When COVID hit in early 2020, the world was in shock, especially with the lockdowns and cities shut down. Workplaces became empty and many city centres which were dominated by towering skyscrapers filled with office spaces became ghost towns. COVID has dramatically changed the way we live and work and affected virtually every element of life.
COVID has been the most significant, and perhaps the most traumatic, experience of our lives. It will have a huge impact on us as individuals, as a society and as a workforce. And even when this crisis ends, things will never be back to normal. We will live in a completely different world and that will be the new normal.
The abrupt closure of many offices and workplaces ushered in a new era of remote work for millions and has shown a significant shift in the way a large segment of the workforce operates in the future. Most of those who say their work responsibilities can mainly be done from home say that, before the pandemic, they rarely or never teleworked. Very few could work from home all or most of the time, but today more than half of such people are doing their job from home all or most of the time. And more than half say, given a choice, they would want to keep working from home even after the pandemic.
While not seamless, the transition to working from home has been relatively easy for many with most of them saying it has been easy to instal the technology and get hold of the equipment to do the job. Most also say it’s been easy for them to meet deadlines and complete projects on time, get their work done without interruptions and feel motivated to do their work.
Many of us, especially those of us who are technologically challenged, had to adjust to new technologies and learn new ways of interacting with colleagues and friends. Zoom and other video conferencing apps became part of our lexicon and we learnt to find those corners at home which would not reveal the mess behind.
The idea of working at home in itself is not a new concept with many, especially those in the IT sector working from home is an old concept. I read somewhere that working from home or telecommuting has grown by as much as 173% since 2005 due to improvements in technology, innovation and communication. As a result, more than half of employees have a job where at least some of what they do can be done from home. A 2019 Owl Labs report found that as many as 80% of employees wanted to work from home at least some of the time, before the crisis. Flexibility is one of the top-ranked work benefits amongst the millennial workforce and pre-crisis, more than a third of employees would go so far as to change jobs if they had the chance to work from home, whilst over a third would take a pay cut of up to 5% to work at home some of the time. Today, these figures will most likely have gone up.
Remote work and virtual meetings are likely to continue, albeit less intensely than at the pandemic’s peak. Many companies have transitioned to hybrid work culture and many organisations have decided to reduce their office space. As a result of this demand for restaurants and retail in downtown areas and areas with a concentration of office spaces as well as for public transportation may decline as a result. And while working on this post, I decided to check on job sites and saw that now there are many full-time remote opportunities in sectors that traditionally did not offer it like IT. This means that in countries with smaller cities and rural areas, when people can work anywhere, reverse migration can and is taking place. I have heard of people moving out of the big Indian cities like Mumbai and Bengaluru and going back to their hometowns so they can be with family and yet earn the income they were already earning. I remember reading an article about professionals renting large apartments in places like the seaside and the hills and with access to high-speed internet, they were able to have a much better lifestyle and standard of living.
Remote work has also put a dent in business travel as its extensive use of videoconferencing during the pandemic has ushered in a new acceptance of virtual meetings and other aspects of work. While leisure travel and tourism are rebounding, and are likely to rebound after the crisis, McKinsey’s travel practice estimates that about 20% of business travel, the most lucrative segment for airlines, may not return. This would have significant knock-on effects on employment in commercial aerospace, airports, hospitality, and food service. E-commerce and other virtual transactions are booming.
Many consumers discovered the convenience of e-commerce and other online activities during the pandemic. In 2020, the share of e-commerce grew at two to five times the rate before COVID-19. Roughly three-quarters of people using digital channels for the first time during the pandemic say they will continue using them when things return to normal, according to McKinsey Consumer Pulse surveys conducted around the world. Other kinds of virtual transactions such as telemedicine, online banking, and streaming entertainment have also taken off including online doctor consultations. This shift to digital transactions has propelled growth in delivery, transportation, and warehouse jobs. In China, e-commerce, delivery, and social media jobs grew by more than 5.1 million during the first half of 2020.
Many companies deployed automation and AI to reduce workplace density and cope with surges in demand. Research finds the work arenas with high levels of human interaction are likely to see the greatest acceleration in the adoption of automation and AI. Hiring has also changed. Today, the default way of interviewing potential candidates is by video call when only a few months ago the default was face-to-face interviewing.
So what does this mean moving forward? It means that for employees, the chance to balance work and home will be important. Now that the world has shown that regular remote and flexible work can be productive without disrupting or undermining established ways of working, it will be the new normal going forward. A lot of people, especially introverts who do not need to showcase their gregariousness and be extroverts, can showcase their productivity and prove their mettle. There are already reports of the positive impact that more frequent, structured and focused communication is resulting in increased collaboration, teamwork and support. Now that more people have had a taste of it and proven their productivity, it will be hard for companies to take it away from their talent. A Gallup survey revealed that 54% of U.S. workers would leave their current job for one that allowed them to work remotely. And while professionals were celebrating their 30-second commute, it became clear to companies that the huge line item on their spreadsheets for real estate may not be the best way to spend their money. Having people work from home, even if it’s not everyone all the time, is proving to be profitable.
Flexibility will be the new mantra—where people will be given more freedom to choose to work from home. Some people missed the commute and cherished their in-person connections, so the new normal will be increased flexibility. Conference rooms, meeting spaces and video studios will take up a lot of office space with the workplace becoming a far more social environment, not a lock myself in the office scenario. It will be designed to foster and promote interaction and community engagement, taking advantage of the times talent is collocated in one place.
Many professionals found working from home a challenge not because of isolation, but because they didn’t have the ideal space or a dedicated home office. They didn’t have a Zoom-ready spot for video meetings. A study reports that the majority of survey respondents cited a lack of proper technology for remote work that hindered their success and productivity. One of the biggest challenges people experienced while working fom home was internet performance. According to a survery by WhistleOut, a company that provides information about mobile phone and internet services, 35% of adults who transitioned to working from home said that weak Internet has prevented them from doing their work at some point during the coronavirus crisis and 43% said they have had to use their phone as a hotspot during the crisis. Internet in homes will improve, and home offices and even home video studios will become a priority. As new homes are built or existing ones are remodelled, a home office will be the top priority for
Post COVID-19, e-learning will become a bigger part of ongoing learning. In-person learning won’t go away, but it’ll be reserved for certain functions and certain populations within the company. Face-to-face learning will likely be just a small element of a learning curriculum. Ramping up their e-learning platforms, companies moved quickly to ensure that their people were still building important skills and developing professionally.
