December 25, 2011 by Soma.

Celebrate dad and mom’s birthdays

Sunday, Dec 25, 2011

JCK Nagar, Chengalpattu, India

Everyone of my siblings (except our family) and their partners along with their children descended on Chengalpattu on this day morning for a surprise birthday party for my dad and mom. Even my brother didn’t know what was happening (of course, his wife knew since they needed to decorate my brother’s house while he was working).

Based on what my sisters told middle BIL arrived early that morning and my little sister’s family arrived in the morning as well. My middle sis and bro were already there. My old sis and her family arrived around noon. While everyone was talking tom mom and dad they decorated my brother’s house. They had ordered a cake and that too arrived soon.

Then they presented with new set of clothes for my dad and mom who were surprised and asked the reason. They didn’t get a good answer. Then finally my brother drove mom and dad to his house where they realized what was going on.

Mom gave everyone some cake and they all had a good time. Even though this day was NOT their birthdays (they are in Dec and Jan, respectively) dad and mom were able to enjoy the day since everyone was there to celebrate.

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November 13, 2011 by Soma.

Tamil Sangam Diwali Party

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Tallahassee, FL

The Tallahassee Tamil Sangam celebrated the Diwali with a evening party on Saturday, November 12, 2011. About 50 families brought in pot-luck dinner items, snacks, party supplies, and fireworks to the party.

The program started at 6:00 PM at the Rec Hall in FSU Alumni Village. The snacks were served first and around 7 PM all the kids were invited to a short fireworks fun. Many parents brought their own fireworks (only those approved in the State of Florida). The adults watched over the fun in a basketball court (concrete floor).

Then at 7:45 the dinner was served and then the kids put on two dance items. Then the dessert was served. By 9:30 we completed the party and everyone pitched in to clean

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October 27, 2010 by Soma.

எந்திரன் தமிழ் படம்; Enthiran, The Robot Movie

Wednesday, Oct 27, 2010; 7:30 to 10:30 PM

Tallahassee Movies 8, 2812 Sharer Road, Tallahassee, FL 32312

The Tamil movie Enthiran, The Robot  (எந்திரன் தமிழ் படம்) was screened today at the Tallahassee Movies 8 cine complex. Couple of people from local Tallahassee Desi Movies brought this movie to town.

There were about 70-80 people (including kids) at the auditorium during the screening. The movie features Tamil movie star Super Star Rajini Kanth ரஜினிகாந்த் (name at birth, Shivaji Rao Gaekwad, to a Marathi family) and Aishwarya Rai ஐஸ்வர்யா ராய் in a futuristic movie about the interactions of humans and humanoids.

The movie included lots of animaiton and computer generated graphics. The movie scenes were shot at Peru and Brazil in addition to India. It was the first Tamil movie we saw this year.

We all enjoyed the movie.

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October 15, 2010 by Soma.

Durga Pooja Celebration

Friday, October 15, 2010, 6:00 - 8:00 PM

Tallahassee, Florida

We were invited to join in the Durga Pooja (Puja) celebration at a close friend’s residence. They have been doing the poojas for a long-time. So I went to their house after I came back from work. They have been performing the pooja for most of the day and I joined them during the time for the “Aarathi”. Several others joined us around 7 PM. There were songs about goddess Durga and everyone performed individual aartis.

There was special prasad for those who had gathered. I had to leave around 8 PM as I had to go to Navarathri celebration at the Gujarati Samaj later in the night.

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October 4, 2010 by Soma.

Quiz from Pew Forum on Religion

Monday, October 04, 2010

Tallahassee, FL, USA

Following the much publicised recent results about Americans and their knowledge about religion that showed that even though most Americans consider themselves very religious their knowledge of religion was NOT that high, I thought I would test my own knowledge about religion. Since birth I have been a follower of one faith, the one I was born into, and about half of my life I spent in a country where that faith has been the predominant one. Then during second half my life, I am living in a country where my faith is not the predominant one.

So, I went to Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life and took the 15 question quiz about religion. Several questions related Judo Christian faiths and there were about 4 questions about Eastern religions. After finishing the test, I was surprised to learn that I answered correctly 14 out of the 15 questions.

 Glad to know that at least I know something about religion. Thank God!!!

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September 17, 2010 by Soma.

Sweet Taste of the Arts

Tallahassee Senior Center

1400 North Monroe Street 32303

Tallahassee, FL

We performed a stand-up comedy routine as part of Sweet Taste of the Arts program to benefit the Tallahassee Senior Center this evening at the main Tallahassee Senior Center building located at the intersection of North Monroe Street and Seventh Avenue near Lake Ella.

The program started around 6:00 PM with selection of fine artists and visual artists. The fine artists included dancers, singers, musicians, and our comeic routine. The visual artists included seniors whose painting were displayed at the center.

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August 21, 2010 by Soma.

Utsav/IndiaDay 2010
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Moore Auditorium, Tallahassee, FL 32306

Indian Students Association of Tallahassee (INSAT) and India Association of Tallahassee (IATLH) celebrated the 64^th Indian Independence Day, India Day, and Utsav (in Sanskrit meaning Festival) - a cultural program this afternoon. The day started out bit cloudy and muggy and so we feared for typical summer rain, but we were spared. A food, jewelry, and handicrafts fair was also held between 12:00 Noon and 6 PM in conjunction with the Celebrations.

About 450-500 people (students, children, youngsters, and Tallahassee public) came to enjoy the free program. The proceedings began with Independence celebration with flag unfurling and singing of National anthems of India and the USA. There were 20 individual items split into two segments. The earlier segment consisted of performances by young artists. This included two performances by VS and one by me.

The first one of VS’ performances was “The Great Children of India”, where VS represented Bhaghat Singh. In the second item VS and I did a stand-up comedy called, Tanjore to Tallahassee, where we parodied the clash between Indian-born adults visiting and American-born youngsters.

The event was a big success.

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May 24, 2010 by Soma.

Governor’s Mansion Reception

Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Celebration

Monday, May 24, 2010; 6:00 - 8:00 PM

Tallahassee, FL 32301

We were at the reception at Governor’s Mansion celebrating the Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.

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April 17, 2010 by Soma.

Tamil New Year Celebrations

தமிழ் புத்தாண்டு விழா

சனிக்கிழமை, ஏப்ரல் 17, 2010

அலுமினி வில்லாஜ்

தலகாசி

11 வருட தமிழ் புத்தாண்டு விழா இன்று கொண்டாடினோம்.

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April 14, 2010 by Soma.

இனிய புத்தாண்டு வாழ்த்துக்கள்

விக்ருதி வருடம்

புதன் கிழமை, சித்திரை 1, 2010

தலகாசி, அ.ஐ.நா.

தமிழன்பர்கள் அனைவருக்கும் எங்கள் இனிய புத்தாண்டு வாழ்த்துக்கள். வருகிற சனிக்கிழமை நாங்கள் தமிழ் புத்தாண்டு விழா கொண்டாட இருக்கிறோம். வருக! வருகவே!

-சோமசுந்தரம் குடும்பம்

Happy Tamil New Year

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Tallahassee, FL 32317

We wish all Tamil well-wishers a Happy Tamil New Year. We will be celebrating the New Year this Saturday, April 17, 2010 at Recreation Hall, Alumni Village, Tallahassee, FL 32310. We welcome you to the festivities where we plan to stage children’s Tamil Drama, stand-up Tamil comedy routines, poetry recitation in Tamil and other activities. Please check the following links for more details:

• Tallahassee Tamil Sangam

• Somasundaram’s Tamil Pages

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