Have you ever been trolled on social media? Received comments that have upset you? Ever been body-shamed?
Founder of the popular lifestyle blog MissMalini, Malini Aggarwal has experienced the Internet at its best and worst. As a pioneering content creator, she has seen tremendous success and also made mistakes on the medium – and she’s learnt vital lessons from it all.
In Under the Influence: How to Survive and Thrive Online, Malini deep dives into the psychology of rampant online hate culture, explaining why it exists and provides practical tools to tackle it. With insight and empathy, she guides today’s users on how to deal with trolls and cancel culture, respond to hate and provocation, and combat negativity with positive action and mindfulness.
Complete with interviews with prominent influencers and psychologists, personality self-assessment tests and interactive quizzes, this book is an invaluable resource for anyone navigating the complex battlefield that is social media today.
Review
Miss Malini, a popular social media icon and a columnist has given the readers a glimpse of how the dynamics in social media are. This book will take you on a journey across the world of influencers, online presence, and social media.
Diversifying across generations and the various platforms there is, Malini has crafted the book for everyone interested in social media. I love how the book is very interactive, that it involves the readers in engaging activities. Belonging to the same generation as that of the author, the insights provided are much more relatable. Not only relatable they can also be termed as valuable. Sharing her mistake from when she was a novice brings out the honesty in her approach to providing real information to the readers and upcoming influencers. Not only hers, but the experiences of fellow influencers like Sakshi and Vir also add varied perspectives on topics such as online presence, handling trolls, and negative feedback.
In the daunting online world, this book serves as a guide for every upcoming influencer. I’d say the book gives you a better understanding of why people spread hatred online and ways to tackle it. Malini with her experience helps you with listing out ways to handle them by fighting back with positivity. From someone who is considered the OG content creator, she helps people heal from online hatred and negativity. The book is an apt read for someone who wants to start their journey as a creator in the online world or even for someone who has been there for a while. On the whole, it caters to reading likes of people in the digital world. From being an inspiration to me, to getting featured on her page, Malini has been a beacon for content creators like me. I’m truly honored to have had the opportunity to read this wonderful guide.
For someone who only knows about the number of chakras inside us. I’d say this book will be my ABC to learn more about it, how to locate it, and how to mitigate it. When we talk about well-being we often get to think and act only on physical and mental well-being.
But I used to wonder when people keep talking about spiritual wellness, what would that be and why is it being discussed by many? Well, this book made me understand why and why not I should give it a go. Gone are the days when we presumed spirituality talks were only for older people. This book changed my perception and if it is anything about wellness, I’m game.
When I started reading this book, it raised a lot of eyebrows. Being an avid reader, it has been habitual for me to carry it along, so the book traveled with me during cab rides, and play dates, and were not. So, when I mentioned raised eyebrows, it was all the presumed notion of why she is reading about spirituality at this age. I laughed it out, because rather than wasting time on explaining why to them, I’d rather enrich myself in the words of Daaji. The book is divided into three parts – Read and Enjoy, Do and Feel, Meditate and Transcend. I was impressed when I read the introduction, the idea of consciousness to be taken on a journey fascinated me. The simple and natural process as explained by the author will promise you that you can achieve it. Read and Enjoy: The chapters under this topic explore the significance of spiritual anatomy and the origin of the soul. Do and feel: This section will give you an overview of heartfulness practice, and explain the chakras- their characters and tips to overcome limitations on consciousness. Meditate and Transcend: Throughout the spiritual journey, it could be made easier with an atlas, as it gives you a picture of experiences and the conditions during the journey.
The sections ask Daaji and self-reflection to help you with a deeper understanding of what was learned, questions that would arise after learning through the chapter, and replies from Daaji on the same.
Heartfulness essential practices is my favorite chapter in the book where we learn techniques that evolve consciousness and ways to integrate the spirit into everyday life. The only things that are needed for you to get involved in these practices are your willingness and interest. All you need is just ten minutes in your day-to-day routine to include this practice.
The mere mention of the word inventure which translates to the inner adventure will convince you to take a chance on this amazing transformational path. A simple questionnaire from Daaji will help you to locate how far you have traveled in this inventure.
The book leads you on a path to sustainable joy. The book will encourage us to integrate our fragmented lives. Natural freedom and miraculous happiness can be discovered through awareness and meditation.
