We’ve all heard of women’s kitty parties, brunches and high tea parties, but here’s an exclusive all boys club in Hyderabad. Called Sneham, the members are the city’s richie-rich men, who meet every month.
The club gets its name from the Telugu word which means friendship. Started close to a year ago, members like actor Mohan Babu and director K. Raghavendra Rao thought it would be a great idea to ensure that a group of like-minded friends meet at least once a month so that they can brainstorm on how to promote cultural activities in the city and do some charity work.
Today, Sneham includes industrialists like K. Raghu Raju, Dr Varaprasad Reddy, Srini Raju, politicians like T. Subbarami Reddy, K.V.P. Ramachandra Rao and many more.
This exclusive group of 30 people meet once every month for dinner, preferably during weekends, at one of the members’ house. The wives are also included. It’s like any other party but they also brainstorm on who to help and how much to contribute to the society.
Recently, they were all set to reward badminton player P.V. Sindhu — deciding that each member will contribute Rs 1 lakh — but when they heard Sindhu was getting gifts worth crores of rupees, they decided against it as they felt their amount would seem like pittance.
“We will decide on the exact amount to be given to Sindhu at our next meet. We thought '25 lakh would be appropriate, but after seeing governments announcing crores of rupees and residential plots, we felt we may have to enhance our contribution to make it sound like a decent amount,” says Raghu Raju.
On earlier occasions, Sneham has felicitated singer Sarath Chandra, known as ‘Junior Ghantasala’ with Rs 5 lakh and a shawl. Similarly, Junior world badminton champion, Siril was also given a Rs 3 lakh cash reward.
Raghu Raju says, “Our monthly meets are meant for us to spend a few hours together, bond and socialise with members and their wives. It’s a nice break for all of us as each one is so busy in their lives.” He does admit that they have to give their charity plans a serious thought and streamline the process.
Kasu Prasad Reddy, MD, Maxivision
A rope made out of strands is strong, but Sneham, made by strands of different enterprising people is even stronger. Our aim is to serve humanity.
A. Mahesh Reddy, CMD, AMR Constructions
We have like-minded people here. We have known each other for long, so meeting every month at one place with families is a very good initiative. Also, Raghu is very active and encourages many young athletes.
Dr A.V. Gurava Reddy, MD, Sunshine Hospitals
The group is very dynamic and Raghu Raju and T. Subbarami Reddy are the founders of this club. The sole aim of the club is to get people from the higher strata of society from different fields, together on the same platform without any caste or religious barriers. It’s a very casual get together. Subbarami Reddy keeps regaling us with his humour.
The best part of the club is that it’s full of positivity. Platforms like these highlight the positivity of individuals. As a group, the total output will always be more. We have not had any serious discussions so far, although we all want to gift something to Sindhu and Gopichand. With just one simple WhatsApp message from Raghu Raju, everyone agreed to contribute. Everyone shares a great camaraderie and friendship.
Ashwini Dutt, film producer
The club is the brainchild of Raghu Raju. We were a group of 10 to 15 people, who used to meet regularly. Sneham was formed when he decided to bring together like-minded people, who are interested in doing something for the society. For the last few months, we have donated large amounts to a few prominent causes.
This month, we are planning to gift a good amount to P.V. Sindhu and her coach Pullela Gopichand. We also felicitated Dr Mannam Gopichand, CMD of Star Hospitals, Dr Nageshwar Reddy and minister Dr Y.S. Chowdary.
The Sneham Members
Politicians
Dr T. Subbarami Reddy
Dr K.V.P. Ramachandra Rao
Minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao
C.M. Ramesh (TD MP)
Dr Kamineni Srinivas (AP minister)
Industrialists
K. Raghu Rama Krishna Raju
K.V. Rao (Kakinada Port)
Srini Raju (Sri City)
A. Mahesh Reddy
Boinapally Srinivasa Rao
Megha Krishna Reddy
Megha Pitchireddy
Dr K.I. Varaprasad Reddy (Shanta Biotech)
Alluri Sitarama Raju
K. Vijaya Kumar (Contractor)
P.V.L. Madhav (Reliance CEO)
Chamundeswarnath
From the Film world
K. Raghavendra Rao
Daggubati Suresh
Ashwini Dutt
M. Mohan Babu
M.L. Kumar
Dr K.L. Narayana
Doctors
Dr B. Soma Raju (Care Hospital)
Dr Mannam Gopichand (Star Hospitals)
Dr A.V. Gurava Reddy (Sunshine hospital)
Dr B. Bhaskara Rao (KIMS hospital)
Dr Kasu Pratap Reddy (Maxivision)
Dr K. Ravindra Nath (Global hospitals)
