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Bad day

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Not all days are the same. Some days are good, some days are bad. When the day is good we see that the sun is shining bright. Flowers are blooming. Nature is colourful and delightful. Weather is pleasant.  Everything goes well. Everything goes as per the plan. There are no delays. There are no cancellations. Everything fits into the frame. Everything is within our control. The day is filled with positivity and happiness. On a bad day the sky is cloudy, grey, and gloomy. Flowers are dead just like our dreams and hopes. Nature is dreadful and awful. Weather feels unpleasant and looks like sepia filter has been applied. Every effort goes down the drain. Nothing goes as per the plan. Every move is a disaster. Everything is out of our control. The day is filled with negativity and unhappiness. Is it really the day or our perception of the day? Sometimes it takes only one thing to go wrong and the whole day turns into a sad circus. If the day begins with a mistake the whole d...
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Book review: The Brahmastra unleashed

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The book " The Brahmastra Unleashed " it's written by D Sivanandhan who is the former police commissioner of Mumbai and former Director General of Police Maharashtra. This book is a first person account of how the Mumbai underworld was destroyed by the Mumbai Police. As someone who is born in 1980 and grew up in 1990s in Mumbai, I am very well aware of the underworld situation in Mumbai back then. In 1990s Underworld was not exactly hidden. The underworld was not in the background, rather was "the main character" of Mumbai. One was not required to search for the underworld, rather the underworld would come chasing someone at their own doorstep. Traces of Underworld could be found in any lane, any road, any corner, any shop, or any building - practically everywhere. Everyday some or the other person would come face to face with the underworld activities. No one would know when they would witness an underworld activity that could lead to their apparent...
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Happy (?) women's day

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Happy International Women's Day! Are you not happy? No? Let me give you the reasons to be happy. Indeed be happy for being born instead of killed in the womb for being an XX instead of XY.  Be happy for getting educated, many have lost their lives for that privilege.  Be happy for being able to be qualified to take a job, many have fought for this right. Be happy for having the freedom to dress as you please, many countries do not offer that freedom.  Be happy for your smooth, soft, and spotless skin; acid attack victims are deprived of this joy. Be happy for being able to raise your voice, there are many waiting to silence you. Be happy that you have the privileges such as driving, voting, or stepping out of the house on your own; I do not need to tell you which countries ban these for women. Be happy for having the financial independence, for you do not have to prepare a pitch for asking for money. Be happy if you became a solo traveller, this is a rare type of freedom....
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Haunted: The turmeric factor

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Turmeric has a crucial role in the life of any Indian person. Turmeric is the most commonly used condiment in the Indian cuisine. Turmeric has antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties making it a wonder home remedy. Turmeric is a common ingredient of various cosmetic applications to improve the skin tone and texture. Besides, turmeric has also found its way in various rituals in the Indian culture. Haldi (application of turmeric) is a crucial ceremony in Indian weddings. Before the wedding (generally a day before the wedding), turmeric is generously applied on the bride and groom's body - which is called the ceremony of Haldi . While turmeric is expected to brighten the bride and groom's skin, it is believed that turmeric may also attract negative energies. Hence, after the Haldi ceremony, it is forbidden to leave the house.  But what would happen if the bride or groom leave the house after the Haldi ceremony? Abhijit (pseudonym to conceal the identity) has the answer t...
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Haunted: Co-passenger

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Some roads, cross roads, areas, lanes, corners, or places are known to be the residances of dark entities. Locals know about such places and warn to not visit them. Mostly, visiting such places is forbidden after sunset. Such places are not rare and can be found in villages or even in a densely populated city like Mumbai. This experience comes from different cities or villages; narrated by different people to me. Though places, days, and time differred, their experience remained the consistent. They visited a forbidden place and experienced the unexplainable. They survived to tell a tale. For the sake of the story, this is Rahul's paranormal experience. Rahul was in college in the reputed field of  STEM. Rahul was staying in a metro city. Rahul and his friends often used to study together. They would study at any friend's house after the college hours. They would meet after dinner, study till early morning, sleep at friend's house, and leave in the morning. One ...
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Myth of the moth