Daaji blends ancient wisdom and modern practices making spirituality accessible and relevant. The book also bridges the gap between spirituality, science and personality experience.
About the Author
Kamlesh D. Patel, affectionately known as Daaji, has been the global guide for the heartfulness movement since 2014. Daaji is the spiritual leader of Shri Ram Chandra, a meditation organization with practitioners in over 150 countries. He is also fourth in line of raja yoga (which is known as “royal yoga”). His followers include the president of India, Ram Nath Kovind. He is the author of numerous books, including USA Today Bestseller Heartfulness Way (New Harbinger, 2018) and Designing Destiny (Hay House, 2019). While balancing his spiritual journey, Daaji was also a successful pharmacist in New York City, and is married with two sons.
Children these days grow up in an environment that is dominated by technology and the vast landscape of the Internet. While the internet has content and information that is educational and has opportunities for entertainment, it is also essential that kids understand the importance of internet safety from a young age. And we as parents have a crucial role to play by having measures that guarantee the best internet security for kids.
Some years before, when my kids were young, it was essential to teach them road safety by practising how to cross roads or how to take lanes. Similarly, now it is much-needed to help them traverse the virtual world through safe internet practices with the same level of awareness and caution.
Let us now discuss some strategies to keep kids safe in the internet world. One of these strategies is to use Happinetz, a boon to every parent to provide SafeInternetForKids. It guarantees the best internet security for your kids.
5 ways to keep kids safe in the internet world:
Online privacy
Teach kids online privacy by explaining that personal information like name, address, school name, and phone number should only be shared with trusted individuals and not anyone else without permission.
Phishing and scams
Make them aware of phishing and scams by explaining ways to identify phishing and scam emails targeting to steal information. Educate them about suspicious links and the dangers that follow when we accidentally click on them.
Strong passwords
Encourage them to create strong and unique passwords for accounts which are difficult to crack. Make them understand the importance of not sharing passwords with friends.
Living in harmony online
Kids need to be taught the importance of treating people with respect online as much as they are taught to behave offline. Since cyberbullying has increased, it is important that kids behave with empathy and compassion to fellow beings both online and offline.
The power of discernment
Make them understand the importance of critical thinking about the information they come across online. Not all they see is credible and accurate so they should have a discerning eye to navigate the digital world.
Open communication with kids is the foundation of their online safety. An environment that is conducive for them to discuss anything that happens online must be present at home.
The powerful tool that the internet is, can enrich our lives, but kids should be made aware of the risks that it comes with and of the ways to safeguard them.
Happinetz – your box of happiness that guarantees the best Internet Security for your Kids
Two years back, when people asked me if there was something that I worried about my kids, I told them their nutritional intake and growth as per age was my constant worry. Cut to reality now, if I’m being asked the same question, my answer would be their exposure to the wide world of the Internet and making sure they are safe.
Reading spine-chilling instances of cybercrimes involving children and paedophiles in the guise of genuine users gives me the creeps because kids these days need screens not only for entertainment but also for education purposes thanks to COVID-19 and online schooling. Parents being busy in their work schedule and household chores find it difficult to constantly monitor what kids watch and whether it is age-appropriate. Technology is now an integral part of our lives, monitoring the screen time for kids and filtering out content that is not age-appropriate is an important responsibility for us parents that cannot be overlooked.
This is when I stumbled upon Happinetz, the perfect solution that guarantees the best Internet Security for kids. It is a box that helps filter out age-inappropriate content and manages the amount of screen time for kids. The box is easy to install and can be connected wired or wireless to your existing router. A mobile application installed on your phone will give you the control to set screen time limits, block content, and even enable/disable categories based on need.
The box can monitor up to ten devices and can even be placed in the kids’ room as it can work wirelessly. Here is how Happinetz can be your solution that guarantees the best Internet Security for kids.
Set different modes
The device has three different modes with different access capabilities- parent, teen, and kid. Each of these modes has their predefined settings which can be customised as the need arises. The customization can be with respect to the different categories of content being watched and the whitelisting/blacklisting of links.
Filtering apps and websites age appropriately
Happinetz categorises the internet, be it from applications or websites under 15 categories which help in filtering out age-inappropriate content. A toggle button helps to turn these on and off in case the setting needs to be changed. However, this is not applicable to the categories Adult & Security and Safe Search. You can also block certain domains by using the advanced feature.