Video is at the heart of many of the changes above. The developers behind Zoom, WebEx, Hangouts, Skype and other video communications tools made the grand work-from-home experiment possible. The video became fully integrated into the work experience in an astonishing variety of ways. As supervisors and staffers have gotten used to seeing each other in their natural habitats, the line that separates work life and personal life has faded. Ironically, technology has made this transition possible, but it has also led to a decidedly low-tech reality: this new corporate world has made us value our organic, non-robotic humanity more than ever before.
The shift to remote work led to the complete collapse of the work-home boundary, especially for parents juggling child care and homeschooling with job demands. Poorly timed or endless Zoom meetings interfered with people’s ability to get work done and sometimes harmed relationships with colleagues. At the same time, people, especially those with comfortable home offices and few parental responsibilities, found benefits in working remotely. Being on their own gave them greater control with fewer distractions. The absence of commuting gave people more time and energy while saving them money. People who had been working in unpleasant or hostile workplaces were now free from disrespectful encounters.
The Coronavirus pandemic has seen a sharp rise in mental health issues. While this is in no way a positive outcome, it has resulted in businesses focusing more closely on employee’s mental wellbeing. Companies are doing more than ever to protect and promote positive mental wellbeing among teams; a trend that will continue even as the world returns to normal. People burn out because their employers have not successfully managed chronic job stressors.
The pandemic has taught many people that the job does not have to be the way it was. This realisation may be one reason that many are not going back to their old jobs. The workplace must change. So as we transition to a new normal of working, it is with the hope that many of these positive work outcomes such as a greater focus on mental health and wellbeing, more freedom and flexibility for employees and outstanding innovations will keep workforces happy and healthy while businesses will remain creative, responsive and successful.
Over the past few months, the heat in Singapore has been crazy. And it’s not just Singapore, I have been hearing about weird climatic conditions from many parts of the world and the newspapers were full of unprecedented weather conditions and climate change and its effects on mankind. So I decided to read up more about what this is all about so I am better prepared to deal with it.
The United Nations defines climate change as the long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. These shifts may be natural, such as through variations in the solar cycle. But since the 1800s, human activities have been the main driver of climate change, primarily due to burning fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas.
Climate change destabilises the Earth’s temperature equilibrium and has far-reaching effects on human beings and the environment. A distinction is made between the direct and indirect effects of climate change. During global warming, the energy balance and thus the temperature of the earth change, due to the increased concentration of greenhouse gases, which has a significant impact on humans and the environment.
Burning fossil fuels generates greenhouse gas emissions that act like a blanket wrapped around the Earth, trapping the sun’s heat and raising temperatures. Examples of greenhouse gas emissions that are causing climate change include carbon dioxide and methane. These come from using gasoline for driving a car or coal for heating a building, for example. Clearing land and forests can also release carbon dioxide. Landfills for garbage are a major source of methane emissions. Energy, industry, transport, buildings, agriculture and land use are among the main emitters. Greenhouse gas concentrations are at their highest levels in two million years. And emissions continue to rise. As a result, the Earth is now about 1.1°C warmer than it was in the late 1800s. The last decade between 2011 and 2020 was the warmest on record.
Many people think climate change mainly means warmer temperatures. But temperature rise is only the beginning of the story. Because the Earth is a system, where everything is connected, changes in one area can influence changes in all others. The consequences of climate change now include, among others, intense droughts, water scarcity, severe fires, rising sea levels, flooding, melting polar ice, catastrophic storms and declining biodiversity. Climate change can affect our health, ability to grow food, housing, safety and work. Some of us are already more vulnerable to climate impacts, such as people living in small island nations and other developing countries. Conditions like sea-level rise and saltwater intrusion have advanced to the point where whole communities have had to relocate, and protracted droughts are putting people at risk of famine. In the future, the number of climate refugees is expected to rise.
The effects of climate change and global warming which we see today are irreversible for our generation and it will only worsen in the decades to come. The effects are already here and today we can see glaciers shrinking, ice on rivers and lakes breaking up earlier, trees flowering sooner, unseasonal weather and the shifting of plant and animal ranges. Effects that scientists had predicted in the past would result from global climate change are now occurring like the loss of sea ice, accelerated sea-level rising and longer, more intense heat waves.
According to a study published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the range of published evidence indicates that the net damage costs of climate change are likely to be significant and to increase over time. Scientists have high confidence that global temperatures will continue to rise for decades to come, largely due to greenhouse gases produced by human activities and forecast a temperature rise of 2.5 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit over the next century. The extent of climate change effects on individual regions will vary over time and with the ability of different societal and environmental systems to mitigate or adapt to change.
The direct consequences of man-made climate change include rising maximum temperatures, rising minimum temperatures, rising sea levels, higher ocean temperatures, an increase in heavy precipitation including heavy rain and hail, an increase in the proportion of violent tropical cyclones, an increase in aridity and drought, a decline in Arctic sea ice and snow cover, glacier recession and retreat and thawing permafrost.
The indirect consequences of climate change, which directly affect us humans and our environment, include an increase in hunger and water crises, especially in developing countries, threats to livelihoods from floods and forest fires, health risks due to an increase in frequency and intensity of heat extremes, economic implications of dealing with secondary damage related to climate change, the increasing spread of pests and pathogens, the loss of biodiversity due to limited adaptability and adaptability speed of flora and fauna, ocean acidification due to increased bicarbonate concentrations in the water as a consequence of increased carbon concentrations and the need for adaptation in all areas including agriculture, forestry, energy, infrastructure and tourism. Many changes, especially changes in the ocean, ice sheets and global sea level, due to past and future greenhouse gas emissions over centuries to millennia, are irreversible. Sea levels will continue to rise and are expected to increase by one to eight feet by 2100 and the Arctic Ocean is expected to become essentially ice-free in summer before mid-century.
