Shivratri Celebrations in Florida
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| Events & Community Members in news |
| Florida Kashmiri Pandits Celebrate Shivratri March 15, Port St. Lucie, FL USA |
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hivratri is a special time of the year for Kashmiri Pundits. For those of us who are thousands of miles away from our motherland, celebrating our festivals together as a close-knit community is even more important. This way we can relive our childhood memories of these special occasions as well as pass our traditions and culture to our children, who can carry these to the next century.This year the Hayreth celebration by the Florida KP Community was held on March 14th and 15th 2009 and the gracious hosts were Deepak and Sunaina Khosa of Port St. Lucie, Fl. It was as usual, a two-day celebration starting with the cultural evening on the first day and a picnic on the second day. The festivities began on the 14th with evening tea and snacks to refresh all the Biradari members who had driven long distances to celebrate this occasion as a family. Soon after the refreshments; as the cultural program started; the whole atmosphere just came alive as the melodious notes of Shiva Bhajans reverberated thru the air. One after the other the children presented their talents in the form of bhajans, songs, instrumental performance and even a dance on the popular song “Bhumbro- Bhumbro”. Age seemed no bar as performers included kids as young as 3 yrs old to adults, who are proud grand parents too. Other performance included Kashmiri Chakris, Hindi songs and a popular hindi poem written by our dear Jaya Sibu Raina. Cultural evening was enjoyed by one and all as the program wrapped up with Kashmir "Rouf" on the famous folk song “Rind Poshmal”. During the program a silent tribute was paid to well known personality of our Kashmiri community in India, Late Pt. Amarnath Handoo, who was revered by one and all. Pundit sahib was Deepakji’s maternal uncle and that is why both Deepakji and Chandraji could not be with us during this function. May God give the family the strength to bear this loss. After the program Zang (Nuun and Athgat) was distributed to all the ladies as an age-old Kashmir tradition followed by a Koshur saal fit for the kings. The aroma and the taste of the delicacies prepared by all the ladies (as potluck) were such that could beat the taste of any Wazwan preparation. The atmosphere literally seemed like the “Khandar Saal” of lord Shiva and Parvati. The festivities went on till the wee hours of the morning. The second phase of the function included a picnic at the Jonathan Dickinson State Park, where all the families got together for a wonderful Barbeque and a relaxing afternoon. It was a beautiful day where the kids enjoyed playing on the park grounds and taking a dip in the nearby lake and the adults just relaxing and hanging out together. After hearty meal the celebrations for this year Hayrath function came to an end with the distribution of Hayrath kharach to all the kids by the eldest mother-Ammaji. It is due to community functions like these that we really can display a respect and understanding of our Kashmiri values and traditions. Congratulations and thanks to all the biradari members who worked hard as a family and made this celebration a success. by: Renuka Kaul |
Heratrh Kharach from the eldest (Ammaji) to the youngest 
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