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GAINESVILLE INDIA FEST AND HEALTH FAIR SET FEB. 25
By NITISH S. RELE - editor@khaasbaat.com

More than 3,000 people are expected to attend the annual India Fest and Health Fair on Feb. 25 in Gainesville, said Shaheda Qaiyumi, one of the organizers for the India Cultural & Education Center, which is holding the event.

The daylong event to be held at Santa Fe Community College will feature food, music and dances from different parts of India. Several booths offering Indian gold and gemstone jewelry, clothes, arts and crafts, henna, etc. will be set up.
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OVER 2,000 PEOPLE ATTEND RATH YATRA IN TAMPA
By SHEPHALI J. RELE - editor@khaasbaat.com -->

More than 2,000 people attended the first ever Rath Yatra or Festival of Chariots on Jan. 8 in Tampa. The daylong festivities began with a 2-mile procession. Several floats preceded the chariot itself. Idols of Jagannath, his brother Balabhadra and his sister Subhadra were the centerpiece of the rath and were pulled through the streets by devotees. Fifty-one women and children dressed in colorful traditional attire led the rath with kalash on their heads. The devotees were chanting and dancing throughout the entire route of the procession.
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NOMINATIONS SOUGHT FOR GLOBAL WOMEN’S HUMANITARIAN AWARD EVENT IN ORLANDO
Story provided by 1008 Wells Foundation

Do you know a local woman doing global things? A regular woman making a difference in her own unique way? The 1008 Wells Foundation is honoring a dynamic Central Florida woman touching the lives of others on global levels with the Global Women’s Humanitarian Award.


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TAMPA TEEN FEATURED IN SEVENTEEN MAGAZINE
By NITISH S. RELE editor@khaasbaat.com

Rohini Komarla deserves a pat on the back. Make that two. No, wait a minute. Make that 17. That’s the Tampa teen’s age as well as the name of the magazine, which in its February issue (available on newsstands now) featured the youth as a winner in its All Stars contest. The award is given to 20 girls who are between 13- and 17-year-old for being good role models because of school activities, community service and academic success.
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FROMMER’S: GOA ONE OF TOP 10 UP AND COMING 2006 DESTINATIONS
By NITISH S. RELE - editor@khaasbaat.com

Goa is one of the top up and coming destinations for 2006, according to the latest edition of Frommer’s. The travel guide, published worldwide and regarded as the traveler’s Bible, describes this once-hippie Mecca as "now opening to mainstream tourism."
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BUSINESS DIRECTORY
KHAAS BAAT ONLINE BUSINESS DIRECTORY
Starting in January 2006, Khaas Baat will introduce an online directory of business services on our web site at www.khaasbaat.com Contact us to place your business listing for six months or one year.

For details and rate information, call (813) 758-1786 or e-mail editor@khaasbaat.com




Azhar Usman, right, Preacher Moss, left, and Azeem have fun during the “Allah Made Me Funny” comedy tour.
ALLAH TOUR RAKES IN THE LAUGHS
By NITISH S. RELE - editor@khaasbaat.com

“The media says the most ridiculous things about Islam. They’ll bring on some self-styled ‘expert on Middle Eastern terrorism’ and he’s like, ‘Islam is a religion of violence, it’s a religion of terror … and it was spread by the sword.’ That’s right! Islam was spread by the word!

“What’s that supposed to mean anyway? Maybe if Islam was a synonym for cream cheese?”

“Some people look at me as if I was responsible for 9/11. Me?! 9/11?!

Maybe Seven-Eleven.”