This sounds so dire and leaves a very uncertain world for future generations, but what can be done? Transformation in nearly all facets of our economies is necessary. The longer we wait to implement it, the more radical and impossible it will appear. The good news is that low-carbon energy sources are more affordable than ever. Transitioning the energy sector to clean, renewable systems is often the same price, or cheaper, than sustaining the existing carbon-intensive systems, especially when we consider the damage they are doing to the planet that will also cost billions to recover from or adapt to. Transforming the way we feed the planet is crucial, too. Unsustainable agriculture is a primary driver of deforestation, which in turn destroys wildlife habitats, increases carbon emissions, erodes income sources for local communities, and increases our risk of pandemics. Moving agriculture to sustainable practices can benefit food security and biodiversity, all while slashing emissions. It would be a win-win for people and nature. Restoring and expanding ecosystems like mangroves can not only help absorb and store carbon, but also protect from extreme weather, economically sustain communities, and preserve some of the world’s most biodiverse ecosystems.
Finally, across all sectors one of the biggest lacking pieces is finance. Today’s investments are currently three to six times lower than they need to be by 2030 for climate solutions to be at scale with the magnitude of the crisis. As economies are recovering from COVID-19, governments have a prime opportunity to inject funds into transformative climate action and international cooperation for a brighter future.
Collective power has extraordinary strength. Combining our voices to call for transformational climate action can influence political leaders, industries, and businesses that are the top decision-makers on whom cutting carbon emissions depends. We must cut emissions and enact a just transition to a clean, renewables-powered economy. We must take advantage of existing climate solutions by putting more money behind them. Developed countries must take accountability for their far-outsized contributions to the climate crisis and lead this transformation. Let’s not wait any longer, but act now, there is still time – for people, for the planet, and a brighter future.
Friendships are beautiful and a good friend with whom you can vent and share problems and who listens without judging is invaluable. A workplace on the other hand is one which for many is fraught with pitfalls and because it’s a place where we spend the majority of our time, having a friend there may be good. But is having a work buddy something that one cultivates? Given the time we spend at work, it is inevitable that some sort of friendships at work will be formed.
It’s very natural to look for friends at work, and it’s necessary for professional success. Since we spend most of our time at work, and if we don’t like the people we work with, getting through the day becomes even more difficult. Happier and more productive days will happen if we enjoy the company of our colleagues. Workplace friends improve the good days and make the poor ones bearable. While being social at work will help raise morale and satisfaction, one must also set limits with friendly colleagues.
There’s a lot of evidence that workplace friendships fulfil a basic human need for companionship, and are necessary to some degree. Research has found that it can even fuel greater job satisfaction: In a survey of more than 195,600 employees in the U.S., Gallup found that 20% of them said they had a best friend at work. This was also the group that reported being most engaged and committed to their jobs. But workplace friendships can be tricky, especially between managers and employees, or senior and junior employees. In that scenario, there’s always going to be a power dynamic in play.
While being social can help boost morale and happiness on the job, one needs to set boundaries. Instead of striving for friendships at work, it’s better to be friendly with coworkers, according to some experts who say that ith professional relationships, one can grab coffee or lunch, but not necessarily invite them home for a barbecue or special family events.
Today’s workplace is different from a few years ago with remote work and social distancing making workplace interactions more difficult. Without meeting colleagues and co-working face-to-face, having close friendships will be slim and making work friends will mean an extra effort.
Having a good friend at work one can confide in and commiserate with can be a blessing and while work friendships can be a boon, they can also be a bust. The truth is that many of the work friends we have will end when the job ends. You may keep in touch for a couple of years or so, but over time, you tend to drift apart, because the biggest binder between the two, the company or organisation no longer exists. But there may be a few work friends who transcend the organisation to become true friends, but this is rare and quite far between.
A 2014 Globoforce survey found that people with workplace friendships are nearly three times more likely to say that they love their companies and two times less likely to be poached by another company. But in the throes of a new work friendship, sometimes it’s easier to forget that a work friend is a colleague first and a friend second. So one has to be a bit more careful about what is shared with them as it may come to bite you from behind.
So if you are making work friends or have friends in the workplace, here are some tips on how to deal with them.
Be mindful of oversharing – You may have to share personal information to make friends at work, but you should proceed with more caution than you would for non-work friendships. Remember to always keep it professional and respectful. Share on a need to know basis and be vague. Don’t be dismissive also but keep it professional. Sharing needs to be very nuanced and balanced because on one hand, forging deeper, more intimate relationships requires self-disclosure and vulnerability; on the other hand, if a work friendship spirals downward, the person can use personal or sensitive information against you. Whatever one shares with work friends, make sure you never dislose information that can create animosity, that is stigmatized, or that could get you fired.
Be mindful of the office hierarchy – Be very careful and know that at the end of the day, your boss or your manager is still in charge. Even if your workplace is very laid-back and your manager your age or even younger, they are still the boss and enforce workplace standards. You can be friendly with your manager or someone who manages but be careful about how your friendship affects your professional relationship and how it may be perceived by coworkers. Make sure that others don’t worry that there’s favouritism at play no matter how equitable things are.
Be mindful about confidentiality – You need to be careful about sharing anything with work friends that you’d like to keep secret from your boss. Even if a colleague assures you of their confidentiality, they may and in most cases will reveal your information if someone asks them or if they have a bone to pick with you at a later stage. Before sharing something with a coworker, ask yourself how much would you want others to know and only share what can be freely shared with everyone. And don’t ever write down anything that you don’t want to be saved for posterity. Remember, what happens on the internet, stays in the internet.
