My 'ghostly' experience!

I believe that ghosts exist. Spirits, rather. And I am more than happy to "live and let live" (I dont know if that is an appropriate expression in this case) when it comes to them. I dont believe they can harm us for no reason but surely, they like to make their presence known.

I say this because of the many stories I have heard. I myself have had one experience that I cannot put down to logic.

I think it was in 2006 or 2007, when I was working at Firstsource solutions. As usual I reached a long time before my 12:30 pm shift began. Our "floor", as we call it, had around 100 or 120 seats and systems - the PC, keyboard and headset in front of each workstation. I clearly remember I was the only person on the entire floor. I walked in and chose my favorite spot, not far away from the exit. The glass windows that were tightly shut at all times ensured that any noise from outside stayed outside.

As I logged in to the PC, I could hear what sounded like someone typing on the keyboards at the farthest end of the room. I turned and looked at that row of PCs. There was nobody there and I couldnt help remembering what my friends used to say about that row of PCs. It was where our Quality Analysts sat, and  there were rumors that those last two rows of PCs were 'haunted'. People doing the last shift often said they heard typing sounds from that row even when nobody was there. Poor Quality Analysts are overworked as it is, perhaps the weary keyboards kept working even after they left? It wasnt something we thought much about.

I dismissed it as my imagination and concentrated on my PC, although hearing that typing noise getting louder I did feel very nervous. Now I just wanted to open a of the necessary applications quickly, lock the PC and leave. I was standing as I opened the notepad, typed in the passwords for a few appliucations..I'd run away as soon as I was done!

I noticed the sound stopped. Atleast it seemed that way to me. Thats when it happened. I heard a distinct 'Shh shhh.." from that last row. The kind of noise you make to attract an unknown person's attention. I froze. I kid you not, I FROZE. My mother had told me once, it is said that in such eerie situations when you hear a noise like that or hear someone calling out your name, you shouldnt turn back to look. But what the hell, when you know there is nobody else in a sound proof room and still hear such a sound, you WILL turn back to look. It is just mindless reflex action1 Besides, isnt that what the actors in horror movies do? They turn to look. And they see the ghost. Only, I didnt.

I looked hard, almost as if straining my eyes would give me some supernatural power to see ghosts. I didnt see anything but I felt really cold. I think It happens when you are shit scared, all your blood rushes to your brain or someplace else and you feel cold. I could hear my heart pound as I softly pressed Ctrl-Alt-del to bring up the screen to quickly lock the PC and get out of there..in the 2 seconds that it took for that screen to come up, I heard that sound again, VERY CLEARLY and as if it was MUCH CLOSER to me, maybe a row behind me.."SHH SHHHH"..

Thats it..locked or not locked, I quickly walked towards the exit with that cold feeling, as if I was wrapped in a blanket of cold. I cant remember why I didnt run, but the exit which was only 15 steps away felt like it was really far away. I didnt turn back this time.

As soon as I stepped out of the floor and the door closed behind me, I felt warm again and I rushed into the canteen to be amongst human beings again!

I found my friend having lunch (Shreya, if you are reading this) and the words wouldnt leave my mouth faster as I narrated my experience to her. She dismissed it as nonsense, of course. You never believe such things until it happens to you.

I have thought about that experience often. No matter how many times I think of it, I cannot justify those sounds. They were just too clear to dismiss as some coincidence. I know I wasnt imagining things. And I know I wont dismiss ghost stories as nonsense ever again!

The wife and the TV

At 4 pm her mind alerts her, "I should keep the house neat..my beloved will be home in a few hours".
With a tune on her lips she begins cleaning the house. Surely her maid couldnt add the 'touch of love' that only the woman of the house can bring to an already clean house. A woman who loves a house and its inhabitants makes it a 'home'..she makes it  heaven.

While spreading her care and love to reach corners of the house where even sunshine cant, she tends to her sweet child whom she loves more than her own self. "Little baby..your darling Papa will be home soon, tired and weary. He works hard for us, sticking to a job he dosent enjoy. Just so that he can provide for us. Lets make the home beautiful and welcoming. Let this home welcome him and embrace him with our love.."
Time flies soon as she makes her house a home.."Its 5 pm, an hour to go for our beloved to come home. Let me prepare some snack for him to eat.."

There..its ready. Oh look at me..I look like a mess. Let me make myself presentable and dress baby up as well..
Its 6 pm now..what is keeping him?
Its 6:15 pm..did he miss the bus?
Its going to be 6:30 pm..oh there, the doorbell rings..My love is home!