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MUHARRAM TO BE CELEBRATED ON FEB. 10
By NAEEM ABRAHANI

Muharram is a month of mourning for the lovers and followers of "Aali Muhammad." In this month, on the 10th day In 61 Hijra, Imam Hussain bin Ali (A.S.), the grandson of the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) and the younger son of Ali and Fatima (S.A.), together with his family and friends – in all 72 men – were slain on the sands of the desert of Naynawah, Karbala. Since then, each year, the true followers of the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.), through grief, sorrow and tears, keep alive the message, cause and purpose of the greatest martyrdom in human history.
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Maha Kalasa Sthapana
JACKSONVILLE INDIAN COMMUNITY'S DREAM TO BECOME A REALITY IN 2006
Story provided by Uma Eyyunni

January 15 will be etched in the history of Indian community as auspicious. It was on this day that the Maha Kalasa Sthapana, a vital ritual in the construction of a new Hindu temple on Greenland Road, Jacksonville, took place. The event started with the placement of Kalasas -- sanctified vessels -- in an already sanctified ground by priest Pandit Srinathji.
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A PANDEMIC CALLED OBESITY THE SKINNY ON YOUR WEIGHT - PART II
By M. P. Ravindra Nathan, MD, FACC, FACP

It may sound hackneyed and trite but let me say it one more time, “Too many calories and too little physical activity lead to overweight.” I am used to excuses from my patients such as “Gosh! I don’t eat much at all,” (the reverse is often true!) or “It is my hormones, doc” (only less than 5 percent suffer from overweight related to hormone problems) When given a target to shoot for, they say, “Oh, boy, I have never been that low since my school days.” Even the pets in USA are beginning to look obese.
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COLUMN ON IMMIGRATION AND EMPLOYMENT
The E-2 Treaty Investor Visa is a nonimmigrant visa that can permit a foreign national to enter the United States to work in his or her own business. It is available to citizens of certain “treaty countries.” Most Western European countries, such as the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain and Italy, are listed as E-2 treaty countries. Certain South Asian countries, such as Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, also are on the list. Although the list is constantly being updated, India unfortunately is not on it.
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FINANCIAL PLANNING
Looking to own a business? Trying to find a good mortage? Planning to buy a house? Looking to invest? Get all you answers in financial advice by Francis Vayalumkal, Nitesh Patel, Brian Stephens and Rupa H. Mehta.
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Seniors Section and Retirement Planning
Bijan Mohseni of the Business Planning Group of Tampa offers advice on retirement planning and get answeres to all your retirement questions from Harikrishna Majmundar of California, author of “Mapping the Maze: A Guide to Welfare for Elderly Immigrants.” He has advised several hundred welfare applicants in Khaasbaat's section on seniors.
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Inside
Get more in the upcoming events sections, youth higlights, health updates and read book reviews in this edition of Khaasbaat.
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BOLLYWOOD


Sushmita Sen and Anuj Sawhney appear together in “Chingaari.”
HINDI MOVIE RELEASES EXPECTED THIS MONTH
By SHEPHALI J. RELE

“Chingaari”: Starring Sushmita Sen, Mithun Chakraborty, Anuj Sawhney; directed by Kalpana Lajmi; music by Aadesh Srivastava.
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RELIGION
WISDOM OF THE ‘YOGA VASISTHA’
By SWAMI SURYADEVANANDA

We left of last time discussing the four Gatekeepers to liberation’ and have almost reached the end of the second section of the Yoga Vasistha. Rishi Vasistha goes on to convey to Rama that only those with clarity of mind – having their mind filled with high thinking and careful about the company they keep – are capable of fair reasoning. He tells Rama that he sees him saturated in this state and the discourse to follow will eradicate errors that may exist.
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TECHNO CORNER
By ARUN MARBALLI

Last month, we examined how hackers were starting to target widely used software that is not part of the operating system or related to the browser, such as the anti-virus software that we rely on for protecting our computers. This month, I will expand the scrutiny to include a couple of other classes of software that are rapidly gaining popularity.
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SPOTLIGHT ON KUCHIPUDI: DANCE GREW AS A PRODUCT OF BHAKTI MOVEMENT
By JYOTHI VENKATACHALAM

Kuchipudi dance is Andhra Pradesh's outstanding contribution toward enrichment of Indian culture. Kuchipudi derives its name from the village of Kuchelapuram (a small sleepy hamlet) just 40 miles from Vijaywada in A.P., where it grew largely as a product of Bhakti (devotion) movement beginning in 7th century A.D.
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