Monitor screen time, pause, and extend timelines
This is my favourite feature that gives me the control to pause the internet for a particular device. How cool is that? The app lets you monitor the screen time, categorizing what websites or apps were browsed and which devices were used. Apart from this, there is a feature to get an SOS notification when the box is turned off or gets disconnected. One more interesting feature is that if a device disconnects from the Happinetz network, you get notified so no smart work by the kid would work here. Not only that, there are also notifications for the time period ending and if the device is in parent mode for more than 6 hours.
The box is easy to set up and adding devices can be done in a jiffy once you get used to using the app. This is a must-have in all households hereafter, given that we know that we are going to be living in this technology-driven world that will need kids to be with screens. Now you need not worry about what they are watching or how long they are on the screens. Toggling on categories was initially tricky for me to figure out but now I’m loving the control that I have of their screen times. There is a lot for me to learn as a parent from the app and my experience so far has been good. This would be a good investment and worth the price.
Thanks to Happinetz, I can now be stress-free as it guarantees the best Internet security for kids. I am hoping that the meltdowns will now start to reduce. I am now confident that my kids will be responsible digital citizens thanks to Happinetz, while they cherish the beauty of offline moments alongside.
Mumbai is in a state of chaos. All traffic signals across the entire city have stopped working.
Shahwaz Ali Mirza, head of the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad, receives an anonymous email claiming it to be a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack. He quickly puts together a crack team that includes his protege, IG Cybercrime Vikrant Singh, and gets to work trawling the dark web for more information on this mystery attack. However, a move to bring forward the hacker backfires, leading to a second, deadlier attack on Mumbai’s lifeline, the railway system.
It is their first brush with cyberterrorism: a zero-day vulnerability in the Indian government’s system that could bring the country to its knees. Racing against time and investigating a case unlike any other, in Zero Day, Mirza and Vikrant face the most dangerous mission of their lives
REVIEW
I love reading crime novels. Especially the pace they pick up after a few chapters and the urge they give me to complete it sooner. The novel Zero-day by Hussain Zaidi gives you a lot of twists turns and edge-of-seat moments.
In a busy city like Mumbai, a cyber attack is getting the city to a standstill. What would be the problem? More than physical terror, this time everything goes digital. A hacking attempt into the city’s traffic system brings the city to chaos.
The ATS chief received an anonymous email on the threat and the subsequent actions were taken by his team with occurrences of politics, and a wee bit of romance making it an interesting read.
Trying to find the identity of the hacker, to handling a national emergency situation in a smart way the book has its own nuances by the author with which he keeps the reader engaged. The language is simple and also makes the situations nail-biting through the narration. Characters Mirza and Vikrant had great bonding that helped in cracking the mystery. A crisp power-packed story that definitely would keep mystery lovers engaged.
S.. Hussain Zaidi is one of the most prolific crime writers in India. The investigations into the Mumbai mafia that he has conducted in books such as Dongri to Dubai, Mafia Queens of Mumbai and My Name is Abu Salem are among the finest investigative reporting of all time.
As the Resident Editor of the newspaper The Asian Age, Zaidi began his career in journalism. He then worked for several other publications, including The Indian Express, Mid Day, and Mumbai Mirror. Authors like Misha Glenny in McMafia and Vikram Chandra in Sacred Games drew on his in-depth research into the Mumbai mafia for their works. Adrian Levy, the author of books like The Meadows on Kashmir terrorism and The Siege on 26/11 attacks, consults him on a variety of subjects.
His reporting on the Mumbai mafia has spanned decades. Black Friday, written in 2002, is a book about the 1993 Mumbai bombings, which had 13 explosions and caused 250 deaths. Two years later, in 2004, Anurag Kashyap adapted the book into a film also titled Black Friday. As a result of the controversy surrounding the film, the Indian Censor Board refused to allow its release in India for three years, and the Supreme Court of India eventually allowed its release after a unanimous judgment in the Bombay blasts case delivered by TADA court.
Zaidi conducted an interview with the suspected bombing mastermind Dawood Ibrahim for the book Dongri to Dubai: Six Decades of the Mumbai Mafia, a history of the Mumbai mafia involving the Mumbai mafia. In 2012, Sanjay Gupta adapted the book into the film Shootout at Wadala.
