6 Feb

My Guy Pal

Posted by Cashmere Lashkari in Uncategorized. Tagged: .

This morning I read the guest column that Priyanka Chopra writes for the Hindustan Times on a Guy Pal, and it brought back memories. I totally agree with her, no matter how many Gal Pals you have you need a Guy Pal as well. If you enjoy a common activity, in our case it was our passion for reading books, you can get comfortable with a guy and develop a unique friendship. One in which you get a unique peek into the “other” sex’s mindset.

To begin with a Guy Pal is always there to stand in for a real “date” when you need to head out as a couple, but at the same time its totally platonic, on both sides. In fact my Guy Pal took full advantage of all the guys who were smitten with me and wanted an intro! Cheekily coming back after mooching a meal from them and telling me what he did as well.

One of the worst times of my life was immediately after my tenth boards. I feel ill with an allergic reaction and while the rest of the class was out celebrating, I was stuck in the sick room. He was always there each evening with five new books for me to read. (Yes I would go through them so fast, there was nothing else to do the whole day.) That full week he showed up each evening and made the day seem not as miserable as it was. Oh course he also dug into my books trunk before he went home!

In school we had the same tutor for Maths, so he would come home and we would watch M*A*S*H till he came and took us to task. In college we had the same friend circle and so many people thought we were going around. Despite the fact that we were never in the least bit interested in each other romantically. He was my window into the world of boys. He would tell me how they thought about a situation. I would ask him for advise in difficult situations. And once I had to stop him from physically hurting a guy who was spreading some rumors about me.

After I got married he kind of disappeared from my life for a while. To be honest even I was so wrapped up in the new world I had stepped into that I was not as conscientious about keeping in touch with him. I knew where he was and what he was doing thanks to my mom who was in touch with his parents. We had each other’s email ids and phone numbers but did not really communicate much.

Then came a crisis in the form of my grandma’s stroke. We had to rush down to Loni in a tearing hurry and despite having relatives in Pune the only one I thought of was him. I called him and he helped me get the taxi hired. No where have you been so long or now you remember me. Just plain, okay I’ll get you the car. He still has not met my four year old son, but I know he will be there for me always. So now all I’d like to say to him is, Thank You!

2 Feb

The Bouncing Cookbook

Posted by Cashmere Lashkari in Online Cookbook. Tagged: , .

(pst – The Army Element should read Raiding for Bouncing!)
An army marches on its stomach, said Napoleon.
An Air Force survives on its bouncing, says moi.

Nine times out of ten when my husband lands in any Air Force Base in the country hoping for a hot meal in the mess, chances are he won’t get one! If, however, that Station houses a course mate, the odds get reversed immediately. For the poor wife who has been feeding course mates since they were bachelors bouncing on her brand new kitchen, it’s not a new story.

In fact it’s my story as much as hers! The line of progressive bachelors who have fed from my kitchen and gone on to become husbands and fathers is beyond the scope of this post. However, if it were not for them, I would probably never have had the confidence and the courage to write this series. So I must mention them all in general and thank them for all their compliments.

The one thing that Fauji Biwis must face, no matter where they are posted, is the challenge of managing the “Ration”. So I have made an effort to base most of the recipes on ingredients that come in the ration.  Watch out for new posts in the Party Food  and Games blog. And leave comments about what you want me to write.

1 Feb

Kuddos to the Girls: Sania Mirza and Gul Panag

Posted by Cashmere Lashkari in Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , .

Of late two news makers have caught my attention. One was Sania Mirza and the other was Gul Panag.

Last month when Sania Mirza announced that she would quit tennis after she got married I was surprised. A girl who has worked so hard at the game, in fact whose whole identity rests with the game was just giving it up because she was getting married? Then I thought it over and put it down to typical Indian mentality. Shaadi ke pehele do what ever you want but once you get married. That’s the end of your identity. Have babies and sit at home.

I was just comparing it mentally to the American Tennis players, who take a break, get married, have a baby and then return to the game.  That seems so different to what our way of life is. So when I read about the broken engagement due to “compatibility problems” I was happy. Not because she was not getting married, but because she realized that she was worth more. Any guy who married her would have to accept her identity of a world class tennis player as well.

