Dancers at last year�s India  Fest in Gainesville .

CELEBRATE INDIA FESTS IN GAINESVILLE, FORT MYERS

                                                                        By NITISH S. RELE

                                                                        [email protected]

GAINESVILLE: The 11^th annual India Fest will be from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, March 20, at Santa Fe College, 3000 N.W. 83^rd St., Gainesville. Admission is $3; children younger than 4 years of age are free. The event is organized by the India Cultural and Education Center. For details, call (352) 377-2844, (352) 514-4477 or visit www.icec-florida.org

FORT MYERS: The 23^rd annual India Fest will be Saturday, March 27, at Lee County Alliance for the Arts grounds (10091 McGregor Blvd., near the corner of McGregor and Colonial Drive). The daylong event is organized by the India Association of Fort Myers. For more information, call association President Sudhanshu Desai at (239) 542-5676, President-Elect Sunita Sharma at (239) 936-2554 or visit www.iafortmyers.org

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	Photo by Susana Millman

 

ZAKIR HUSSAIN TO PERFORM MARCH 18 IN TAMPA                                                         

    By NITISH S. RELE            

  [email protected]

Tabla maestro Zakir Hussain will take the stage at the David A. Straz Jr. Center for the Performing Arts (formerly the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center) to present Masters of Percussion on Thursday, March 18.

Joining Hussain will be Taufiq Qureshi (various percussion), Ganesh and Kumaresh (violins), Sabir Khan (sarangi), Sridhar Parthasarathy (mridangam), Navin Sharma (dholak) and the Motilal Dhakis from Bengal.

�There are about 200 percussion traditions in India and people in the U.S. had seen only a few of them,� said Hussain in an exclusive telephone interview with Khaas Baat. �So, on my father�s orders, I took it up on myself to organize a concert tour of rarely-heard drumming traditions from India. Since 1996, we�ve been presenting a bi-annual Masters of Percussion and each tour presents a new set of Indian percussion traditions.�

The tabla superstar, who hasn�t presented a concert in Tampa for nearly a decade, is looking forward to the performance. �You will hear the Dhakis from Bengal,� he revealed. �Dhakis are used in processions, weddings and at temple in the state. It is exciting to watch. And then there will be the dholak, mridangam and tabla. The concert will offer a bird�s eye view of India through its rhythm and melodies.�

Hussain will have a DVD of the last Masters of Percussion for sale at the Tampa performance. He also is conducting music for a film shot in India by a New York-based director.

His advice to youngsters learning tabla? �Don�t get awed by the information that this is such an old tradition,� he replied. �Just approach it as a drum and try to enjoy it and be friends with it and maybe then it will reveal itself to you. As a child, I used to bang on the drum and in doing so, myself and the tabla bonded! It�s the best possible toy any child could have.�

The 58-year-old finds it impossible to do anything but play the tabla. �As I speak to you, my tabla is literally three feet away from me. Since I was 3 days old, I have heard only the tabla tone and sound. I will play it till it has to leave me or I decide to leave and go to the next world.�

Masters of Percussion will begin at 8 p.m. at Ferguson Hall, David A. Straz, Jr. Center for the Performing Arts, 1010 N. W.C. MacInnes Place. Tickets start at $22.50. For information, call (813) 229-7827 or visit www.strazcenter.org

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NORTH SOUTH TO HOLD EDUCATIONAL CONTESTS IN FORT LAUDERDALE, TAMPA, JACKSONVILLE

North South Foundation (www.northsouth.org) will be holding its educational contests in Tampa, Jacksonville and Fort Lauderdale during April and May. Held in the United States since 1993, the contests are designed to encourage excellence among Indian American children and prepare them to enter into better colleges.

The contests are grouped into Junior, Intermediate or Senior levels for children from first- through 12th-grade. The contests are conducted every year in two steps. First, children participate in Regional Contests at various locations throughout the country. Participants with high scores, based on a cut-off, will participate in the National Finals.

Spelling, Essay, Math and Vocabulary bee competitions are offered. Registration fee details are available on the Web site.

Registration closes on April 3-4 for the Fort Lauderdale contest, which will be held at the Nova Southeastern University, Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences, Mailman-Hollywood Building, 3301 College Age, on April 17-18. For information, call Janevi Ramaji at (954) 483-8691 or e-mail [email protected]

Registration will close on April 17 for the Tampa contest, which will be held May 1, at Grand Ballroom, Hunter�s Green Country Club, 18101 Longwater Run Drive. For information, call Sampath Narayanan at (813) 973-7567 or e-mail [email protected]

Registration closes on April 17-18 for the May 1-2 Jacksonville contests, which will be at the University of North Florida. Register at www.northsouth.org. For more information, call Rajiv Gupta at (904) 745-3765 or e-mail [email protected]

For details, visit www.northsouth.org

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SADHGURU TO PRESENT MEDITATION EVENT MARCH 27-28 IN TAMPA

                                                Story provided by Isha Yoga

More than 2,000 people are expected to attend �Mystic Eye: Wisdom, Meditation and Bliss,� presented by world-renowned yogi, living master and mystic Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev on March 27-28 in Tampa.

 �Mystic Eye� will offer a glimpse of Sadhguru�s expansive perception, which answers man�s most burning questions about the nature of life, death, enlightenment and life-hereafter. This unified reality, which mystics have known for ages, modern quantum science now confirms. 

Traversing seamlessly from the ancient to the ultramodern, Sadhguru bridges the gap between the known and the unknown, enabling all those who encounter him to explore and experience the deepest dimensions of life. Sadhguru�s unique perspective of the world, seen with exceptional insight and piercing clarity, is conveyed with a logic that dispels the illogical. 