Phantom, the 2015 film starring Saif Ali Khan and Katrina Kaif, is based on Zaidi’s book Mumbai Avengers, and the screenplay for it was written with Zaidi’s assistance.
As an associate producer, he worked on the HBO documentary Terror in Mumbai, which tells the story of the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai.
The book review is part of blogchatter’s book review program.
Losing a loved one can make your shatter like the sky coming down on you. Grieving is a natural response to loss, many of us fail to understand how it can affect lives.
The loss of a loved one can make irreparable damage to what we say the foundations of our lives. This damage is prone to affecting both the mins and body.
Preoccupied with thoughts, memories and images of the loved one, having difficulty in accepting the reality that they’re gone, waves of sadness and yearning about them is all part of the grieving process.
It’s been six months since my mom passed away, but i still find it difficult to come to terms that she’s gone. Waiting for her to open the door while I knock, checking on me if I had my meal not just once every meal of the day, checking if I’ve taken medicines, that tender love and care when I’m sick, those gossips during coffee, lying down on the lap, falling asleep on her shoulders during TV time is all something that I yearn for now.
I know that won’t happen now, but still my heart fails to accept and makes me ask the supreme ‘ please just one more time’. There are days I feel absolutely normal, and days I cry like a baby. Not just a metaphor I really do. Somedays I find it very difficult.
My sleep cycle has gone for a toss. Blame my photographic memory, not sure if it’s a boon or a bane, I keep getting visuals of mom’s last few days with me on repeat. Which makes me not shut my eyes. But there are days I fall asleep unknowingly.
I am still trying my best to deal with her loss. Began to focus on reading how to process grief and deal with it. I thought why not share it here, might help someone who is on the same phase like me.
Grief can be classified into acute and persistent grief.
The first six to twelve months after the loss of someone we experience acute grief.
If it lasts over 12 months, it is termed persistent grief.
Chronic stress is commonly experienced during acute grief, it can lead to a lot of physical and emotional issues like anger, anxiety, pains, sleep issues amd depression. But if the person is old these signs shouldn’t be ignored.
People with persistent grief need to take therapy or counselling to deal with it by taking up cognitive behavioral therapy. But for acute grief there are certain ways that can help you ease.
Take new responsibility
Losing a loved one will also lead to you taking up new responsibility. Say like cooking, households chores. This can probably add to your stress but can be a mood uplifted experience if you take it in a positive way. Focusing on task can help you divert from grief.
Healthy diet
When you are under stress it acts as a trigger and makes you crave sugar and fat. Feel good, high calorie and high fat foods is what people reach out to make them feel better. But it can worsen your condition. Planning to take a well balanced diet will definitely help you maintain good health.
Sleep cycle
When you deal with grief your sleep cycles get affected. You might find it difficult to fall asleep, wake up a number of times and not having sound sleep. But following a sleep routine on a regular basis , avoiding screens close to bed time, avoiding caffeine and alcohol can help for a sound sleep.
Move your body
A daily walk can help in easing depression, agitation and sorrow related to grief. We find ourselves less motivated to go and workout. In that case a workout partner or a group ca help you sort this out.
Look after your health
Our general health gets ignored when we are going through grief. But dont take it lightly. Set reminders for any tests that you should be taking, tablets or medications. A little help from a family member to remind you doesn’t hurt.
Reach out to people
It’s most painful to see people and the outside world but also important to not miss the connections. This would serve as a reminder that you are not alone and when you feel isolated you have family and friends to help you out and be the supportive hand. Go out for a coffee, invite people for lunch. If not be in touch with someone over mail Or call.
Grief affects mental and physical health to a great extent. Reaching out to help and help make a betterment in your mental health is not something to feel shy or to be hesitant to ask of.
Shopping is a therapy to many. Checking out the aisles of stuff going round trying to see if you could pick up something, look at what others choose to shop are all various events that one would notice when you set out to shop. They could also be disadvantageous to few. When the pandemic hit, we were all holed up at our homes. Shops big or small were all closed up. The world of offline shopping didn’t expect to see itself going into a black hole which was taking it to darkness for an infinite period. And for those whom I mentioned that shopping was a therapy it was a total crash landing.
Ecommerce even way before pandemic was well established. In fact, there were a sect of people who stopped doing offline shopping and only stuck to shopping online. I myself belong to that category. I found that it made my way of shopping much easier and whenever I want to.
