Some of the communities in Florida celebrating India’s Independence Day include:
TAMPA/ST. PETERSBURG/CLEARWATER
The Federation of Indian Associations of Tampa Bay (FIA of Tampa Bay) will celebrate India Independence Day on Sunday, Aug. 17, at the India Cultural Center, 5511 Lynn Road. The day begins at 10 a.m. with essay writing and rangoli competitions, followed by seminars/youth education at 11. The cultural/youth program will be from 1 to 2:30 p.m., then flag hoisting and chief guest speech. Cultural program will be from 4 to 7 p.m. To participate in the cultural program, call Jigisha Desai at (813) 731-7747. For other information, call Ravi Narayanan at (813) 760-0323.
ORLANDO/CASSELBERRY
Hindu Society of Central Florida and the HSCF New Age Group will celebrate India’s Independence Day on Sunday, Aug. 17, from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the mandir community hall, 1994 Lake Drive, Casselberry. There will be a cultural program, speech by distinguished guest and snacks. For information, call Dev Sharma at (407) 862-9920, Madan Arora at (407) 971-9259 or e-mail [email protected]
CORAL SPRINGS (SOUTH FLORIDA)
The Association of Indians in America (AIA) South Florida chapter along with other local Indian organizations will hold an annual Independence Day Mela from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 17, at Coral Springs Center for the Arts, 2855 Coral Springs Drive. Admission and parking is free. On the agenda are a cultural entertainment of music and dance, Indian food and fashion. For details, call Piyush Goyal at (954) 465-4885, Naveen Mehan at (954) 294-8610 or visit www.aiaflorida.org
BARTOW/LAKELAND (POLK COUNTY)
The Bhartiya Samaj of Central Florida will hold an Independence Day event on Sunday, Aug. 17, at Bartow Civic Center, 2250 S. Floral Ave., Bartow. For details, call Malay Shah at (863) 512-4062, Vinoobhai Patel at (863) 293-0942 or visit www.bscfl.com
JACKSONVILLE
The Indian Cultural Society of Jacksonville will celebrate India’s Independence Day from 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 16, at University of North Florida’s Robinson Theatre, 4567 St. Johns Bluff Road, S. The event is open to all and free to the public. For information, e-mail [email protected] or visit www.jaxics.org
FORT MYERS
The Fort Myers India Association will hold Independence Day celebrations from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 17, at Lakes Park shelter C-1, 7330 Gladiolus Drive. There also will be a volleyball match. For information, call (239) 898-8110, e-mail [email protected] or visit www.iafortmyers.org
SPACE COAST (MELBOURNE)
The Indian Association of the Space Coast will hold India Day celebrations from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 9, at Melbourne Auditorium, 625 E. Hibiscus Blvd., in Melbourne. Admission is free. For information, call (321) 271-6162, e-mail [email protected] or visit www.iascbrevard.com
GAINESVILLE
India's Independence Day will be celebrated from 6 to 9 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 16, at Indian Cultural & Education Center (ICEC) in its Main Hall. ICEC is at 1115 S.W. 13th St., Gainesville. Admission is free. For details, call Hema Agarwal at (386) 266-7750, email [email protected] or visit www.icec-florida.org
TALLAHASSEE
The India Association of Tallahassee (IATLH) will hold Utsav/India Day 2014 on Saturday, Aug. 23, from 3 to 6 p.m. at Godby High School Auditorium, 1717 W. Tharpe St. The event is to celebrate India's Independence Day and showcase talents of community members. In addition to songs and music, the event will also feature a Quiz contest and a speech contest for middle and high school students. The event is free. For information, e-mail [email protected] or visit www.iatlh.org
KHAAS BAAT COMPLETES 10 YEARS
This month, Khaas Baat celebrates its 10-year anniversary in print. We want to acknowledge and thank our columnists, past and present for their invaluable contributions, and well-wishers for their help and encouragement. And, of course, the business end of a publication cannot function without support from advertisers.
Kudos also go to community leaders across Florida for keeping us informed about events happening in their town. For the last three years, we have been a strategic partner of the INDO-US Chamber of Commerce, Tampa. We look forward to continuing with the partnership for many more years to come. 2014 has been a busier year than normal for us with international events happening in our backyard. We hope we have made a difference with our coverage. We request our regular readers to spread the word about Khaas Baat to Florida newcomers. As always, we welcome your suggestions and any new ideas on how we can expand and better serve the Indian American community in Florida.
Khaas Baat is proud to be the ONE AND ONLY Sunshine State publication to offer comprehensive coverage of happenings in your Florida Indian community. Join us on facebook at www.facebook.com/Khaasbaat.Florida for late-breaking announcements and news. Also, follow us on Twitter @khaasbaat.
MELBOURNE MANAV MANDIR OPENING AUG. 15-17
About nine years ago, a dream was born to build a temple and a center for community events in Melbourne. That dream materialized into reality as the Manav Mandir. About 1,000 people are expected to attend opening ceremonies Aug. 15-17.
The temple at 7400 Waelti Drive in Melbourne is situated on 37 acres in a secluded area of Suntree. The 7,000-square-foot main hall is surrounded by four buildings. There is also a priest apartment and a kitchen/dining room. Current cost of the temple and land is $9.4 million. The temple is the first phase of the dream project to be followed by the community center.
For details on the opening ceremony, call (321) 426-0688 or visit www.mmbrevard.org