Be mindful about resolving disagreements – In every friendship, disagreements happen, but one should not let personal disagreement mess up professional relationships. Having negative relationships with co-workers is a huge predictor of quitting a job and these relationships can be distracting and de-motivating. So if a work friendship is on the rocks, handle it as calmly and professionally as possible, so you can either salvage the friendship or move on calmly, so it doesn’t impact your work life. Identify the source of the conflict and resolve it professionally. Do not spread gossip or rumors, do not try to get coworkers on your side, or cast your friend in a negative light with a supervisor.
Now that we’ve established how to deal with workplace friendships, let’s see what are their benefits. The benefits of work friends go far beyond having someone who is always willing to loan you their stapler. Research shows that employees who get super close with their co-workers are happier at work, more engaged, better with clients, do better work, and are less injury-prone. A Gallup reports that those without a best friend in the workplace have just a 1-in-12 chance of being engaged. When you find the right balance between personal and professional, you reap the rewards of friendships at work.
Finding a colleague you can be close with means having a go-to person to ask for advice and help. It can be less intimidating to ask a colleague for assistance than to run to your boss every time a minor issue crops up. This is an easy way to reduce the learning curve and get up to speed quickly in a new role. It also means having someone to chat with during the day. Companionship makes the work day pass faster. Having a friend you can gab with means you’ll even look forward to coming to the office. A work friend also increases a greater knowledge of the business and opportunities. If either of you leaves your job, you can be a reference to the other. Also, when both of you move on to different roles, your friendship can progress like a natural friendship, and/or you can keep an eye out for opportunities for one another.
Having friends at work can increase job satisfaction, performance, and productivity, research shows. But it should be treated with care and not become too close with colleagues. According to Gallup, getting a job BFF is one of the most significant factors in employee engagement and satisfaction. There is a concrete link between having a best friend at work, and the effort employees expend in their job. Those who have a best friend at work are seven times as likely to be engaged in their jobs, are better at engaging customers, produce higher quality work, have higher well-being, and are less likely to get injured on the job. Women who strongly agree they have a best friend at work are more than twice as likely to be engaged compared with the women who say otherwise.
According to Gallup, women who firmly believe they have a best friend at work are less likely to be actively searching for or monitoring job openings, are more associated with their colleagues, respect what is expected of them, and trust their honesty and ethics and are less likely to record a negative daytime experience, such as workplace stress or feeling tired.
Linkedin said having a friend at work boosts employee satisfaction, employee motivation, and productivity, particularly among your younger employees the ages between 18 and 24 as socialising and friendships are critical for moving up the career ladder, according to 1/3 of Millennials. They also found out that 51% of staff maintain contact with former coworkers, resulting in boomerang employees or increased turnover in poor environments.
When you form friendships with colleagues outside of your immediate teams or department, it pens up to sides of the business you wouldn’t normally be able to access. This can help create a more comprehensive understanding of what the company is working towards, and how other departments operate, reveal some of the organisation’s pain points, and help an organisation’s people grow by learning about and appreciating each other’s experiences.
Unfortunately, not everyone wants to be friends with their coworkers, especially in super-competitive work environments. Some people will use even the slightest tidbit of information to get ahead, so before you begin to share important or personal details with someone, make sure you trust them implicitly. Similarly, social media is not an aspect of your life that you should share with everyone. While in the beginning stages of any work relationship or collaboration, you may not want to give a person access to your Facebook or Twitter pages. You should connect with colleagues on LinkedIn, however. The site was built for professional affiliations, so it would be more than wise to add a colleague, but hold off on giving colleagues access to any site that may house personal or social information. Oversharing details of your personal life and finances can come back to haunt you. Sharing personal details with a colleague who you thought had your back can also damage your career prospects if those details are used against you. Many companies are hierarchical, and when it comes to promotions or project assignments, close friendships can sometimes cause friction.
Friendships at work get even trickier for managers and their subordinates. Managers would not want to make it seem like they are giving one person an advantage or a pass for bad behaviour. Being considered too close with a coworker can reflect negatively on you if your friend isn’t viewed in high regard. You may be tarred by association and hurt assignment and project prospects, or prevent you from being included in confidential news if your peers fear it might be leaked to an untrusted colleague. When a work friend starts venting out too much, you run the risk of getting stuck in a negative cycle. Co-ruminating is the process by which friends repeatedly go over a difficult event or emotion. It brings us together and increases friendship satisfaction, but also decreases well being, kicks up a level of depression and anxiety. You need to watch out for that.”
Employee retention is more critical than ever. Another pandemic side effect has been what analysts call the Great Resignation, which in August 2021 saw 4.3 million workers quit their jobs. Even as the unemployment rate starts to even out, worker attitudes have shifted, and money isn’t enough to keep employees anymore.
Having friends at work can be the bright spot of your workday—as long as you take the proper precautions. Making friends at work is easy, and mostly good for you. Compartmentalising life into work and not-work is stressful and potentially unhealthy in the long term. By managing friendships in a professional setting properly, one can have more fun at work, learn to relax a little, and begin to learn things about themselves and the organisation they’re a part of.
What are your thoughts on having friends at work? Is it a yay or a nay? I’d love to hear from you, so please comment below.
A word that brings a smile to everyone’s face the minute they hear it, chocolate is a food product made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels, that is available as a liquid, solid or paste, on its own or as a flavouring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec civilization which existed between the 19th and 11th centuries BCE, and the majority of Mesoamerican people – including the Maya and Aztecs – made chocolate beverages.
Also known as the International Chocolate Day, the World Chocolate Day or just Chocolate Day is an annual celebration of chocolate, occurring globally on July 7, which some suggest was because the day was the anniversary of the introduction of chocolate to Europe in 1550. The observance of World Chocolate Day dates back to 2009.
The seeds of the cacao tree have an intense bitter taste and must be fermented to develop the flavour. After fermentation, the seeds are dried, cleaned, and roasted. The shell is removed to produce cocoa nibs, which are then ground to cocoa mass, unadulterated chocolate in rough form. Once the cocoa mass is liquefied by heating, it is called chocolate liquor. The liquor may also be cooled and processed into two components – cocoa solids and cocoa butter. Baking chocolate, also called bitter chocolate, contains cocoa solids and cocoa butter in varying proportions, without any added sugar. Powdered baking cocoa, which contains more fibre than cocoa butter, can be processed with alkali to produce dutch cocoa. Much of the chocolate consumed today is in the form of sweet chocolate, a combination of cocoa solids, cocoa butter or added vegetable oils, and sugar. Milk chocolate is sweet chocolate that additionally contains milk powder or condensed milk. White chocolate contains cocoa butter, sugar, and milk, but no cocoa solids.