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This morning, after waking up I immediately noticed a moth outside our bedroom window. I was intrigued. It was raining heavily outside yet it still rested peacefully on the window. It was gone within minutes. But the moth's arrival reminded me of 2 specific stories I was told. First story was told by my late neighbour. According to that story, goddess Lakshmi visits our homes in form of a moth. Whenever such moths are seen, we should offer kumkum turmeric and bow our heads. Goddess Lakshmi will bless us with wealth and happiness. Another story was very different from the first one. A colleague told me that our ancestors often visit us in form of moths. They stay in our homes for a couple of days to see whether we are flourishing in our lives. Then, they disappear in thin air. We never see them coming inside our homes or leaving our homes.  Both stories were astonishing. However, there is a similarity. Both stories depict the moths as outwardly and holy. Both stories tel...
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Opinion: Upstaging the bride

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 Wedding season is about to begin. In the event of enthusiasm and glamour, nowadays I am seeing various social media posts featuring the bride, groom, and the whole ceremony. While most of these are wholesome posts, I am seeing a plethora of disheartening posts. Not only the social media posts but I have heard stories from friends and colleagues about how a specific guest was trying to upstage the bride. These posts/stories specifically discuss the following, where the bride is upset because: a wedding guest is wearing their own wedding outfits a wedding guest is wearing the outfit in the same colour or similar to that of the bride a wedding guest is wearing a bright colour which is drawing the attention away from the bride a wedding guest is prettier than the bride a wedding guest is wearing a designer outfits or a designer inspired outfit Most of these outfits could be inappropriate for the western weddings. In western weddings, most of the brides are dressed in white...
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Haunted: Scavengers

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Corporate offices which are in a remote area or away from crowded places are generally built on forbidden lands. History of such lands are difficult to find. This could attribute to hauntings at such buildings. Believe me, most of the corporate office buildings are haunted. This story was narrated to me by a colleague's sister - let's call her Naina (using a pseudonym to protect her identity). This is Naina's paranormal experience. Naina is a few years elder to me. Needless to say that she started working in corporate before me. Naina started working when the BPO/KPO sector was on a rise. New businesses led to new opportunities, new opportunities led to increased workforce, increased workforce required bigger offices, and to accommodate bigger offices new lands were acquired for corporate offices.  Naina was working in a state-of-art newly built corporate office. This office building was located away from the railway station and also highway. Though it was in a ...
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Haunted: The burning woman

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All my life, I have heard ghost stories in my school, colleges, and offices. Rather it is safe to say that my school, colleges, and all workplaces were haunted. All stories I heard were the first person accounts.  This story is from one of my workplaces. This story is not for the faint hearted. The story of the burning woman. I had joined a new company. I was in my induction and probation days. As I was new, I was following the "standard rules" such as lay low, follow the orders of superiors, complete the work before the deadline, and avoid old colleagues' gossips.  It was one fine evening, around 6:45 PM I was still in the office. The official log off time was 5 PM, however I was waiting for my boss to tell me to leave (yes, I was that type of employee). Additionally, I had a deliverable with me for completion. Most staff members had already left. In an office of around 150 people capacity, only 6-7 people remained including me. A few seats across sat a senio...
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Nihilist penguin

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Today I came across several posts on social media featuring the new internet sensation "The Nihilist penguin". Some posts had the picture of the penguin facing a mountains. Whereas some posted a short clip of a penguin walking towards the mountains. The clip or picture is from a documentary from 2007 and is going viral in 2026. That's how the internet works. Anything can go viral at any point of time without context. The scientific documentary claimed that the penguin may have an illness or infection which altered its abilities to identify the safety. Because of the condition the penguin fails to navigate to the safety (ie, following the group and going to the sea) and heads straight to death (walking towards mountains at least 70km away where there will be no food). But internet has its own theories. The popular most is that the penguin is Nihilist. He is fed up of following the group, wants to break free even if it leads to death. While the scientific eviden...
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