8 pm...his favorite movie is on.
8:45 pm..I'm sure he has seen this one before.
9:00 pm..Have I become that boring? Is he plain used to me?
9:30 pm..I wish TV would interest me as much as it interests him..
9:45 pm..I wish I were as interesting as the TV..
10:00 pm..let me just have dinner and go lie down with my thoughts.
11:00 pm..I wish I were as interesting as the TV
12 - I wish I were as interesting as the TV..
12:20 I wish I were as interesting as the TV..
8 am: I wish I were as interesting as the TV..

4 pm.. her mind alerts her, "I should keep the house neat..my beloved will be home in a few hours".

E Cigarettes – no smoke, all fire?

E Cigarettes – no smoke, all fire?

Everyone offers their two cents to the smoker looking to quit the habit. Well meaning advice could range from taking up a hobby to chewing nicotine gum or wearing a nicotine patch. Electronic cigarettes may prove to be a useful aid to slowly wean smokers who have tried and failed at quitting cold turkey.

Giving up a harmful habit is easier if the process is less stressful. E cigarettes are made to simulate the experience of smoking without the harmful effects of actually inhaling smoke. While some users report that the seemingly better alternative has helped them battle their craving for a smoke, it is yet to be proven that E cigarettes are a completely safe replacement for cigarettes.

So how do e cigarettes work?

E cigarettes basically work using a battery operated heating element that turns the liquid contained in a cartridge into vapor. The liquid comprises of an array of chemicals alongwith nicotine and small traces of the same substances found in a normal cigarette. The cartridge can be replaced as often as required.

Conventional cigarettes vs E Cigarettes

Nicotine is the main cause of addiction to conventional cigarettes. While using less harmful replacement methods such as a nicotine patch, for example, may take care of the nicotine craving, it does little to address the behavioral aspects of the addiction. Smokers miss the entire smoking experience, not just the nicotine. E cigarettes aim to satisfy the nicotine craving while emulating the feel of holding and experiencing a conventional cigarette.

Since e cigarettes involve vaporization instead of combustion of nicotine, the tar deposits in the oral cavity and lungs of a smoker will not be found in users of e cigarettes.

The repulsive smell of tobacco and second hand smoke are other issues that e cigarettes do away with. E cigarettes offer their users the flexibility of choosing different concentrations of nicotine in the cartridges. Users can gradually phase out their dependence on nicotine until they are ready to completely quit the addiction.

While e cigarettes do contain varying levels of nicotine and other chemicals, the main ingredient is  propylene glycol which is used in beauty products, food coloring and other products in safe quantities. It is believed that the exposure to chemical and nicotine vapors from an e cigarette is hardly as detrimental to health as the smoke that emanates from a conventional cigarette that burns a  concentrated mix of nicotine and over 3000 chemicals.

In the long run, the monthly cost of replacing the cartridge of an e cigarette works out to be considerably lesser than that of the number of boxes of  cigarettes bought to last a month.

According to a study by researchers at the Boston University School of Public Health, 31 percent of respondents surveyed reported successfully stopped smoking for a six month period using e cigarettes. Even traditional nicotine replacement therapy products such as gums, lozenges, patches and puffers only had a success rate of between 12 and 18 per cent.

The downside of using e Cigarettes

Young people who are not allowed to smoke conventional cigarettes may be unwittingly drawn to e cigarettes as they seem harmless due to inadequate health warnings and regulation on their sales.e Cigarettes are available in many flavors as well, making them even more attractive to youngsters who may be unaware of the nicotine content in them. It may in fact, be the a youngster’s first step towards smoking because however negligible, e cigarette cartridges still do contain nicotine.

There is an acute lack of empirical evidence backed by scientific and/or medical research to determine how safe or harmful e cigarettes really are. Until this issue is addressed, it is really a case of ‘buyer beware’.

Innovative devices!

Those futuristic devices you saw in Star Trek and the Jetsons are no longer wishful thinking. We take a look at some intelligent, innovative e-devices:

‘Inhale’ delicious desserts to skip calories!

Based on studies which prove that the sense of smell triggers feelings of ‘fullness’, which in turn reduces our appetite, Vaportrim inhalers are an innovative way to satiate cravings for delicious desserts by inhaling vapors of different desserts. Around 75 percent of what we taste is actually smell. Users can take advantage of this unique taste – smell connection to inhale flavored vapors and indulge in tasty treats without piling on the calories.

Your own robot maid!

Cleaning tops the list of most mundane and tiresome chores that we just have to do. Cleaning robots are a dream come true. Leave the vacuuming to  robot vacuum cleaners that have in built sensors to move away from obstacles and continue cleaning.

