Florida News
TAMPA BAY AREA CRICKET FIELDS IN SEFFNER OPEN JULY 18
Hillsborough County Parks and Recreation Department is adding to the county’s recreational opportunities with the opening of its first designated cricket fields, at Evans Park in Seffner (Tampa Bay area). A ribbon cutting is scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday, July 18, at Evans Park, 1104 N. Kingsway Road, followed by a demonstration cricket game.
The newly renovated park boasts three cricket fields that meet professional cricket standards and are designed to accommodate tournaments. Important to the design are the pitches. Without a proper pitch, players can sustain injuries. Other features include two lighted batting cages, covered bleachers, lighting for night games, and a LED scoreboard.
The need for designated cricket fields stems from an increase in people from cricket-playing nations moving to the Tampa Bay area for work and business, according to the Tampa Bay Cricket League.
Formed in 2007 with four teams, the league began playing at Evans Park in 2012, and has since grown to 20 teams with more than 340 players. It has two seasons a year, with teams playing competitive cricket most weekends. With the growth in the league and need for proper playing fields, players reached out to the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners, who funded the $630,000 state-of-the-art facility.
Commissioner Al Higginbotham championed the construction of the Evans Park cricket fields.
FAPI TO HOLD GALA JULY 11 IN TAMPA
Dr. Sunita Sharan
A starry night of FAPI (Florida Association of Physicians of Indian Origin), Presidency Gala Bollywood Nights, will be held on July 11 in Tampa. Dr. Sunita Sharan, president of FAPI, will culminate her service to FAPI after 21 years as an active Executive Committee member. The evening will feature banquet, cocktails and nostalgic melodies to the latest Bollywood songs in Hindi to Punjabi. Performers are Liyaqat and Aruna.
FAPI, representing Indian American physicians of the Tampa Bay area, was founded by Dr. Vijay Nagar in 1987, along with a group of talented professionals. Since then, this ethnic medical association has widely and successfully represented and associated with countries central and local political, medical, educational, and charitable organizations.
The 6 p.m. black-tie gala will be at Hilton Downtown, 211 N. Tampa St. Tickets are $30 each for FAPI members and a guest in advance; at the door $40; non-FAPI members are $60 in advance and $70 at door. For information, call (941) 922-8848.
INTERNATIONAL YOGA DAY CELEBRATED IN TAMPA
Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS) and the Tampa community celebrated the first ever International Yoga Day (IYD) on June 21 at India Cultural Center with rest of the world. About 150 attendees participated in the six-hour event, which began with deep prajwalan by Dr. Yashwant Pathak, associate dean at USF. The attendees embraced a unique opportunity to learn yogic thoughts and a holistic view of Yoga, including Raja Yoga, Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga and Jnan Yoga.
The audience enjoyed meditation by Shamik, Abhishek, and Manish Patel of Sahaja Meditation. A brief class with various Asanas was conducted by Jennifer Leavy and Jim Cooper of Pose by Pose and Anita Rao of Yoga Shakti Studio. An Instant Relaxation Technique was conducted by Jaymin Kathiriya of Hindu YUVA at USF to rejuvenate the audience after lunch prepared by the Hindu Temple of Florida. Raja Yoga was led by Subramanian Kumar while Lavanya and Poorvi Dinesh rendered soulful bhajans and Anu Durai sang slokas. An interactive video presentation by Charumati of Isha Foundation identified the deep roots of yoga. A clip of PM Narendra Modi’s IYD initiative was shown by Yamir Bhatt of Overseas Friends of BJP with volunteers of Ekal Vidyalaya, Sewa International and ATHMA. The Jnan yoga panel discussion was moderated by Madhavan Rangarajan of HSS with a diverse set of panelists, including Dr. Frank Tedesco (Buddhist Specialist), Kiran Gandhi (Chinmaya Mission), Shireen Chada (Brahma Kumaris), and Yashwant Pathak (HSS and ancient civilizations). The event concluded with a session of Karma Yoga by Dr. Rao Korabathina and Bhakti Yoga by Dr. Govinda Rangarajan.
The event was sponsored by generous contributions from Nainan Desai, Vijay Gandhi, Haresh Patel, Jaimin Amin, Amish Patel, Dr. Chirag Patel and Dr. Sanjay Navadia.
REJUVENATION YOGA & MEDITATION PROGRAM AUG. 1-2 IN TAMPA
Satguru Maharishi Om
Satguru Maharishi Om will conduct a Rejuvenation Yoga & Meditation program Aug. 1-2 during the auspicious occasion of Guru Purnima at Sri Laxmi Narayan Mandir, 4615 George Road, Tampa.
Satguru Maharishi Om is the founder of Ambaji Mandir and Sri Laxmi Narayan Mandir, both in the Tampa Bay area. He has taught Yoga and Meditation to thousands all over the world. His websites www.yogausa.com and www.maharishiom.com together have more than 300,000 registered members.
The two-day Rejuvenation Yoga and Meditation program will focus on improving spiritual, mental and physical health. It will include light yoga exercises to improve overall health while Pranayama and Meditation will focus on improving mental and spiritual health of participants.
The Ambaji Mandir, 10991 58th St., Pinellas Park, will also conduct Guru Purnima celebrations from 4 to 8 p.m. on Friday, July 31.
For free registration (mandatory), visit www.maharishiom.com/registration or email [email protected]. For details, call Pina at (813) 951-8171 or Sri Laxmi Narayan Mandir at (813) 444-9786.