By the 14th century cacao beans were being used as a currency, and in the 1500s Spanish explorers brought chocolate back to Spain where it was sweetened with cane sugar and cinnamon and enjoyed by the elite. When a Spanish princess married French King Louis XIII in 1615, chocolate made an appearance in the French court and quickly spread to other European courts. In 1828 Dutch chemist Coenraad Johannes van Houten invented the cocoa press which revolutionised chocolate making and was the beginning of its popularity spreading from the elite to the masses. The press could squeeze the fatty cocoa butter from roasted cacao beans, leaving a dry cake that could be ground into a powder to mix with other ingredients and poured into moulds to make chocolate. In 1847, the British chocolate company J.S. Fry & Sons created the first solid edible chocolate bar from cocoa butter, cocoa powder and sugar. By 1879 Rodolphe Lindt had invented the machine which produced chocolate with a velvety texture and superior taste. Other advances followed that allowed for the mass production of chocolate and a significant drop in the price that made it more attainable for the middle classes.
Chocolate is one of the most popular food types and flavours in the world, and many foodstuffs involving chocolate exist, particularly desserts, including cakes, pudding, mousse, chocolate brownies, and chocolate chip cookies. Many candies are filled with or coated with sweetened chocolate. Chocolate bars, either made of solid chocolate or other ingredients coated in chocolate, are eaten as snacks. Gifts of chocolate moulded into different shapes like eggs, hearts and coins are traditional on certain Western holidays, including Christmas, Easter, Valentine’s Day, and Hanukkah. Chocolate is also used in cold and hot beverages, such as chocolate milk and hot chocolate, and some alcoholic drinks, such as creme de cacao.
Although cocoa originated in the Americas, West African countries, particularly Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, are the leading producers of cocoa in the 21st century, accounting for some 60% of the world cocoa supply.
India is an ancient civilisation and as with such a history, there are bound to be many mysteries associated with the country. Owing to India’s vast size, cultural differences, and mythological stories, it became a land of strange tales, some born out of rumours and some the result of the imagination. Some stories and myths are so strange they have to be true. So after my post on the world’s mysterious places, how can I ignore India? So here are some of India’s most mysterious places. Some of these have been mentioned in my bucket list series while the others are new even to me. The places are listed in alphabetical order, by state.
The Hanging Pillar of Lepakshi, Andhra Pradesh The beautiful 16th-century Veerabhadra temple, also known as Lepakshi temple, is located in the small historical village of Lepakshi. Built in the typical style of Vijayanagara architecture, the temple features many exquisite sculptures of Gods, Goddesses, dancers and musicians, and hundreds of paintings all over the walls, columns and ceiling depicting stories from the epics of the Mahabharata, the Ramayana, and the Puranas, including a 24 by 14 feet fresco of Veerabhadra, the fiery God created by Shiva, on the ceiling, which is the largest fresco of any single figure in India. At the front of the temple is a large Nandi (bull), the mount of Shiva, which is carved from a single block of stone, and is said to be one of the largest of its type in the world.
Among the 70 stone pillars, there is one that hangs from the ceiling. The base of the pillar barely touches the ground and is possible to pass objects such as a thin sheet of paper or a piece of cloth from one side to the other. It is said that the pillar is a bit dislodged from its original position when a British engineer tried to move it in an unsuccessful attempt to uncover the secret of its support.
Kamakhya Devi Temple, Assam A beautiful ancient hilltop temple dedicated to the mother goddess, Kamkhya, the Kamkhya Temple is is one one of the oldest and most revered centres of Tantric practices. It is also one of the Shakti Peethas or places, where Goddess Sati’s body parts fell on Earth. Legend has it that the Kamakhya Temple is built on the spot where Sati’s yoni or vagina fell. Every year, a very mysterious thing happens in the temple for three days in a specific month. It is believed that the goddess goes through her menstrual cycle and the water of the Brahmaputra river, which flows near the temple, turns red with her blood.
Jatinga, Assam In the small and quaint Assamese town of Jatinga, over the last hundred years, thousands and thousands of birds have flown to their death over a particular strip of land here. Why this strip of land has become the Bermuda triangle for birds is still unexplained. However, every year after the monsoons in September or October, from 6 to 9:30 pm on moonless nights, the birds in the area seem to get agitated and disoriented. During the dark and foggy nights in monsoons, migratory birds flying over the village, dive headlong into trees, buildings, poles, and other structures, crashing to death. This phenomenon is not confined to a single species, with the birds mostly juvenile. According to ornithologists, the dense fog and high altitude daze the birds and due to this they end up crashing into trees and buildings. The birds, mostly juveniles and local migrants, are disturbed by high-velocity winds at their roost. When the disturbed birds fly towards lights as refuge they are hit with bamboo poles and killed or injured.
Khooni Nadi, Delhi Who would imagine that in the heart of India’s capital is a bloody river or the Khooni Nadi, a small stream surrounded by trees and green vegetation? The river is believed to be haunted with many terrifying accounts of people being sucked into the water, never to be seen again. It is believed that anyone touching the water of the river will get sucked inside, only to turn into ghosts and wander around the stream. It is also said that anyone loitering around the river during sunset can also hear unusual sounds of crying people. Even though the depth of the stream is shallower compared o other rivers, people still drown here.