A spoon that monitors your sodium intake

The Salinity Monitor Spoon will prove useful for people suffering from hypertension or health conscious people who want to keep a tab on their sodium intake.

The electronic spoon works like a thermometer and displays the sodium content of food. It can be dipped into hot or cold food like soups and sauces, within the temperature range of 60 - 8080°C. The LCD display on the spoon flashes three ranges of sodium content: 0.6–0.8 percent, 0.9–1.1 percent, and over 1.2 percent.

E-cigarettes – the preferred alternative to conventional cigarettes

E cigarettes simulate the experience of smoking a conventional cigarette while replacing carcinogenic tar smoke created due to burning a cigarette, with vapors of nicotine. These vapors contain far a far lesser amount of the harmful chemicals and nicotine than the smoke emanating from a cigarette. E cigarettes can be used by those looking to kick the smoking habit slowly.

E cigarettes use cartridges contain the liquid which turns to vapor when the device is used. These cartridges are available in various flavors and containing different levels of nicotine concentration. In the long run, the cost of these replaceable cartridges works out to be far lesser than the cost of packets of conventional cigarettes.

A syringe that takes the ‘bite’ out of bug bites

CLICK is a non-medical device shaped like a syringe that functions with piezoelectricity – the generation of electrical currents by the compression or expansion of quartz and similar crystalline substances.

Using CLICK like a syringe, the user can reduce local reactions to insect bites. Itches, burns, pains and swelling can be reduced in minutes by the reduction or inhibition of histamine.

CLICK requires no battery or other energy source and does not release chemical substances. It is an eco friendly solution to alleviate the effects of any irritating or poisonous substance introduced under the skin by an insect bite by applying pressure to render them ineffective.

A headset that converts noise into energy

Noise cancelling headsets are nothing new anymore. But the Green Noise Bluetooth Headset will make you sit up and take notice because of its ability to actually convert high decibels into usable energy. Now not only can you block noise, you could harness it to power your headset!

WiFi Plant Sensor to make gardening effortless

The Koubachi indoor WiFi plant sensor allows you to feed and water up to 27 household plants. Forget worrying about when, how often and how much to water your plants. Koubachi can calculate a specific care plan covering specifics like water usage rate, light and temperature needs. It allows you to check on your plants using iPhone or Web App from wherever you are.  You no longer need to depend on neighbors to water your plants while you’re away!

Process contactless MasterCard payments using a wristwatch

Watch2pay is a wristwatch that makes contactless MasterCard payments possible. The in-built 'break-out card', which is a MasterCard PayPass prepaid card enables you to hold the watch to a shop’s card reader to make a payment in all places that MasterCard PayPass is used.

This intelligent device gives you freedom from carrying wads of cash. It comes with a free MasterCard PayPass prepaid card that is valid for 2 years. Once the card is activated online and you have credited cash into the account, the watch is ready to go.

Hennes & Mauritz plans to spend 130 M to open chain of stores in India

Hennes & Mauritz, a Swedish multinational retail-clothing company,  plans to spend around 100 million euros ($130 million) to open a chain of 50 stores in India. The company’s interest in India’s potential market is fueled by India’s growing population and rising incomes.

 A sizeable section of the population in Asia's third-largest economy now has the spending power to catch up with fast-changing fashions.

The plan to enter the Indian market is a part of the company’s larger expansion plans. Fredrik Olsson, head of expansion at the world's second-biggest fashion retailer, said in an interview that the Swedish group would continue a rapid rollout of stores across the world as it aims to stand up to larger rival Inditex.

H&M has been able to hold its own even in a faltering global economy by focusing on bringing catwalk styles to the mass market at a fraction of the price.

H&M has around 2,800 stores in 49 countries and about 80 per cent of sales come from Europe.

According to Olsson, H&M had made an investment application to the Indian government, adding the figures were just an estimate. He did not give a time-frame for the opening of a first store in the country.

Speaking to Reuters at H&M's headquarters in downtown Stockholm's shopping district, he said, "It is a very interesting market with a huge population and a growing middle class."

Lately  H&M has been adding other brands to its core H&M chain, such as & Other Stories, to broaden its customer base.

H&M would start selling with the core H&M brand in India and has applied to sell nine different product categories.

Many  international retailers, including Swedish budget furniture chain IKEA, are eager to expand into India after its government moved last year to allow foreign firms to set up wholly-owned subsidiaries in the country.

Indian retail consultancy Technopak estimates that the textile and clothing market in the country would more than double to $141 billion by 2021, from $58 billion in 2012.

IKEA waiting for the green signal to tap the Indian market

Will India finally have the world famous Swedish retail IKEA stores?

