Riya's Ramblings

My friend, Noelle, moved to Singapore a couple of years back. I have always wanted to know more about her life there.

We talked about lots of different things - her school, her favorite foods, her life in Singapore and how the pandemic affected it.

(She said she lives in a dot - because Singapore is just a tiny place on the map. :)

I learned a lot! I am sure you will enjoy it too!

Last episode's riddle: You have to break me to use me. What am I?

Answer: Eggs!

Shout out to my cousin Disha (from Virginia!) who got it it right!

This episode's riddle: It belongs to you but your friends use it more. What is it?

You can write to me at [email protected] with your guesses, thoughts, ideas and suggestions

Equal pay!

On June 17 2021, US President Joe Biden signed a new law that declared Juneteenth as a US federal holiday.

It is very important because we recognize the day enslaved people were freed in Texas.

I had recorded an episode last year on this topic and I wanted to share that again.

You can write to me at [email protected] with your thoughts, ideas and suggestions

Equal pay!

I am in the final 10 of a national speech contest on kindness. You can view and vote for my speech at http://chhaya.org/vote

(It's an alias to https://thinkkindness.org/vote/?entry_id=195613688)

In my speech, I talk about how all of us can make a difference by doing simple things. That's the way to create a new pandemic - of kindness.

Thank you in advance for your vote. 

Do you have ideas on making the world a kinder place? Email me at [email protected] with your ideas, suggestions, etc!

I will include your idea in the next episode.

Previous riddle: When you take out a hand, some still remains.

Answer: "Handsome"

Shout out to Mr. John Hanna who emailed me with an answer that I didn't expect - an analog clock!

This week's riddle: You have to break me to use me. What am I?

If you know the answer, email me at [email protected]

Follow, share and vote for my speech at http://chhaya.org/vote

I recently entered a "Kindness Speech" competition organized by the Think Kindness Foundation. I am in the top 10! WooHoo!

The best part is that they paired me up with a speech coach to polish my speech. Mr. Chase Mielke, a high school teacher, instructional coach and motivational speaker from Michigan, is helping me for the final round.

I interviewed him for this podcast and we talked about his teaching and his coaching and how he helps teachers and students become better.

Listen and you will learn how to get better at public speaking.

Previous episode's riddle: I am an odd number but if you take one letter off, I become even. What am I?

I was going with 'seven' as the answer - remove the 's' to get "even". 

But I got an interesting email from Mr. John Hanna who answered "fifteen". If you say it out loud and take off the 'n', you get "fifty" which is also even. Neat! Thanks for the email, Mr. Hanna!

And thank you to Ms. Kathy Pettinger for your lovely email. It's very encouraging to hear from my listeners.

This week's riddle: If you take away a hand, some still remains. What is it?

Send me your answers by email: [email protected]

You can also email me your ideas, comments, feedback

Listen, rate and share! 

Previous riddle: I am tall when I am young and I am short when I am old. What am I?

Answer: A candle!

This episode's riddle: I am an odd number but if you take one letter off, I become even. What am I?

Send me your answers by email: [email protected]

I have been doing school at home for the past year. I recently went back to school in person for the last nine weeks. 

In this episode, I describe my experience of going back to school after being at home for so long.

I was nervous the previous night about the new procedures and rules.

But my teachers and friends were very helpful in helping me adjust (some of my friends have been in school since August)

It feels so good to have interaction!

Here's some interesting things I noticed:

The couple of things I miss from 'school at home' are:

Share your experience with online or in-person school. I love hearing from you!

Email me at [email protected] with your ideas, comments, feedback, jokes etc.

Listen, rate and share! 

In this episode, I talk to Ms. Elisa Klein who is running for our city council.

I am so glad that Ms. Klein took time out of her busy campaign schedule to talk to me about her background, what she loves about our city and what she plans to do as a member of the city council.

We also talked about her favorite movies (we both love Marvel movies!) and her favorite foods. I am now curious to try pupusas, the Salvadorean dish she mentioned.

She had great suggestions for people (incl. kids) to be more involved with their city!

Can you tell me something about your background?

