Ever wonder what it would be like to get inside the head of the wife of one of the most powerful men on the planet? Living History by Hillary Rodham Clinton gives you that opportunity. Written about the years that she spent in the White House along with a brief history of how she got there it made interesting reading. Indeed she is the all American Girl who came from a regular middle class American family, married her college sweetheart and then shifted to live with him. Supported his decision to get into politics and dealt with minor issues of her own as a lawyer and along the way became Mrs   read more

Living a useful and productive life is rather similar to the challenge of climbing a mountain. Many of the skills that you need to develop and use in a mountain climb can easily migrate to living a fruitful life. Of these many skills two that I have personally found indispensible are discipline and determination. If you can train your mind to do your bidding, no matter what the odds are, you have the kind of discipline that will help you succeed at whatever you want.  Similarly you need to be focused on your goal and determined to achieve it.  So how does one develop these skills? For starters   read more

The blog has come a long way. When I started this blog in May 2008 I just wanted to get into the habit of writing daily. I never had a “niche” in my mind. Was not interested in traffic or RSS. Could not even link to anchor texts. I just was interested in writing a web log. So I started writing about whatever I though was interesting. Along the way I found out other people also found what I wrote interesting. So I decided to go for a registered url. I got so confused about the names that I finally picked my own name. Of course that makes it very easy for friends and family to find it   read more

In The Old Days Many of us are working fauji biwis and have little time to spare today. Yet if we go back three or four decades we will find that fauji biwis of that day had little to do in terms of work. They had a need for an outing where they could get to know other ladies from the station better. This is where a central Ladies Club meeting came in very handy. In one go you met ladies from other units, saw who had come in recently, and found out about who was on their way out. You got together and played some games, and had a good time. Then ate a few refreshments and came back home. A sort   read more

I had given a little thought to the fact that a person starting out as a newbie online may need a few guidelines. So here is a small ebook that I written about a year ago. It covers the basics and I will supplement it with another ebook that I am ghostwriting on how to be a successful blogger.(Since I’m ghostwriting it I can’t give it as an open download, but friends who want to read it can mail me  get a copy.) However blogging takes considerable time to show monetary results, while online freelance writing gets you paid each time you write an article. Point in question this very blog   read more

The Fauji Biwi is a victim of the “Trailing Spouse Syndrome.” She faithfully follows her Fauji Miaji into deserts and mountains on a regular basis. She manages a home and raises kids while packing trunks and watering plants. She even tries to make a little pocket money by teaching in the local schools. She lives life on the go with little time to spare, with Ladies Clubs and Welfare Meets taking up even more of her time. Yet in all this frantic activity, she yearns for that identity that is not linked to the fauj. To have her own place in a time where few can boast of an identity away   read more

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   read more

(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   read more

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   read more

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   read more