March 4, 2010 by Soma.

Judging the Pageant

AASU Pageant

Thursday, March 4, 2010, 6-8 PM

I was invited by the AASU at FSU to be one of the judges (out of 3) for the Mister and Miss Asian American Student Union. This was my first experience as a pageant judge and I was nervous as the participants before the event began. We had about dozen participants and this was the preliminary interview. As the event progressed both the participants and I became comfortable and I was happy to be part of the process.

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February 27, 2010 by Soma.

Mag Lab Open House

Saturday, Feb 27, 2010, 1:00 to 3:00 PM

Tallahassee, FL 32310

We all went to the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory and Advanced Superconductivity Center during their Open House event. We saw the 900 MHz 21 T magnet, magetic levitation, colors of Manganese oxidation states, great horned owl and other fun stuff.

I spoke to couple of scientists about YBCO and other high temperature superconductivity research.

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January 30, 2010 by Soma.

Tallahassee Weather Fest
FSU Department of Meteorology and National Weather Service

Saturday, Jan 30, 2010, 10 AM to 5 PM
Tallahassee, FL 32306

We were there at the second Tallahassee Weather Fest organized by Florida State University Department of Meteorology and National Weather Service, a branch of NOAA.

We witnessed the weather balloon launch at 2 PM EDT and spoke to several exhibitors. We played with ubleck. We also went to the severe weather simulator and the fourth floor command center.

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January 23, 2010 by Soma.

Pongal Celebration

Saturday, January 23, 2010

ARH, Tallahassee, FL 32306

We celebrated Pongal Festival this evening.

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January 23, 2010 by Soma.

2010 Annual General Body Meeting

India Association of Tallahassee

Saturday, Jan 23, 2010, 2:00 - 3:30 PM

Leon Co Public Library

Tallahassee, FL 32306

The 2009-10 Annual General Body Meeting of the India Association of Tallahassee (IATLH) was held earlier today along with the Indian Republic Day Celebrations. About two dozen families attended the program.I officially became the President of IATLH for the calendar years 2010 and 2011. My team (four more people in addition to me) took over the official Executive Committee’s responsibility from the previous team. We pledged to work to make the Association more relevant to the members.A lively discussion of Association’s activities and events followed. Many people spoke about how to expand the membership.

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December 19, 2009 by Soma.

Book SigningLa FiestaFriday, Dec 18, 2009, 7-8:30 PMWe were at our friends book signing event at La Fiesta

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December 1, 2009 by Soma.

2009 World AIDS Day Community Interfaith Service

World AIDS Day Interfaith Service
December 1, 2009, 2009 7:00 p.m.
Unitarian Universalist Church of Tallahassee

2810 North Meridian Road, Tallahassee, FL 32312

Sponsored by the Big Bend Cares & Canopy Connection

Twenty-first annual Community Interfaith Service for 2009 World AIDS Day (Tuesday, December 01, 2009) was observed in many places in Tallahassee, FL. One such service sponsored by Big Bend Cares was held at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Tallahassee, 2810 Meridian Road between 7 and 9 PM. During the service members from several religious faiths and communities offered words/prayers of hope, healing, relief from suffering in the fight against HIV. The service was led by pastor from Gentle Shepherd Metropolitan Community Church. We then heard messages from people around the world who are suffering from the disease. Then members of th Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish, and Pagan communities offered prayers and encouragements. There Interfaith choir sang songs as well.

Representing Hindu faith, I read a Sanskrit prayer for praise of God. Then read Thirugnana Sambanhar’s Thevaaram in Tamil and meaning in English as a prayer for healing the suffering. I ended my speech from a quote about human being’s greatest gift is “service to others”. Then as the service ended everyone was given a red rose in rememberance of those who have passed away and for keeping hope for who are fighting the disease. That was followed by light refreshments.

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November 27, 2009 by Soma.

Azu Lucy Ho’s Restaurant

3220 Apalachee Parkway

Tallahassee, FL 32311

We all three of us went to Azu (fire in Japanese) Lucy Ho’s Restaurant tonight for dinner. Today was opening night for the new restaurant run by Masa Nagashima. We ordered spring roll and Lo-mein, house salad, and iced-tea and sodas.

The food came quick. Since this was long Thanksgiving holiday time, even on a Friday night (6:30 PM) the place was not very crowded. May be there were about 30 people dining.

The waiter was pleasant and Masa was very gracious. We enjoyed the food and drinks. The price was decent.  Good luck to Masa!

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November 14, 2009 by Soma.

Cultural Glimpses of India5 PM at Chiles High School AuditoriumTallahassee, FL 32312Today is the day of the annual premier event of India Association of Tallahassee. We will have about 24 programs. There will be an intermission after about 16 items. Snacks will be sold.See you all there!

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November 1, 2009 by Soma.

Hinduism and personal view

Private Church Speaker

Sunday, November 1, 2009, 6 PM

I was invited to speak about what Hinduism means to me personally to a private church gathering of people who were interested in other religions of the world. We all (about 8 people) met at a private residence and spoke for about an hour.

I started the speech by playing a musical rendition of the Gujarati prayer song (favorite of Mahatma Gandhiji) “Vaishnava Jana Tho“ and spoke about my personal practices and views of Hinduism in general and how does it affects me here in the USA.

Later I concluded the speech with the Aavuyaiyar’s Invocation to God “கடவுள் வாழ்த்து - பாலும் தெளிதேனும்” . Following the song we had Q and A session for about 15 minutes. We ate some cookies and I departed home with a feeling that I was able to listen to people of other faith while telling about what I follow.

Thanks to the person who made this possible.

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