Agrasen Ki Baoli, Delhi Also known as Ugrasen Ki Baoli, Agrasen Ki Baoli is a 60-meter long and 15-meter wide historical step well in the heart of New Delhi. It is believed to be originally built by the legendary king Agrasen in 3000 BC and rebuilt in the 14th century during the Tughlag or Lodi period of the Delhi Sultanate. This Baoli, with 108 steps, is among a few of its kind in Delhi. The baoli has many legends to its credit with one saying that the water collected used to turn black and ghostly demons used to hide out here in its walls. It is also said that when people approached the black water in the well, they would be enticed by it and were compelled to commit suicide. As they leapt from the well into the depths of the black water below, the water would rise and spill over, oozing the blood of its victim. Many people complain about being ‘followed’ in the stepwell as they can hear footsteps behind them. But, this can be explained away by the echoes caused by the acoustics in the architecture.
Dumas Beach, Gujarat Located in Surat, in the western state of Gujarat, Dumas Beach on the Arabian Sea looks like a gorgeous slice of paradise during the day. But once the sun does down, it becomes deserted with those staying on the beach overnight either never coming back or having horrible experiences. Famous for its black sand, the beach was once used as a Hindu burial ground and hence is said to be possessed by several spirits that never left the region. According to local folklore, the existence of black sand is because of the amount of ash created by burning the dead which got mixed with the white sand of the beach and it turned dark. People strolling on the beach hear whispers and find no one when they look around for the source. There have even been reports of disappearances on the beach.
Jwala Ji Temple, Himachal Pradesh Located in the lower Himalayas in Kangra, the Jwala Ji temple is a holy shrine typical of other Jwala Ji shrines in the country. But what is unique and mysterious about this temple is the eternal flame that burns inside the shrine. There is a central pit of hollowed stone inside the shrine where the flame burns. The temple is also a Shaktipeeth and it is where Sati’s tongue fell and the Goddess is manifest as tiny flames that burn flawless blue through fissures in the rock. This flame has been burning for centuries. It is theorised that the flame is burning off a supply of natural gases like methane under its surface.
Gyanganj, Himalayas More than an actual destination, Gyanganj is a belief. There is a belief in the existence of a mysterious city of immortal beings. It is believed that Gyanganj is hidden from sight, far out of the reaches of modern mapping and technology as it is probably camouflaged or even may exist in another dimension. According to the legends, Gyanganj is believed to be an antediluvian Indian and Tibet tale of a city-kingdom of enigmatic eternal beings that remain concealed from the world. It is said that they exist deep in the Himalayas, however, have an influence over mankind in several clandestine ways. Gyanganj is said to be in an isolated valley in the Himalayas and is called Shangri-La, Siddhashram or Shambhala. A point to note is that one can not access Gyanganj unless they have a Karmic Connection with it. Tibetan Buddhists believe that this mysterious region is hidden in some obscure place in Central Asia. What’s more interesting is the Tibetan Buddhist mythos says that when the world falls into a chasm of ravenousness and war, the 25th ruler of Shambhala will appear to escort the blue planet into a better future.
Talakadu Mini Desert, Karnataka Located on the banks of river Kaveri, in the Chamarajanagar district, a village lies buried deep in the sand. Talakadu is believed to have been home to about 30 temples once, five of which are Lingams representing the 5 faces of Lord Shiva. It is believed that a widowed devotee of Lord Shiva named Allemalamma in the 16th century had once cursed Talakadu, following which the village turned into a desert and the River Kaveri became a swirling whirlpool at Malangi. The curse also included the Wodeyar dynasty of Mysore which was cursed with childlessness, all of which is true today.
Shettihalli, Karnataka Also known as the Submerged Church and the Floating Church, the Shettihalli Church was built in the 1860s by French missionaries in the Gothic style of architecture. After the construction of the Hemavati Dam and Reservoir in 1960, the church was submerged under water and has since become a famous tourist spot where people flock to see the half-submerged church during the monsoons.
Village of Twins, Kerala Kodinhi is a small village in Kerala, about 35 km from Calicut. Around 2000 families live here and almost every family has a pair of twins. The village is renowned for its inexplicable number of twin births since 1949 and today there are 200 pairs of twins and three pairs of triplets in the village. Also known as the Village of Twins, women from the village who marry outside also have twins or triplets. Despite several studies being conducted, the exact cause of this phenomenon is yet to be ascertained. According to medical experts, this phenomenon is due to the chemicals present in the water in the area. According to locals, the oldest known twin pair in the village was born in 1949.
Idukki, Kerala Idukki is a small town in the Wayanad district of the Malabar region. On Monday, 15 July 1957, rain that was red in colour or blood rain as it was called occurred here. The rain subsequently turned yellow. After this time, blood rain happened again between 25 July to 23 September 2001 when heavy downpours of red-coloured rain fell sporadically, staining clothes pink. Yellow, green and black rain was also reported. Coloured rain was also reported in Kerala in 1896 and several times since, most recently in June 2012. Following a light-microscopy examination in 2001, it was initially thought that the rains were coloured by fallout from a hypothetical meteor burst, but a study commissioned by the Government of India concluded that the rains had been coloured by airborne spores from a locally prolific terrestrial green algae from the genus Trentepohlia.
Magnetic Hill, Ladakh Magnetic hills, or gravity hills, are optical illusions in which a road that looks like it’s sloping uphill due to the surrounding landscape is sloping downhill, so cars, buses and other vehicles appear to roll uphill in defiance of gravity. Local superstition holds that the magnetic hill outside of Leh, India, leads people to heaven, and visitors flock here to test this strange natural phenomenon for themselves. Cars have been known to reach speeds of 20 kmph while climbing uphill of their own volition. According to science, the mountain has a strong magnetic field that pulls these cars and there is also likely to be an optical illusion where the road actually goes downhill but seems otherwise.
Kongka La Pass, Ladakh At an elevation of 16,970 feet, the Kongka La Pass is a low mountain pass on the Line of Actual Control between India and China in eastern Ladakh. There have been many UFO and strange humanoid figure sightings there and locals believe that the area is home to aliens.