Tomorrow, the IKEA's Rs 10,500-crore proposal to set up single brand retail stores in the country is on the agenda of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA).

The brand has been interested in the Indian market since the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) cleared the investment plan of the firm to open single-brand retail stores in the country, earlier this year.

FIPB can only clear foreign investment proposals worth up to Rs 1,200 crore. Since IKEA's planned investment is higher than this, the proposal needs to be  cleared by the Cabinet.

The Rs 10,500-crore proposal of the Swedish company includes stores and cafeterias. IKEA had applied to invest the amount for setting up 10 furnishing and homeware stores as well as allied infrastructure over 10 a period of years in India. 15 more stores will be subsequently opened.

IKEA has been sourcing many products from India for the past 25 years. This  would be the largest investment in the single-brand retailing ever since the government has allowed foreign investment in this sector.

Earlier this month, President Pranab Mukherjee, speaking on the occasion of Golden Jubilee Celebrations of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said,“Today India is the third largest economy in the world in purchasing power parity terms."

A PwC report states that the spending power of Indian consumers is projected to be more than $1 trillion by 2021, driven by rising prosperity of emerging middle class people, whose population is expected to grow to 570 million by the time.

Swedish multinational retail-clothing company Hennes & Mauritz has also submitted a proposal to spend around 100 million euros ($130 million) to open a chain of 50 stores in India. The company’s interest in India’s potential market  is fueled by India’s growing population and rising incomes.

From TRYING to be a 'good' girl, to raising one

Gender bias starts at home. Why do we blame society for treating women as second class citizens, when really, the way we treat a daughter and the way we treat a son is glaringly different? By saying this, I know I will be chastised by mothers who will say that they are just being protective for their daughter's sake. Sure they are. In these horrible times if my daughter were old enough to go out on her own, I'd keep tabs on her whereabouts and safety - perhaps every hour, until she gets annoyed and maybe hangs up on me. Then I'd go snoop around and watch her from a distance to know she is safe. I'd be ready to unleash my wrath on any unfortunate creature that posed a threat to her well being. If you talk about paranoia, I am the queen of paranoids. Yet I feel that when it comes to bringing up a girl child, atleast Indian parents blur the lines between 'acting out of concern' and bringing up a daughter the way girls 'should be brought up'.

We love our daughters as much as our sons. Perhaps a little more. But there is an invisible rule book that we go by..an instruction manual put together by past generations to tell you how to bring up a girl child and how a girl belonging to a 'decent' family should behave. In the volatile teenage years, girls will insist that such an invisible code of conduct exists and you will spend years denying its existence. Sometimes when you can no longer deny that she has clearly figured out her brother has a whole lot of privileges that she dosent, you will invariably hide behind the "its all for your own good, for your own safety" line.

I had a 7 pm deadline when I was growing up. Once, for reaching home at around 7.30 pm, I was greeted by the intimidating sight of my mother and brother sitting facing the front door to start the verbal bashing I deserved for being out with friends enjoying street food. The damned vendor who only opened his shop at 7 pm. Of course I knew I'd be in a little trouble but I decided to take the chance because damn, that guy's stuff was GOOD!

The way my mother glared at me, you'd think I was a 17 year old careless teenager sneaking into the house at 2 am, smelling like pot, dressed in a micro-mini and an itsy bitsy tank top that screamed 'cleavage", (of which I had none at the time, believe me!), occasionally flashing my G string - which, till date, I dont understand the point of. 

Nope. I was a 13 year old awkward, timid girl dressed in a full-sleeved, LOOSE, fully buttoned top and a skirt that would rather taste the earth than expose my ankles. Whatever little skin was exposed below my ankles were covered by shoes that you'd see nuns wear. I used to wear glasses that covered half my face and there was nothing my entire image that would merit a second look. 

First thought - Uh oh..i SHOULD'NT have been greedy. I'm in trouble now.

Second thought - They're going to do this together as a team..Did she finish cooking dinner early just to catch me walking in after my deadline?

Third thought - Ok, what's my attitude going to be, "sorry puppy dog look" or "Yeah yeah just yell at me like you always do and lets all get on with our lives quickly"?

Before I gathered my thoughts, she shot the first arrow - "Do you know what time it is?"

Of course I did. I was a whole 29 minutes late. At that age, figuring out which question is a rhetorical one and which one she actually wanted an answer to was the golden key to choose whether I wanted a small but painful lecture or a full length sermon with history added from my past "misdeeds". Unfortunately, I always got it wrong and answered the rhetorical questions at the wrong time. It always extended my misery.