The pandemic was also the time when businesses decided that they will have to shift to the online paradigm. They knew that was the only way that the Business would continue to see the light until the pandemic ends.
Online shopping through e-commerce saw a drastic rise in purchasing capabilities thanks to the pandemic. Vendors continued to move ahead with their business collaborating by onboarding their business with already existing ecommerce majors or sought to make a standalone website.
While we still reel under the pandemic wave, ecommerce still continues to boom even if shops open up online because some of the recent users felt that the choice, they made to shop online convinced them that this could make it easier for them.
Vendors in the tier 2 cities also saw through vast expansion in their reach through the online venture that they decided to go on with it even if the pandemic is gone forever. If it is boosting your economy why not continue to do it was what they thought.
The steady rise in the shopping trend also contributed to the economy. Be it whatever category that is being shopped the country is benefited through the taxes. So this helps boost the economy of the nation as well.
So why would people continue to shop online or why does online shopping remain popular trend?
Ease of shopping.
Ecommerce brought in the comfort of shopping from home. I needn’t get squished in the crowds or wait for the sales person to show me other options similar. I can shop while cooking, reading or even while lying down on the bed.
Everything within few clicks
The technology in ecommerce is so very advanced that within a few clicks and scrolls I could shop for the entire family. Right from choosing to making the payment it is all very simplified.
Options to share
Say I’m shopping for my mom, I don’t have to drag her to the shop, make her wait and patiently check on what she chooses. With the apps available on phones, we could check and share across, get to know the choice, make payment and get it delivered. Especially a savior if you stay away from home. Also makes both of you happy, doesn’t it?
Unlimited choices
The ecommerce website algorithm is so well versed in understanding the human actions because while you keep shopping, we are also shown similar interests or even options that would go well with the commodity that we are about to buy. This makes our planning much easier. Say I’m buying an attire, I also get suggestions on the accessories that would go well with the look. I needn’t go look for it separately that I just hit one click buy this combo and my job is done.
Ease of payments
The biggest problems when it comes to offline shopping is the big queues at the billing desk. The change for the currency and the working condition of card swiping machine. It really makes you go nuts when you’re almost about to get your cart billed, the card machine stops working or there is no proper change. Online shopping has hassle free payment methods like using debit cards, credit cards, net banking, UPI and digital wallets. Added to that you get amazing discounts if you’re using any particular type of cards. You also get the option to choose COD(Cash on Delivery), I don’t think that would even be possible when you do offline shopping.
There is no worry of theft in case of shopping in a crowded place, the payment you make is secure.
Cashbacks
Online shopping payments methods also offer various cashbacks which is great to lure in customers. Who wouldn’t want to save some money?
Augmented reality and virtual reality
This has made it easy especially when it comes to trials in case of apparels and accessories and the order of placement when it comes to furniture or home décor. I cannot really imagine how the piece of décor or furniture would suit my space by imagining it over in my head rather than getting to see a real image of how it would actually look on my screen.
Reviews and comparisons
Reviews and comparisons between different brands is made clear when you shop online. You get to know what you actually buy is going to be genuine and worth the investment that you are going to make. This won’t be possible in offline shopping.
Online shopping has way more advantages than its disadvantages. The ecommerce industry is continuing to see steady rise as we speak as the word of mouth and even digitization spreads its benefits. As long as people continue to shop online, they would be seen as one of the main contributors to the country’s economy.
Reading books take you to another world. It’s a noisy world out there and I tell you reading a book is one kind of meditation. A turn of a page can make your brain network calm and free you from the chatter that you’re currently present in. It helps boost dopamine making you empathize over people, providing ways to socialize and broaden our perspectives.
The power of reading helps in healing trauma, virtually transport you to another world or even help you build new qualities. There is no better teacher than a good book. Books can be an escape from the reality, the mundane day to day demands in front of us. All avid readers would agree with me that reading books is self-medicating and it is no surprise that reading books offer many more benefits.
A survey by the NPD revealed that the book sales went up in 2020, increasing print volumes much higher post 2004. While this was the trend it was also noticed that they were buying more but took much more time to complete because they were doing it slowly. The reason being they were distracted.