Shaniwarwada Fort, Maharashtra A historical fortification in Pune, Shaniwar Wada was the seat of the Peshwas of the Maratha empire. Built in 1732, and following the rise of the Maratha Empire, the palace became the centre of Indian politics in the 18th century. The fort itself was largely destroyed in 1828 by an unexplained fire, but the surviving structures are now maintained as a tourist site. When 16-year-old Narayan Rao acquired the throne at the Shaniwar Wada Fort, conspiracies began surrounding him to dethrone him. An uncle and aunt sought the help of the head of the Gardis, a tribe of hunters who killed the young Peshwa, chopped his body into pieces, and tossed them into a nearby river. It is believed that the fort is now populated by lost souls who died within its walls and locals who live nearby also claim that you can hear the heart-wrenching screams of the young Peshwa on full moon nights. The fort is one of those places that forbid entry after 6.30 pm.
Shivapur Levitating Stone, Maharashtra The Hazrat Qamar Ali Darvesh is known for a special rock that weighs 70 kg and can only be lifted by one means. To lift the rock, 11 people are required to gather around it, touch it with their forefingers, and loudly call out the name of the saint who placed a curse on it, following which the stone rises in the air magically. The stone cannot be lifted by any other means, no matter how strong it is. It is believed that a Sufi saint named Qamar Ali placed a curse on this stone that was being used for bodybuilding about 800 years ago.
Lonar Crater Lake, Maharashtra Lonar is an unassuming village in Maharashtra known for being the site of a meteor impact crater. The crater is a notified National Geo-heritage Monument, created by a meteorite collision impact during the Pleistocene Epoch. It is one of the four known, hyper-velocity, impact craters in basaltic rock on Earth with the other three basaltic impact structures in southern Brazil. Over the years, the crater has become a lake, which is both alkaline and saline at the same time and creates an ecosystem for several organisms that are rarely found elsewhere. There seems to be no known source of the perennial springs that feed the lake. In many parts of the lake, compasses don’t work, and no one knows what lies at its bottom. In a 2019 study, conducted by IIT Bombay it was found that the minerals in the lake soil are very similar to the minerals found in moon rocks brought back during the Apollo Program. The lake was declared a protected Ramsar site in November 2020.
Shani Shingnapur, Maharashtra A small village about 35 km from Ahmednagar Shani Shingnapuris famous for its temple dedicated to Lord Shani, the God associated with the planet Saturn. But that’s not all that is famous about this village. But what is the village most famous for is that none of the houses, or any building in the village has a door, only a door frame. Despite this, officially no theft was reported in the village although there were reports of theft in 2010 and 2011. The temple is believed to be a Jagrut Devasthan or an alive temple which means that a deity still resides in the temple icon. The deity here is Swayambhu or self-evolved that is self emerged from earth in the form of a black, imposing stone. Found by shepherds of the hamlet, the stone statue is believed to be in existence for a few thousand years. Villagers believe that Lord Shani punishes anyone attempting theft, hence the lack of doors in the village and the near-zero crime rate.
Shetpal, Maharashtra Shetpal, or Shetphal is a small village about 200 km south of Pune which is famous for snake worship. The village has established a custom, wherein it is mandatory for every household to have a resting place for cobras in the rafters of their ceilings. Snakes are worshipped daily in every home in this village and have no restriction in their movements and none of the 2,600 plus villagers harm them in any way. Cobras are welcomed in every house as a member of the family and neither the cobras nor the residents live in fear of each other. If anyone in the village constructs a new house, he makes sure to devote a hollow portion of the dwelling as a devasthanam or a holy abode for the snakes. Snakes are treated as pets in this village, and even visit the schools when a class is in progress. Since adopting this relationship with the snakes, the locals have experienced virtually no problems with them, bar the occasional occupation of the bathroom.
Bhangarh Fort, Rajasthan A 16th-century fort in Rajasthan, Bhangarh Fort was built by Bhagwant Das for his younger son Madho Singh and even today the fort and its precincts are well preserved. The fort is said to be haunted by the presence of a cursed princess and her captor, the wizard Sinhai. According to legend, a wizard adept in black magic named Sinhai fell in love with Ratnavati, a beautiful Bhangarh princess with many suitors. One day, the wizard followed her to the marketplace and offered her a love potion; however, she refused it, throwing it onto a large rock that consequently rolled onto the wizard and crushed him to death, but not before he cursed all the inhabitants of Bhangarh. According to another tale, a Sadhu or sage named Baba Balak Nath lived within the fort area, and it was his injunction that any house built in the precinct of the fort should not be taller than his own, and if the shadow of any such house fell on his, it would result in the destruction of the fort town. Today, the complex is considered one of the most haunted spots in India and the Archaeological Survey of India forbids visitors from entering the fort after sunset with locals reporting deaths as a result of the continued curse.
The Abandoned Village of Kuldhara, Rajasthan A prosperous village established in the 13th century, Kuldhara was home to more than 1500 Paliwal Brahmans, descendants of a tribe that had lived there for more than 5 centuries. One night, in the 18th century, Kuldhara was suddenly abandoned by its population of about 1,500 people. The local legend claims that while deserting the village, the Paliwals imposed a curse that no one would be able to re-occupy the village. Those who tried to re-populate the village experienced paranormal activities, and therefore, the village remains uninhabited. Tourists who visit Kuldhara encounter an uneasy feeling when they set foot inside the village.
Jal Mahal, Rajasthan Jal Mahal which means Water Palace is a palace in the middle of the Man Sagar Lake in Jaipur. The palace was originally constructed in 1699 as a hunting lodge with the building and the lake around it later renovated and enlarged in the 18th century by Maharaja Jai Singh II of Amber. However, when the King of Amber decided to build a dam between the two surrounding hills to save the city from floods in the 18th century, the depression around the palace started filling up with water. Today, when one looks across the Man Sagar Lake, one can see this palace in the middle, with one floor and plant life peeking from above its roof. Water hides 4 more floors below it and little else is known about this structure which has no chambers but a pavilion and a terrace garden. Nowadays, visitors can get to the palace using boats specially designed to match the appearance of the building. On the roof, there are various plants, including a few fully grown trees that can be seen from the shore.
