The Player who pressed the buzzer (and thereby won the objection), becomes the new Speaker; that is, they get the chance to continue speaking on the same topic for the remainder of the One Minute.
  • The previous Speaker is given the number of points corresponding to the duration in seconds that they spoke for until they were objected.
• In case of over-ruled objection:
  • The Speaker will continue to speak on the same topic for the remainder of the One Minute.
• Multiple objections can be raised by multiple Players at the same time. The same process will be followed by the Judge to evaluate each objection sequentially.
• The Judge reserves the right to step in and warn Players if they are raising frivolous objections.
• The Judge reserves the right to step in even without an objection from other players if a Player is repeating the same words, phrases, sentences or ideas. This particular option will be used sparingly; however, it is necessary to make sure the game remains interesting.
• A bonus of 20 points will be awarded to the Speaker who takes any topic to the end of the One minute.
• A bonus of 60 points will be awarded to a Speaker if they can speak on their topic for the full 60 seconds without valid objections.
• The above process will continue until all Players get to start speaking on their randomly chosen topic.

Valid Objections

• Non-Telugu Words: Use of Non-telugu words if Telugu equivalent exists. For example, “daddy” is used for “నాన్న”. However, English proper nouns, such as names of cities, people, things etc. are allowed (example: Chicago, Obama, Halloween).
  Note:
  • Dialects (మాండలీకాలు) and accents (యాసలు) are perfectly acceptable.
  • Commonly-used Telugu words borrowed from other languages (e.g. రోడ్డు, నకిలీ, ఖర్చు, పైసలు, ఓటు, కబురు, పేకాలు) are perfectly acceptable.
• Pronunciation/ఉచ్చారణ: Wrong pronunciation. E.g:
  • “వాల్లు” instead of “వాళ్ళు”
  • “వీన” instead of “వీణ”
  • “కాసి” instead of “కాశి”
  • “బారత” instead of “భారత”
• Pause: 3 seconds or more.
• Wasting time: If speaker tries to speak off-topic for 3 or more sentences to fill his/her time to score points. For example, if the topic is about a festival and speaker brings up a concept of how s/he celebrated festival with her/his brother but then continue to detail & describe his brother rather than speak on the topic.
• Repetition: If speaker repeats same theme again and again, or repeats the idea of an earlier speaker without adding any new information related to the topic. For example: A Speaker talking about an animal continues to repeat that the same sentence or concept that the animal has four legs. Similarly, a subsequent speaker repeats the same sentence or concept.
• Telugu Grammar: Improper use of Telugu grammar in the following areas are valid to raise objections. Grammatical flaws beyond the areas listed below are not considered at this stage of the competition:
  • Gender / లింగాలు: E.g.; “కమల పాట పాడాడు".
  • Singular-Plural / వచనాలు: E.g.; “చాలా తేనెటీగ ఉన్నాయి"
  • Tenses / కాలాలు: E.g.; “మేము నిన్న ఆడుకుంటున్నాము"
  • Prepositions/విభక్తులు: “నేను ఆదివారం మీద వచ్చాను (I came on Sunday)”

Determining the Winner

• The score obtained by each Player on each topic is added up to give their final score for the game.
• The Winner is the Player with the most number of points at the end of the Game.
• The Winners of initial rounds will play a Center-level Final round to determine the Winner for the Center for their age group.
• The Runner-up and Second Runner-up are also determined based on their scores.
• If the Winner at a Center is unable to attend the International Finals for any reason, then the opportunity goes to the Runner-up. If the Runner-up also cannot attend, then the opportunity goes to the Second Runner-up. If the Second Runner-up also cannot attend, then the Center will not be represented in that particular age group.

Additional Information

• Full List of Topics to be used in the Game in Telugu Maatlaata 2023 for Budatalu: Coming Soon...
• Full List of Topics to be used in the Game in Telugu Maatlaata 2023 for Sisindreelu: Coming Soon...
• This video provides some tips and guidance to players, parents and teachers on some of the more complex aspects of Telugu pronunciation: .
• These videos are good samples of how ONiMa is played:

Players and their Parents

• Game will not stop if the Player takes a break during the Game! So, water, restroom and other needs should be addressed before the start of the game.
• Dishonesty/Cheating will lead to immediate disqualification and elimination from the Game. 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
• Don’t answer questions out of turn! Players may end up helping (or hurting, in case of a wrong answer) the Player who has the current Question.
• If you ask any questions, it will count against your time. The Anchor or Host may not answer it, unless it helps clarify for all other Players.

Spectators/Audience/All

• Cheering, clapping or any other expressions are allowed only after the judge declares whether any answer is right or wrong. Otherwise, audience should remain silent during other times throughout the game. 
• The decision of the Judge is final and binding. Please do not contest the decision during the game. You can register your complaint with the ManaBadi team by sending an email to maatlaata@manabadi.siliconandhra.org