CASH - Career Advancement through Self Help

Hi all, 

My maiden step at entrepreneurship begins with this training initiative CASH- Career Advancement through Self-Help.

Please like the page and support me through referrals, blessings and good wishes. I am joined by three more friends of mine in this venture. All of us have 10+ years of corporate experience and 3-4 years in training. 

 

 

CASH -Career Advancement through Self-Help 

 

The training modules are structured to cater to customised needs of the corporate world with a special focus on women's career success while balancing family responsibilities.

The trainers are women who have successfully managed family responsibilities along with their careers and now set out to put to test, their entrepreneurial skills.

Sheetal’s pumpkin, for the kith and kin!

Before Sheetal got married, she grew up in a nuclear family. So nuclear was the family, that anybody in the name of a kith or a kin was taboo at their house. Her father wantedher to excel in as many fields as was humanly possible!

Her mother, being the traditional Indian woman, supported her father to the hilt (though it beats every fathomable reason as to how a culture can make second-fiddles of highly talented women, just so that they don’t outgrow or out-shoot their men)!

Post her marriage, she found herself no different from her mother, yielding to her husband’s wishes and demands, though she did most of it to avoid any unpleasant situation, rather than out of conviction. Many times she would point out to the gender bias that plagued the Indian society, whether or not her husband supported the argument.

Though Sheetal came across as a head-strong individual, she was family centric and if there was one area where she listened to her gut feel, it was cooking! Her husband was as much a foodie as she was a health watcher!

She loved cooking and refused to compromise on nutrition to accommodate an enhanced taste. Her husband’s side of the family would not miss an opportunity to meet up and have food together. This culture, though alien to her, was a welcome change!

But due to the excessive love for food, most of them had health issues. She would try and make different items, consciously avoiding coffee and fried papad, inclusion of which would have fetched her the tag of ‘an awesome cook!’

During one of the get-togethers, she decided to include white pumpkin in an unidentifiable way, so that all and sundry were made to consume it raw! Now, most of you must be thinking what a devil she was and by Jove, she loved being the known devil as her husband was detected of diabetes.

I was surprised at the conviction with which Sheetal spoke on feminism and suddenly changed positions to care for her husband, putting behind the bitterness that she had for men in general and the conservative ones in particular.

I realise that women are the natural care-givers of a family and therefore, to get themselves out of the bonds that curtail them, they have to take care of themselves first, before they begin taking care of others! When women realise this they can switch roles with ease.

Here is a simple recipe of the pumpkin raita that Sheetal made for my kith and kin!

In a bowl take curd and beat it to homogeneity.

Grind white pumpkin (remove the thick outer skin and cut it into small cubes), 2 small pieces of coconut, a small finger length ginger, salt. Mix the ground paste with the beaten curds.

In a small pan, heat one teaspoon ghee. Splutter a few mustard seeds, cumin seeds and a pinch of asafoetida, one green (or red) chilli (slit), curry leaves and coriander leaves (the curry leaves and coriander leaves may also be ground along with other ingredients) and add to the raita.

Decorate with mint leaves on top.  

Pumpkin raita, for her kith and kin...

The latest news is that, not only does her family and the extended family relish the raita, her husband's sugar levels have reached manageable levels!

Limiting Abilities, Limitless Possibilities!

 

Call it the maker’s negligence, or fate, some less fortunate people are born with visible and invisible setbacks. For many others, their own negligence (or again, let us it call it fate), has caused irreparable physical and mental scars.

All of us with such subtracted abilities have two choices: we can either pull ourselves up or enjoy the sympathy that society, most willingly, will shower on us!

Here is the story of a man who defied all odds, not only to earn a livelihood for himself, but also to provide livelihoods to others around him.

 

Self motivated!

 

This is the story of Pankaj Kamra, a man who cannot walk like the rest of us.

An ardent sports lover, Pankaj is limited by his disability that does not accord him the fulfillment of being a sportsman.

But Pankaj chose a way different way to express his love for sports. He decided to challenge his maker by opening a sports shop!

 

Pankaj could not dream of winning these trophies, so he dreamt bigger. He distributes them to deserving sportsmen!

His shop, initially, was the only one in the vicinity that sold sports goods. He spread his passion by word of mouth and soon the children in the locality were seen playing various games. 

Today, Pankaj has employed other, less fortunate young men and women to help him run his shop, providing employment to them. 

And the trophy goes to this winning team!

When I spoke to him, his enthusiasm and energy motivated me. I left his shop both ashamed and inspired. Having spent fourteen years, playing various sports, I always complained about lack of time to devote to sports. I have started spending an hour every day, playing one sport. 

When I asked him to give one message, this is what he said:

“Just want to say -if you think and do positive work, success will come. If something God didn't give, doesn't mean he is not with you. It means he gave you  so many other things to overcome (with which to overcome your disabilities).”

 

I asked him about his vision and mission for his shop.

“My vision--TO DISCOVER, ACKNOWLEDGE AND CULTIVATE SPORTING ATTITUDE IN SOCIETY!

MISSION----TO PROVIDE BEST IN-CLASS SPORTS GOODS AT LOWEST POSSIBLE COST & PARTNERING INDIA'S JOURNEY TOWARDS SPORTS SUPREMACY.....”

 

Pankaj's trophy is this picture of the great Indian batsman Rahul Dravid visiting his shop...

 

 

Carry on with your good work, Pankaj! Your story will inspire many to follow in your footsteps!

 

Note:

His shop is aptly named 'Chak De Sports'. Those of you in Bangalore or visiting Bangalore take time to visit this young man, to motivate and be motivated!

 

Mr.Pankaj can be reached at his shop...

 

 

Services offered by Chak De Sports:

 

1. High quality sports accessories

2. Expert advice on sports that can be pursued by youg children

3.Connecting aspiring sportspeople to professional coaches.

4. Guiding talented youngsters to the right sports academy.

 

Pankaj and his men helping a customer buy right!

Pankaj helping one of his young customer's choose a sport!

 

Culture, Agriculture, Literature

Culture, agriculture and literature are closely related. Poetry, it is said, mirrors the culture of a place and the practices of the people that lived there at a particular time period.

It spoke of the practices of the people, their belief system and their growth. Tamil literature, like all others of the world, is rich and reflective of the growth patterns of the land. Ancient Tamil literature divided land into five types.

Kurunji – This word was used to describe a mountainous terrain. Towns that developed in this type of land were called ‘Kuruchi’. Places like Kaladaikuruchi, Karakuruchi are examples of settlements on mountainous terrain.

Mullai – Places in and around a forest were classified thus.

Neidhal – Seashore in particular and land around a water body is usually known by this name.

Marudham – Plains, especially of the cultivatable type is known as Marudham

Paalai – Desert and land surrounding a desert is called Paalai.

Neidhal is associated with pining, and rightly so!

In ancient Tamil literature, each of the land type is associated with a unique state of human mind. Kurunji is associate with togetherness, while Mullai is associated with waiting. Marudham is associated with quarrel and Neidhal with pining. Paalai, it is said, indicates separation.

Some of the Tamil poetry talk in depth about crop rotation and there are specific word-of-mouth poems (esp. lullaby) which offer rich information about the crops that each house hold must plant.

There are some interesting one-liners which talk about food and how they should be consumed. For example, read the following line

“Ingikku puranni nanju, Kadukkaikku agani nanju.”

When translated this means that the outer skin of ginger is poisonous, while the inner seed of the yellow myrobalan or terminalia chebula is poisonous.

Ancient literature, in short is a rich treasure trove of valuable information which is waiting to be interpreted and followed…