The two-part event, coordinated by Sadhguru�s Isha Foundation volunteers, will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday and 5 to 10 p.m. Sunday at the USF Soccer Stadium, 4202 E. Fowler Ave. On-site registration and a reception will begin at 4:45 p.m. on Saturday although pre-registration is strongly recommended because of limited seating. Suitable for adults of any age, participation requires no prior experience with meditation to be impactful. The program cost is $250, with discounts available to �early birds,� students, seniors, couples and groups. For more information or to register, call toll-free 1-866-424-4742 or visit www.mysticeye.org

Sadhguru, founder of Isha Foundation and one of the foremost authorities on the ancient science of yoga has expounded inner well-being through the yogic technique of engineering to millions of people across the world. For more information, click www.ishafoundation.org

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COLUMN: MOTORING  

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COLUMN: OUT & ABOUT IN FLORIDA

Have you opened a new store or restaurant in the last six months? Expanding or relocating? Has your business won an award or a mention in your local newspaper? We want to hear from you. Call Nitish S. Rele at (813) 758-1786 or e-mail us at [email protected]

MARCH 5: MIAMI MAYHEM 2010; organized by University of Miami�s Indian Student Association; eight teams from across the nation go head-to-head to battle for $4,000 in cash prizes and the glory of being crowned Miami Mayhem 2010 Champion; Julius Littman Performing Arts Center, 17011 N.E. 19th Ave., Miami Beach; tickets are $15, $20 and $25; winning teams will get the opportunity to compete at Raas All-Stars: National Championships; proceeds to benefit Ratna Nidhi; for more information on teams, hotel, charity or sponsorship, call Monika Aneja at (386) 69-4229, e-mail [email protected] or visit www.miami-mayhem.com

MARCH 14: HOLI CELEBRATION; organized by Indian Religious and Cultural Center (IRCC); 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; C.B. Smith Park (pavilion No. 15), 900 Flamingo Road, Pembroke Pines; $8 for members; non-members pay $12; ticket includes tea and snacks; for more information, call Poonam Wadhwa at (954) 345-3412, e-mail [email protected] or visit www.irccflorida.com

MARCH 6: �GITA IN ACTION� WORKSHOP SERIES, CHAPTER 12; 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.; �Senate Chambers� (Student Union), Florida Atlantic University, 777 Glades Road, Boca Raton; (parking lot 16); conducted by Brahmacharini Aparna Chaitanya; lunch and refreshments will be served; pre-registration is needed; for information, visit www.cmmiami.org

MARCH 16-23: NAVARATRI CELEBRATION; South Florida Hindu Temple, 13010 W. Griffin Road, South West Ranches; daily Navaratri pujas, Ashtami Havan (and Hanuman Chalisa); for details or to sponsor, call the temple priest Devanathan Shivacharyaji at (954) 252-8802, Narendra Upadhyaya at (954) 986-1232, Ravin Mehta at (954) 701-3500, Preeti Maheshwari at (954) 461-7941, Smeeta Patel at  (954) 540-9096, Nishi Malik at (954) 336-2427 or visit http://www.sfht.org/

MARCH 20-21: AKHAND RAMAYANA PATHA; South Florida Hindu Temple, 13010 W. Griffin Road, South West Ranches; begins at 9 a.m. on both days; to recite the Ramayana Patha or to sponsor, call the temple priest Devanathan Shivacharyaji at (954) 252-8802, Narendra Upadhyaya at (954) 986-1232, Ravin Mehta at (954) 701-3500, Preeti Maheshwari at (954) 461-7941, Smeeta Patel at  (954) 540-9096, Nishi Malik at (954) 336-2427 or visit http://www.sfht.org/

MARCH 16-24: NAVRAATRI GYAAN YAGYA; 6 to 9 p.m.; officiating priest is Pandit Bimal Maharaj; Shiv Mandir, 3000 N.W. 29^th Ave., Oakland Park Boulevard, Fort Lauderdale; for information, e-mail [email protected] visit www.fhosm.com

MARCH 16-24: SRI RAM NAVAMI FESTIVAL; Shiva Vishnu Temple of South Florida, 5661 Dykes Road, Southwest Ranches; for details, call the mandir at (954) 689-0471 or visit http://www.shivavishnu.org/

MARCH 20: HOLI/PICNIC; organized by the Bengali Association of South Florida; John U Lloyd Beach State Park, 6503 N. Ocean Drive, Dania; for timing and other details, call (305) 595-6322, e-mail [email protected] or visit www.basfl.org

MARCH 28-APRIL 2: SPRING BREAK CAMP FOR KIDS (GRADES 2 AND UP); conducted by Brahmacharini Aparna Chaitanya (CM Miami), Brahmachari Uddhav Chaitanya (CM Dallas), and CM Sevaks; theme is �SHINE: Being a Better Person;� Best Western Suites, Kendall (south Miami); this year, Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach public schools have the same dates for spring break; CM Miami welcomes all community children to have a fun, cultural, and spiritual experience that enhances their lives and gives them lasting friendships for years to come; registration is $350 per child (full camp) or $50 per day/$70 per day plus night, based on space availability; for details, call (305) 951-0111, visit http://www.cmmiami.org/camp2010.htm or e-mail [email protected].

MARCH 30: HANUMAN JAYANTI; 5 a.m. to 5 p.m.; recitation of Hanuman Chaalisa 108 times; Shiv Mandir, 3000 N.W. 29^th Ave., Oakland Park Boulevard, Fort Lauderdale; for information, e-mail [email protected] visit www.fhosm.com

If you would like to list your upcoming South Florida event in Khaat, e-mail us at [email protected] by the 20^th of each month.