The mind doesn’t stay calm, holding a book in hand and screaming out ‘can’t you see I’m busy’ would show that you are not completely into reading. The lack of concentration in turn made it harder for them to proceed with reading. The anxiety in us that makes the brain constantly scan for threats around is becoming a roadblock to the reading. It releases stress hormones that is consuming more energy that people find it hard to concentrate on reading.
Here is how you can practice mindful reading. These habits will ensure that reading benefits you.
Begin with a short read
Our brain loves it and releases happy hormones when it is given a reward. And finishing a book that you started with is definitely rewarding that your brain wants to continue doing it. So pick up a short engaging read that you can finish sooner.
Meditate before reading
Reading needs a calm mind for it to happen naturally. Sit down and clear your mind away from thoughts. Close your eyes and do a deep breathe or even meditate with a prayer.
Reading to relevancy
Sometimes reading about what’s happening around you or what’s happening with you an make you stay glued. It will make you more attentive to what you read. Reading fiction, memoire also helps in making you show empathy on others.
Familiarity
Uncertain times can be handled when you return to something familiar that gives you solace. There are two types of readers: One who wants to keep reading to discover and learn about new things, and one who rereads just to comfort themselves and give them stability.
Read first thing in the morning
It is a great thing to start the day with. It can in putting your phone away and spend more energy on reading.
Put your phone away
Phones are a main distraction especially when it comes to reading. Give it to someone who wouldn’t give in for your please or in another room. The best would be even kept it in another floor.
Make it a habit
Relax yourselves in a comfortable spot, make yourself a hot cup of chocolate or your favorite beverage and try reading at the same time every day.
Read like a child
Read under the blanket, under the bed or a cozy corner like how we used to when we were kids. It gives a whole new perspective to the reading habit.
Stop reading if you cannot concentrate
Life has uncertainties that make you stress and let reading not be one. So, whenever you feel like that thought creeping in put down your book.
Listen to audiobooks
During solitary times it is comforting to hear a voice is your mind that is not yours. GO for an audiobook if you cannot read yourself and let the narrator take the stage while you relax.
Be prepared for the next.
Once you finish a book or you are almost going to complete it, keep another one ready so that you will continue to read. Do not give a long pause.
Here are reasons why reading can be a therapy. It’s called bibliotherapy.
Sometimes stories can hold deeper meanings in us than the real situations we live in.
Rekindling the interest in reading can make you feel connected and alive.
Switching of the stress buttons, giving yourself some me-time and helping you relieve from stress.
It will make you feel that you are not alone and there are people going through similar situations.
It gives you a sense of creativity and even make you start writing probably a journal which might further help to understand what you are going through.
I hope these benefits will definitely give you that positive push to get back to reading. But a reading challenge can even push you further to make it more interesting when you have a goal set for the number of books that you look forward to complete. I am taking part in blogchatter’s#TBRChallenge and aimed at completing 30 books this year. If you would want to know more and like to participate you could check here and sign up.
Bored roommates use a planchette to contact a legendary ghost that haunts Pune University. Will she answer? Is the abandoned Khairatabad Science College in Hyderabad really haunted? A gang of students break inside to investigate. Nirav and Pavi love each other . . . most of the time. Will exploring a forbidden place inside IIT Kharagpur bring them closer? From strange sightings to urban legends, from haunted buildings to not-so-friendly ghosts, colleges in India have their fair share of spine-tingling tales, be it Kasturba Medical College in Manipal, St. Bede’s College in Shimla or Delhi University. Young Blood is a collection of ten tales that reimagine college urban legends and true first-person accounts, that promises to terrify even die-hard fans of horror.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Chandrima Das has a B.Tech in Computer Science from NIT Durgapur and an MBA from IIM Calcutta. After a decade-long career in management consulting, she followed her passion for writing. Her digital debut The Talking Dead was a bestseller in the horror category. She’s performed live at storytelling events with Tall Tales and Kommune, and was published in The Best Of Tall Tales.
MY REVIEW:
I enjoy horror as a genre in both watching movies and reading books. Though many would disagree that horror books do not give you the same vibe when you read them as much as you watch movies in that genre. But individuals differ and its all in the reader’s mind I would say.
