For the cricket buffs of Bay Area, Saturday, April 16, was a special day of meeting a cricket legend. Kapil Dev came to release his autobiography Straight From My Heart in a fundraising charity event held by the Silicon Valley chapter of Literacy India, an NGO working for underprivileged children and women in Gurgaon and Delhi.
The event to raise funds for the construction of a school building and to promote awareness towards the practical problems of literacy in India for the needy children took place at the Golden Peacock Banquet in Fremont. About 150 people attended the $75 per person charity dinner.
The programme picked pace when Kapil Dev arrived and mingled instantly with the guests in an informal milieu. Tons of cameras and camcorders clicked in tandem for one and all to capture a clip of the cricket czar of the eighties.
Anupam Singh, the Vice President of North California Cricket Association, and Satish Dalal, Captain of the Indus Cricket Club, came with their spouses. "Currently in Northern California, there are over 40 active teams and more than 800 players affiliated to various cricketing clubs. We are glad to that Kapil Dev has come to the Bay Area and has agreed to visit myriad teams and offer informal tips to the players about the game," said Anupam.
The popularity of cricket is undisputed amongst Indians and active play has grown over the years with the rise in the number of South Asians in the Silicon Valley. Software professionals planning, writing and cracking code on the weekdays are avid cricket players and followers on the weekends when bits and bytes give way to bats and balls.
{{/usCountry}}The popularity of cricket is undisputed amongst Indians and active play has grown over the years with the rise in the number of South Asians in the Silicon Valley. Software professionals planning, writing and cracking code on the weekdays are avid cricket players and followers on the weekends when bits and bytes give way to bats and balls.
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