Kudos to you Sania and may you find a mixed doubles partner for life who will play the game fairly. And not be so insecure in your shadow that he asks you to give up your identity.

Unless you have been hiding with your head in the sand you would have heard of the Sukhna Land scam case. Gen Avdesh Prakash is being sheltered by Gen Deepak Kapoor, the current Army Chief. Many people believe that he is guilty as charged, but we wait for the proof. Gul Panag took the bull by the horns when she squarely placed the blame on the Army Chief. Yes she said what we all know but are keeping mum about. It takes courage to make the statements she did.

After all he is the Army Chief and to accuse him without proof is almost like treason to us who are related to the Armd Forces. Yet it can not be denied that he has a far from clean record. Remember Gul Panag’s Dad was posted out of Northern Command in a hurry just because he was investigating the last Army Commander’s activities who incidentally is the Army Chief now. The almost overnight posting that time had raised eyebrows, but the matter was hushed up. Gen Panag may have retired, but his tigress daughter is now on the prowl. With the blessings of all non corrupt Army Officers, may I add.

Again Kudos to you Gul Panag, for making the  general public aware of the rot that now threatens to eat away the wonderful institution we all belong to.

27 Jan

Online Adventures

Posted by Cashmere Lashkari in Online Adventures. Tagged: .

Those who know me would be aware of my inability to sit still for long periods of time. I have always been fascinated by the latest technology to hit our lives and have been testing my fledgling wings on the internet since more than a decade ago. In fact my second job way back in 1999 was to develop content for a medical portal Good Morning Doctor in the Dot Com Boom. I wrote about ten diseases, their diagnosis, treatment and prognosis. This was when I was really glad that I had taken Science with Biology till the 12th.

After writing for about five or six months I had the pleasure of seeing all my articles online, without a single edit. I was thrilled but also sad that the world would never know it as my work. The Boom went Bust and so did the website ending my romance with writing online for the time being.

So studied Management, wrote internship reports, and after I finished I decided I did not want to work in that environment and took off to pursue Travel and Tourism. I did my diploma from British Airways and went to work as a Travel Agent. Loved what I did and did it till I got married and left town.

Then I got involved in training and again got myself certified to do so. Enjoyed the joy of exposing children to a world that they did not know existed. Gave it up when I got pregnant and relaxed at home till the baby came. Now that child has started schooling and I found myself with the luxury of three hours time on my hands. Again the internet came to my aid.

I discovered the joys of blogs. The websites as I knew them had undergone a sea change in the time that I had been busy with life offline. A friend of mine introduced me to Link Building via comments and I was hooked again. Very soon I was absorbing this new world up like a sponge and learning about the wonders of blogging. I decided to give it a try and that’s how you are reading this piece.

From blogging I discovered the joys of working freelance online. Another old friend came to my rescue to explain exactly how it worked. I put my energies into working online and actually did lots of Ghost Writing. Again while I may never be able to claim it as mine, at least I got paid for it. The topics that I have written about have been numerous and I have learnt from each one.

Everyday the world opens up new possibilities and I am totally enthralled by it. I think I have finally found the idea job. Working from home across the world. It suits me to a tee. I have a myriad variety of projects with interesting subjects to bid on each day. It never allows me to get bored. I do need to control my urge to be online all the time though.

I am quite serious about building up a team of similar minded individuals who will be able to storm the net soon enough. There are enough friends around who don’t have clue to the money that they could be making. Maybe I will introduce them to these endless possibilities. More on that later. So far this online adventure has given me far more than I ever hoped possible. I am very happy that I took the plunge.

19 Jan

Showcasing a New Artist : Debraj Sen

Posted by Cashmere Lashkari in Showcasing the Artist. Tagged: , , , .

The debut of Debraj Sen the Artist!

A man of many talents this Radiologist is also an Army Officer and as you can see a greatly talented painter. Here’s looking forward to more paintings from him.

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