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The School KFI played host to the Poetry Reading Festival being organised by the Prakrithi Foundation, in association with Landmark. This morning's reading was by the well known Indian poet Gieve Patel, a doctor who is also a poet and artist. He seems to be equally accomplished in all these fields and he came across as a genial human being who enjoys the small and big moments of life.

The Assembly Hall was packed with students, teachers and visitors. The large windows let in the cool December breeze the children sat crosslegged on the tile floor and listened with quiet attention. Mr Patel explained the context that gave the impetus to write the poem and then read the poem. This really helped us to visualize the scene and follow the poem with ease. Patel first read out poems he wrote as a young student. One of these was the result of the shock he felt when, after a stormy night, he went to the college campus to find a huge peepul tree lying uprooted. 'On Killing a Tree' records the thoughts and feelings that rose out of this experience. Other poems that were touching and thought provoking were 'Catholic Mother' and the 'Beggar Woman'. The second part of his reading was from the anthology of poems written by children, edited by him, and published by the Sahitya Academy. This was the result of his workshops in Rishi Valley School. Patel read out the works of well known poets to the children and then urged the children to write poems of their own. The children here, responded to all these poems spontaneously, especially the one about adults nagging them with do's and don'ts, the one about a three legged dog on campus called Tripod, and the one about a dilapidated school that had no teacher.

Question time produced a lively discussion about how a poem takes shape in the mind of the poet, and how it is finally 'finished' on the page. One student wanted to know if poetry writing worked like a release mechanism for him, for, being a doctor he would have to control his emotions and be detached all the time at work. Patel answered with finesse. There is a tension between inolvement and non-invlovement in a good doctor and the same tension also works when writing poetry.

It was all in all a very enjoyable morning.

As I walked out of the campus, I saw two little children crouched on the pathway, gently picking up seeds with all the wonder and curiosity that only children can have. What a beautiful campus and how wonderfully The School KFI nurtures them!

- Padma Malini (Visitor)

group of  four to five students from class 12 make a trip to the Tibetan settlement in Bylakuppe, Karnataka. The purpose of the trip is to create awareness and to sensitize students to the Tibetan issue and to understand some of the difficulties of our times. This year 5 students from the school , namely Rohit, Mridula, Priyanka, Pushya and Sabrina had volunteered to go on the trip. The duration of the trip was 4 full days and a day of traveling.

The trip was organized by the Foundation for Universal Responsibility of His Holines Dalai Lama. There were a total of 6 schools that participated in the inter-school program. The schools were THE SCHOOL-K.F.I, The Valley school-K.F.I, and four other Tibetan schools which are based in Bylakuppe. The inter-school program consisted of various activities. The students were given a brief on the history of Tibet and the current state of the issue. There was a lot of opportunity for the students to interact with the Tibetan students and to find out about their lives and how it was to live so far away from their home - The Roof of The World. Students visited the local schools, monasteries and the village and got to know more about their culture and way of living. Students got the opportunity to see the famous Monk debate in which nearly 1600 monks participated. Every morning students were given a talk on the basic tenets of Buddhism and had the opportunity of doing guided meditation with Khangsar Rinpoche. Every evening a movie about Tibet was screened to give the participating students a better understanding of the whole issue of China and Tibet. The movies were Dreaming Lhasa , Kundun and Seven years in Tibet.

There were a series of talks held on various issues such as abolishing examinations, chances of Tibet getting back its freedom, and global warming. Each of the participating schools had to put up a skit on a theme of their choice. On the last day, a debate was held on global warming. Two students from each school were nominated. One was asked to argue against the issue and the other for the issue. This debate gave the students an opportunity to look at the issue from many angles instead of the same hackneyed view. The  students of the school were happy about the trip and consider it an invaluable experience. All of them hope to see a free Tibet in the future.

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