I Am From…….by Pooja Kini

I am from oatmeal,
served fresh in the morning,
with a brown sugar dress, and raisin sequins
I am from penalties and corners,
Part of a center forwarded game
I am from the dainty Japanese maple, whose tender limbs,
once provided a scarlet seat,

I am from the delicate Kawai,
upright and ebony, sounding each morning,
a single flaw etched into it’s spotless exterior

I am from the corroded brandy table,
minuscule pits of sadness scratched into it’s front
From the upside-down stink horns, residing in the crevices of mildewed fir bark

I am from dirt covered cuticles,
jagged nails, a bruise or two embodied into my skin

I am from rich pumpkin pie,
creamy whipped cream,
From Mom’s delicious gravy covered chicken
I am from Chai in the evening,
from Hola and Bonjour
From A job worth doing is a job worth doing well

Hidden notes to self,
pages of markings,
in a shuffle of half shreddd loose-leaf
Kept safely,untouched ,
in it’s own glass case

In….It’s own imaginary Louvre

Read Full Post »

W h I t E ……by Pooja Kini

White

White.

What is such a pure color?

Might it be a dove, soaring the skies?

Free, away from the arguments of the world

Is it as pure as love?

The feeling of bliss?

Or the clouds up in heaven

Sweet smells of jasmines

Blooming in a garden

Scents drifting away in the cool air

Would it be the sky at dawn?

Embroidered with fog?

Or snowflakes falling gently from the sky.

Sweet sugar icing, upon a cake.

Is it that?

Seven colors.

To form only one.

White is a mystery.

I do wonder,

Why?

P00j@

Read Full Post »

Reflections of a 4th Grader about first day at school!

 

First time I went to School…..by Pooja Kini

I hid behind my mother’s arm, squeezing her hand tightly. What is school going to be like? Is it fun? I am only two! It is way too early!! This Montessori thing, I did not like it one bit!! “Mom, I don’t want to….” I kept telling my mom. I did not want to go. A scary lady popped out of nowhere. I was surprised to see her and wondered, ” Where did she come from?”

“Hi!” she exclaimed. “I am your teacher, Libby! We are going to have a lot of fun! What is your name?” I looked at mom to ask her if it was alright to tell her. Because, I knew never to talk to strangers. She nodded yes, and so I told Libby my name. Just after that, Libby took me over to the crammed classroom! “Bye Mom!” I shouted loudly. Ms. Libby told me to sit on the rug for story time. As I did so, something queer caught my eye! I’d never seen it before! Amidst the classroom crowded as a beehive, I spotted it, in the middle of all the reds, greens and blues. Just smack in there, was a rope. What then looked like a rope. Not just by itself, but tied to a kid’s shoe. Little did I realize that it was shoe lace. I had never worn shoes with laces and this was quite amusing to me. “Oh NO!, he is tied up so he cannot run”! I crawled across to him and pulled the rope. It came out. “Yeah! I said to myself”.

Ms Libby called out loudly, “Pooja, go to the library and put your head down!”. I cried, scared and wanting to go home.”Now”, she called. Sniffing, I ran! Hot tears blurred my eyes and dyed my cheeks bright red. It was only a few minutes until Ms. Libby soothingly called, “Pooja, please come here”. I did so. ” You cannot pull shoe laces”! I nodded. “Come on, let us have some fun!” Suddenly, I wanted to come back to school with Libby, tomorrow!

Read Full Post »

Bring Your Child to Work Day

BRING YOUR CHILD TO WORK DAY

 Ever since my childhood, one of the most exciting time for us as kids was to go to our Dad’s office and spend a day. While it started as a fun thing, over years it morphed into some kind of a learning exercise. We used to at first help keep things in order, stamp an envelope, sort mail etc and gradually we were allowed to type a letter on the typewriters (remember those?).

To me it has been the most valuable internship I ever received. I went on to work in my dad’s office until I graduated, in various departments and locations – all of it pro bono. Today, I look back and wonder what skills, awareness and discoveries would have been impossible without that initiative. And the experience-memories-reward ….Priceless!!

Every time we had an opportunity, we have tried to let our kids visit our office and “hang around” my work place. I believe apart from the fun time they have with papers, staplers, markers and revolving chairs, they also get to observe our behavior at work.

I know for sure that I began to observe aspects of conduct, negotiation, phone manners, communication that I picked watching my dad and his colleagues at work. I also began recognizing how hard he used to work to make ends meet. This provided a deep rooted appreciation for hard work, diligence, work ethic and respect for my dad and his colleagues.

Today being the ‘National Bring Your Child to Work’ day, I had an excellent opportunity to take my child to my office and to the event at our new office facility.  AAA and Bishop Ranch had organized a fantastic show. Apart from being able to pick some cool gifts and goodies, children were exposed to limitless possibilities their future had for them. They got a chance to talk to safety experts, health experts, get pedestrian tips, climb aboard a real NASCAR simulator and enjoy a lot of great snacks and food.

I was particularly impressed with the Fire, Police, Emergency departments’ participation. Kids got a chance to get into each of these vehicles and experience first hand what the feeling is like. They got a chance to talk to a few courteous experts and ask lots of questions.  Some of which were –  Is that cap of yours heavy? (to a fireman) Does that let you call home and talk to your kids? (pointing to a radio transmitter in a police car),  Do you drop your kid to school in this van? ( sitting in an ambulance van), Where is the car seat for your child in this fire engine? Etc.,

Going around, meeting wonderful people, other lucky kids, a delightful clown, sipping on the juices and the popsicles handed out, the children were on cloud 9.

As we were leaving after two hours of pure sunshine filled joy, one of the Ambulance volunteer asked my five year old about his experience.  The reply was, “It was the best-est day ever – I was in a Race car, Cop car, Fire Engine AND and ambulance the same day…cool!!!! I now have to decide what I want to be when I grow up!!!”

Thanks to a novel concept and thanks to community friendly facilities like Bishop Ranch and organizations like AAA that add a new dimension to the concept and make it fun.

Read Full Post »