Karni Mata Temple, Rajasthan Dedicated to Goddess Karni Mata, the temple which lies about 30 km from Bikaner is also known as the Temple of Rats. The temple is famous for the approximately 25,000 black rats and a few white rats, which are very rare, and are revered, in the temple. These holy rats are considered as Depawat charan in a previous birth, these both take birth in a cycle of Depawat charan and Rats respectively. Many people travel great distances to pay their respects. Visitors are not allowed to kill, hurt, or even scare them away. These rats, or kabbas, as they’re called there, are considered to be highly auspicious, are worshipped, and safeguarded, which is why they hold more value than the humans visiting the shrine. The rats are believed to be the reincarnated relatives and family members of Karni Mata with the rare, white mice considered to be her sons. The temple draws visitors from across the country for blessings, as well as curious tourists from around the world.
The Shrine Of the Bullet Baba, Rajasthan About 46 km from Jodhpur near the Chotila village there is an extremely unique shrine located known as the Shri Om Banna Shrine or the Shrine of the Bullet Baba. What’s unique about this shrine is that the main deity is not the usual statue of a God or Goddess, instead, it is a motorcycle, specifically a 350cc Royal Enfield Bullet with the license plate RNJ 7773. The story behind the shrine is that a man named Om Singh Rathore, or Om Banna, died at this spot in a tragic accident while riding back home on his bullet. What followed was a series of unusual happenings where the police would take away the bike, empty its fuel tank, and bind it in chains, but it would return to the same spot before daybreak and this happened every single time. When the authorities finally gave up, the locals built a temple around this bike. Today, hundreds of devotees turn up every day to pray for a safe journey.
The Floating Stones Of Rameshwaram, Tamil Nadu A holy place at the southern tip of India. Rameshwaram holds immense importance in Hindu mythology, as it is where, according to the Ramayana, Lord Rama’s Vanara Sena or Monkey Army built a bridge of floating stones to Sri Lanka to fight the ruler, King Ravana who had abducted his wife Goddess Sita. According to the Ramayana, the bridge was built of stones that would stay afloat once the name of Lord Rama was scribbled on it. There is a bridge made of such stones, as they are still found around here. The weight of each stone is 10 to 20 kgs which are kept in the ancient Rama Temple. The stones that are found in the coastal regions will be similar to that of all other stone and has the same features. The ancient bridge between India and Sri Lanka can still be found on Google Maps and is known as Adam’s Bridge, a chain of limestone shoals & sand bars in the ocean between mainland India & Sri Lanka.
Chilkur Temple, Telangana Also known as the Visa Balaji Temple, the Chilkur Balaji Temple is an ancient Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Balaji on the banks of the Osman Sagar near Hyderabad. This temple has no hundi and neither accepts any money from devotees. The temple became popular in 2000 as it became known to fulfill the wishes of devotees wanting to go overseas. In the quest of visiting abroad, thousands of devotees from across the country visit the temple every week. Apart from offering prayers for visas, devotees also pray at the temple for clearing exams and marriage. Once their wishes are fulfilled, devotees make sure that they visit the temple to thank the deity and perform circumambulations around the temple.
Roopkund, Uttarakhand Also known as the Mystery Lake or Skeleton Lake, Roopkund is a high-altitude glacial lake in the lap of the Trishul massif in the Himalayas at an altitude of about 5,020 m surrounded by rock-strewn glaciers and snow-clad mountains. With a depth of about 3 metres, Roopkund is widely known for the hundreds of ancient human skeletons found at the edge of the lake. The human skeletal remains are visible at its bottom when the snow melts. Initial investigations led some to believe they were the remains of a semi-legendary event when a single group was killed in a sudden and violent hailstorm in the 9th century, but scientific research has subsequently shown that the remains belong to three distinct groups who died in two independent events. Because of the human remains, the lake has been called Skeleton Lake in recent times. Locals believe that the corpses belong to a then King and Queen of Kanauj, who were going on a pilgrimage but plunged into the lake due to a severe hailstorm and died.
Bara Imambara, Uttar Pradesh Built by Asaf-ud-Daula, the Nawab of Awadh in 1784, Bara Imambara is also known as Asfi Imambara. Bara means big and this Imambara or congregation hall is the second largest after the Nizamat Imambara. With a blend of Arabic and European architecture, the Imambara’s central arched hall is about 50 metres in length and almost 3 stories high but has no pillars or beams supporting it and is one of the largest such arched constructions in the world. The main hall is also famous for its unique interlocking brick structure and the Bhulbhulaiya, a dense labyrinth.
Morgan House, West Bengal Morgan House is a mansion of British colonial architecture built by an English jute baron Mr George Morgan in the 1930s on the hill station of Kalimpong to celebrate his wedding with an indigo plantation owner. After the wedding, Mr and Mrs Morgan occupied the British colonial mansion. Mrs Morgan died a premature death, and Mr Morgan left the house soon after. A trust took the ownership of the house after its abandonment and after India attained Independence the government took control of the property. It is now being maintained as a boutique hotel. Mrs Morgan’s sudden demise is believed to be because her husband tortured her before she died, and hence, her unhappy soul still haunts the house. Although there have been no sightings of Mrs Morgan’s ghost, people have heard the tapping of high-heeled footwear in the corridors of the lodge.
Aleya Ghost Lights, West Bengal The Sundarbans are a mangrove area in the delta formed by the confluence of the Padma, Brahmaputra and Meghna Rivers in the Bay of Bengal. There are many sightings of unnatural glowing lights of different colours hovering over these marshes. Referred to as Aleya Lights for many years now, these lights are a nightmare for fishermen, as they usually end up confusing them and they would lose their way. In many cases, various fishermen have even lost their lives due to these strange lights. According to local belief, these lights are emanated from the stranded spirits of dead fishermen who lost their lives in these swamps. According to scientists, these lights are natural phenomena such as bioluminescence or chemiluminescence, caused by the oxidation of methane produced by organic decay or due to geological faulting.
I’ve enjoyed putting together this mini-series on mysterious places and hope to get to see as many as I can, especially those that are born of natural phenomena. Mother Nature at her best, don’t you think?
Memories and Such 