What does ‘place 8’ mean? Is Plano divided in different regions?

What do you love about Plano?

What’s one thing you would like to change once you are on the city council?

What’s one thing that you don’t want to change?

What’s your favorite movie or TV show?

What advice do you have for students who may want to run for office and make a difference?

What can students and kids do to be more aware about our city?

Please listen, rate and share.

And email me at [email protected] with your comments, ideas and suggestions for future episodes!

Here's the riddle of the week: I am tall when I am young and I am short when I am old.

Previous riddle: What's a snowman's favorite drink? Iced-tea, of course!

I went with my parents for their Covid-19 vaccination. It was quite an interesting experience! 

It was a drive-through vaccination setup. Very creative! We didn't have to get out of the car at all!

There are 3 vaccines approved in US

- Johnson and Johnson (one dose)

- Pfizer (2 doses)

- Moderna  (2 doses)

The entire vaccination site was organized so well. Curative was the company managing the site. Hundreds of people getting their their 1st/2nd dose within a few minutes!

I also brought goodie bags to thank the people helping out with the vaccination process. 

If your family members are getting their vaccines soon, you should do the same!  

THANK YOU TO ALL VACCINE HELPERS AND NURSES AND DOCTORS. 

Listen, rate and share!

Send me your ideas and experiences or answer the riddle at [email protected]

Riddle: What is a snowman’s favorite drink?

Previous riddle: How do you fix a broken pizza?  

(A) - With tomato paste! :)

I have started putting my episode notes (which I use for recording) in the description.  Tell me what you think of it!

I hope you have fun listening to the episode just as much I had fun recording!   If you want to introduce yourself, talk about a sibling, or anything else email me at [email protected].  I love reading your emails.

As always, listen, rate and share!!

What I cover in this episode

Snowstorm - in Texas!

Brother left for college in January

Last year of elementary school

Shows with grandma

Science fair

I listened to Amanda Gorman, the US youth poet laureate, at the Biden-Harris inauguration and the SuperBowl and was super-impressed and inspired!

So I wrote three poems for a prompt we had in school.

Prompt - Home is Where the heart is

And I wrote a 4th poem to mark the milestone of this podcast reaching a 1000 plays! Thank you all very much for the feedback and the support over the past 35 episodes. 

I definitely recommend you write your own poems (having as much fun as I did when writing mine) , and email them to me at [email protected]!  I would love reading them, and giving you a shout out.  If you wish, I can also read the poem during a podcast!  

As always, listen, rate, and share!!  

PS: Enjoy the snaps (you'll find out what I mean)

Home is Where The heart is

Where your heart strings tug

The Place where your soul gets a cozy cuddly hug

The place you float up like a soft cloud

The place you jump up and yell happily aloud

Home is on the dining table with my family

This is where I get out of reality

When I hang out with whom I love

All My stress away, away I shove

I feel like it’s never ending

Like a story book always extending

Where Do You Go?

Where do you go?

For all your tensions to disappear

For all your happiness to appear

Where your soul feels all warm and cozy

All your worries blocked by a goalie

Laughing with my family makes me float away

In a never ending day

Floating and Flying

Sitting around the table, I fly up to the sky

Making my heart and soul jump so high

Home is sitting peacefully with my family

It feels like I’m in my very own Fantasy

Surrounded by the laughing and smiles of my loved

All my worries away I pushed and shoved

With my family, my life is complete

Never will it ever be off-beat!

Milestone

When you hit a milestone, 

It's like you are sitting on a throne

You travel back in time,

Thinking about your climb

All the way to the top,

Hoping to never stop!

Riddle for today - How do hares travel? (The answer is a pun :)

History has been made!! Kamala Harris becomes the first woman Vice President (VP) of the US on Wednesday! In this episode I talk about her past careers, education, family, etc. I wanted to learn more about this ground-breaking woman and share my knowledge with you.

If you want to learn more about Vice President Kamala Harris and her life, then you will definitely enjoy this fun episode. I know I had fun recording it!!

If you want to know more about our VP, have any episode suggestions, or just want to introduce yourself then email me at [email protected]. I love reading your emails and emailing back!