Florida communities celebrating Independence day:
TAMPA/ST. PETERSBURG/CLEARWATER
The Federation of Indian Associations of Tampa Bay (FIA of Tampa Bay) will celebrate India Independence Day on Sunday, Aug. 14, at the India Cultural Center, 5511 Lynn Road. The day begins at 10 a.m. with exhibits on display; flag hoisting will be at 12:30. Melody Makers musical group will perform from 4:30 p.m. There also will be a cultural program by local talent. For information, call FIA President Mahesh Modha at (813) 476-1540 or Event Chair Ramnarayan Mani at (201) 238-4263.
ORLANDO/CASSELBERRY
Hindu Society of Central Florida and the HSCF New Age Group will celebrate India’s Independence Day on Sunday, Aug. 14, from 12:30 to 2 p.m. in the mandir community hall, 1994 Lake Drive, Casselberry. There will be a kids patriotic parade and cultural programs. Indian snacks and hot tea/coffee will be provided. Entry is free with prior RSVP. For information, call Dev Sharma at (407) 862-9920, Madan Arora at (407) 971-9259 or e-mail [email protected]
BARTOW/PLANT CITY/LAKELAND
The Bhartiya Samj of Central Florida will hold an Independence Day celebration at 5 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 14 at Bartow Civic Center, 2250 S. Floral Ave., Bartow. Cost per person is $25. For more information, call Subhash S. Patel at (863) 648-0294 or visit www.bscfl.com
FORT MYERS
The Fort Myers India Association will hold Independence Day celebrations from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 14, at Lakes Park shelter C-1, 7330 Gladiolus Drive. For information, 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 6 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 6, at Melbourne Auditorium, 625 E. Hibiscus Blvd., in Melbourne. Admission is free. For information, call Neha Shah at (321) 223-4411 or visit www.iascbrevard.com
GAINESVILLE
India's Independence Day will be celebrated from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 20, at Indian Cultural & Education Center (ICEC), 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 2016 from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 20, at Moore Auditorium, 127 Honors Way. The event is to celebrate India's Independence Day and showcase talents of community members. In addition to songs and music, the event will feature quiz and poster contests. The event is free. For details, e-mail [email protected] or visit www.iatlh.org
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DREAM TEAM STAR CONCERT AUG. 14 IN ORLANDO
The Dream Team Star Concert will take the stage at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 14, at the CFE Arena in Orlando. Presented by Krish Patel and Satya Shaw, it features rapper Badshah, actors Parineeti Chopra, Sidharth Malhotra, Katrina Kaif, Varun Dhawan, Alia Bhatt and Aditya Roy Kapur, and director-producer Karan Johar.
Rapper Badshah, known for his Hindi, Haryanvi, and Punjabi songs, was featured in the 2014 film “Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania” and “Khoobsurat.”
Parineeti Chopra has starred in “Ladies vs. Ricky Bahl,” “Ishaqzaade,” “Shuddh Desi Romance” and “Hasee Toh Phasee.”
Former model Sidharth Malhotra has appeared in the comedy-drama “Student of the Year” and “Hasee Toh Phasee” as well as a hardened criminal in “Ek Villain” and an aspiring author in “Kapoor & Sons.”
A British actress and model, Katrina Kaif featured in romantic comedies “Maine Pyaar Kyn Kiya?” and “Namastey London” before starring in super hits “Ek Tha Tiger” and “Dhoom 3.”
The son of Varun Dhawan, son of well-known director David Dhawan, took off with the romantic comedy “Student of the Year” before starring in “Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania” and “ABCD 2” and much recently the crime thriller “Badlapur.”
Daughter of filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt and actress Soni Razdan, Alia Bhatt made her acting debut with Sidharth Malhotra and Varun Dhawan in “Student of the Year.” But it is for her portrayal of a teen who develops Stockholm syndrome in “Highway” that she gained popularity. Her other hits include “Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania” and “Kapoor & Sons.”
Aditya Roy Kapur rose to prominence with “Aashiqui 2” and the blockbuster romantic comedy “Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani.”
Karan Johar has directed such blockbusters as “Kuch Kuch Hota Hai,” “Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham,” “Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna” and “My Name Is Khan.”
CFE Arena is at 12777 Gemini Blvd. N., Orlando. Tickets starting at $59 can be purchased at www.bollywoodeventsfl.com For information, call Krish Patel at (407) 453-3334 or Satya Shaw at (813) 842-0345.
NORTH SOUTH TO HOLD NATIONAL FINALS AUG. 20-21 IN TAMPA
For the first time, North South Foundation (www.northsouth.org) will hold its National Finals in Tampa. The contests will be Aug. 20-21 at the University of South Florida. Held in the United States since 1993, the contests are designed to encourage excellence among Indian American children and prepare them to enter better colleges.
Spelling, essay, math, vocabulary, geography, science and public speaking contests are offered. The contests are grouped into Junior, Intermediate or Senior levels for children from first- through 12th-grade. Conducted every year in two steps, children participate in regional contests at various locations throughout the country. Then students with high scores, based on a cut-off, advance to the National Finals. About 1,800 students and nearly 1,500 parents from all over the United States and delegates from NSF Nationals team will be attending the Tampa event.
NSF organizers are looking for volunteers, including coordination of food arrangements, reception, registration, facilities, awards, hospitality, website, parking/directions, technical, stage, audio/video/media, vendor and many other areas. High school and college students are also encouraged to volunteer.
If interested in volunteering, email [email protected]
KHAAS BAAT COMPLETES 12 YEARS
As Khaas Baat celebrates its 12-year anniversary this month, we want to recognize and thank our dedicated columnists, past and present for their invaluable contributions, also our friends and well-wishers for their encouragement.
Credit also goes to local leaders across Florida for keeping us informed about events happening in their community. At times, we hear about news and events too late. We request community organizers to note our deadline, the 20th of every month for the following month’s issue, when promoting activities. For the last five years, we have been a strategic partner of the INDO-US Chamber of Commerce, Tampa. We look forward to growing and continuing that partnership. We hope we have made a difference with our coverage of community events and welcome feedback. We request regular readers to share Khaas Baat with your Florida friends. As always, we welcome Letters to the Editor and suggestions or ideas on how we can 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. Do follow us on twitter @khaasbaat and join us on Facebook for interesting articles and information about upcoming events.