I stood planted in the spot with my head hung down in shame for not obeying such a simple rule. She weaved into her narrative a few past instances of how I had caused her utter misery, how I dont help around the house at all, how she behaved when she was my age, how stubborn, hopeless, difficult and ungrateful I am etc etc. After a while it was all the same old lecture really, so I'd patiently wait for it to end. Sometimes it would end with a warning, sometimes with an angry "GO!" like you'd say to a misbehaving pet dog.

This sermon lasted around an hour and fifteen minutes. Moral of the sermon was that an ungrateful creature who ate paani puri with friends while my mother slogged alone in the hot kitchen to make dinner for us.

A few days later when I could no longer shut the inner voice that always landed me into trouble with her, I asked her, why does my brother not have a deadline? Not that he ever stayed out late. But why? Her answer disgusted me. She said, "Because he cant get pregnant.".

Of all my classmates, there were only TWO guys that I interacted with. That too, only to exchange notes or reference for homework. They were only interested in me because I was the first ranker. The one whose notebooks were complete, neat and reliable. To the rest of the class, apart from my girl pals, I was the snooty gulf-return student who thought too highly of herself to even look their way. They felt like I treated them as lowly creatures. I came to know that from friends. Reality was that I was lost when after attending an all-girls school for years, suddenly I had to adjust to moving back to India and becomeing a part of the co-ed system. Back in Sharjah I'd hear how a tenth grader Head-girl got expelled for sneaking into the boys section to meet a boy student of the same school. And now here I was, still recovering from the shock of having to sit next to a BOY in the classroom, dressed in half pants. What was normal for kids here was a big culture shock to my senses.

So when I was told that I had a deadline because I could get pregnant - to me it was the most insensitive reply put across in the crudest manner. It reeked of her lack of trust in me and exposed how little she knew me. I'm not talking about morals here. I am talking about the fact that she didnt know I was struggling hard to adjust to even just being around guys of my age. She didnt know how awkward I was around guys and how I behaved like an alien around them.

Parents do their best to ensure that daughters get the best possible upbringing while being as protected as they can from the 'predators' circling them all the time. We want to be extra careful and would rather be safe than sorry. Someday I hope we can embed GPS chips into our babies in a procedure that is as routine as getting them vaccinated. just so that we can rest assured that they are safe, no matter where they are. In case they are in trouble, we would know exactly where to fly to, to swoop in on the bad guys and beat the daylight out of them and bring our child back home safely.

But in our attempt to shield them, do we knowingly or unknowingly tell them what they can and cant do, just because they are girls? Dont we use 'concern' as an excuse to mould our baby girls into the socially acceptable form? In all the lectures I was subjected to, alongwith being chided for being disobedient or plain foolish, I was always given ideas of how 'good' girls should behave. 'Good girls' helped out with housework, did well at school, didnt ask questions, dressed to appeal to others' idea of decency and did not question anyone's authority within or outside the family.

'Good' girls couldnt get too pally with guys. I was sure I was doing ok if I managed to treat them just like I treated my girl friends, but thats not how 'good' girls were supposed to behave. Being friendly with boys would give me a bad name. Without ever being told to avoid letting any boy classmate coming home to pick up notes or books, I already told my two geeky guy friends that they were not welcome at home. In college when a huge mixed group of classmates -  nearly 30 of them, planned to watch a movie while their parents thought they were studying hard, I came home and asked my mother if it was ok for me to go. I was older, hopefully more sensible. I was telling her where I would be and was sure to be home by 5 pm. Surely she would allow me to go? Nope. I was given the reason at the age of 13. Dare I ask again.

Being a mother to a baby girl makes me doubly sensitive to the horrible crimes being committed against women more boldly, more frequently and more intensely nowadays. I already worry about how I ensure her well being and safety as she grows older. Its likely that I will improvise my mother's sermons and belt them out to her when she walks in past her deadline some day in the distant future. But I hope to do so without stripping her of the traits that would make her a unique individual just to get her to conform to society's idea of what a girl brought up in a 'decent' family should be like. I hope I will be able put across my concerns as concerns NOT evidence of my lack of trust in her, so that she gets a chance to put my mind at ease with an assurance that she would never do anything to break my trust. 

I hope I will be able to always clearly define which of my actions are out of concern and which are out of  the wish to mould my girl into an individual who will take their skewed ideas of morality into the next generation.

I hope I can burn that invisible book of rules, that instruction manual on 'the right way to bring up a daughter'.   If nothing, I hope I can modify the same set of rules to apply to raising a son too. So that I am not raising a son or a daughter, just a child. A child whose clear conscience will be enough to guide her/him throughout life.