So, when I knew there was this chance to review the book, I knew I should definitely not miss the chance of reading book in my favourite genre. The blurb intrigued me further because not long enough my husband and I were discussing about planchette and was coincidentally mentioned in the blurb as well. The book has ten stories from different institutions across the country and involves the various tales that haunt the campuses. The stories gave me chills at certain points. I wantedly chose to read them at nights so that it adds to the thrill and the author sure didn’t disappoint me.
Each story sets a different stage and addresses a social issue pertaining to the modern age. I loved the way how the author connected the tale and the social issues. The nature of how each story was narrated is one of the biggest pluses that does not let you keep the book down once you start reading.
The author through her writing makes you feel that you are in the tale experiencing the horrific events when you are just right there on your bed reading the book. That is a win-win for any author to make the reader transport to the bookish world.
The stories and the notes at the end made a well-connected read. I’d suggest not to read notes at last but as and when you finish a story for a much greater reading experience.
The book is a must read for those who love horror and who would want to try the genre too.
If you’re thinking that the online space is only for big or mid-sized companies, you might need to rethink again before you are sure of it next time. A variable increase in the number of traditional, small businesses is now adopting the digital way to a varying extent and for good reason.
Going digital should not be seen as a way to build an image but has several other leveraging advantages. In today’s world, you will find yourself in the online space on a beneficial need. No matter what sort of business you do, the type of customers you handle, the model that you follow or create for you, what category of Business it comes under, you make it a necessity to mark your presence in the online world.
Choosing to establish a digital presence sure does have value in it. A quick google search would land you any business sure does have a mark on the digital space or in simpler terms have an online footprint.
Today even if you are having a hardware or a supplies business, you could say that even if not a giant, you do have an identification on the online space. With a simple receipt of money from accepting cards, UPI, or e-wallets which are something like mobile application-based payment, congratulations you have made good progress.
There is always scope for improvement similarly, if you are already into the digital world, there is still a possibility to expand the digital footprint to magnify your presence.
Digital trends impacting MSME
Increased number of small businesses moving online.
A recent study that was conducted indicated that 63% of MSMEs wanted to go digital but only 5% went in the real digital world. A majority of MSMEs reported positive responses to post moving into the digital world. One more study mentioned that businesses that opted for the digital way doubled their growth in a quicker span than their offline counterparts which is a seemingly big achievement. SO on the whole considering both the case study above it is evident that small businesses are continually moving towards digitization.
Adopting cloud technology
Several small businesses adopted cloud technology to improvise their way of working. This included solutions that help in password management, mailing lists, and handling customer relationships. This helps organizations achieve productivity and make a competitive achievement. This was agreed by a majority of MSMEs where the results were proven to be positive. The cloud-based technology solutions that were opted for by the organizations are affordable and could be tailored to suit any business scenario.
Encouragement from the Government to adopt a cloud strategy
To raise the contribution of MSMEs GDP to 50% in the next 5 years the Government has placed the adoption of cloud-based solutions as one of the priorities. !8 tool rooms have been set up to assist the MSMEs in the cloud-based solution adoption which is expected to be increased to over 150 training centers.
Understanding and adjusting to the millennials
In terms of the sheer number and purchase power, the millennials rule the online world. So to get your business on their radar the small businesses must adapt video content for promotion, influencer marketing, and usage of social media.
Power of social media and its dominance
In terms of reach, impact, and conversion to sales social media dominate the marketing strategy. Facebook and Instagram in particular are the key players to focus on.
Chatbots for customer service
Better customer service is the key to financial growth. Given limited resources, automating customer service and response to customer queries help in streamlining the process. The quicker the turnaround for a customer query the more you get to score in terms of valuable service and definitely, that paves way for word of mouth growth, which in turn means more number of customers and could be possible conversion to sales.
How can it serve to be a springboard to success?
Adopting digital methods or digitization is served to be a springboard and bring in exponential growth
A representative of business transformation
Adopting cloud-based solutions helps to streamline the operating process and helps in improving growth and productivity. The most powerful effect on Business would be from adopting digitization.
Versatile and dominant medium of business
High impact branding and communication in the form of text, audio, and video is possible and thereby bringing in unprecedented reach. Helps enable real-time two-way communication through dedicated brand platforms that help in driving interaction and engagement.
The ultimate path for sales
With e-commerce raising the curtain for the show of online shopping from the comfort of homes and at suitable times, the products are available at ease, and payments are also made hassle-free.
A deeper insight into above-sighted advantages is below.
Triggering business transformation
These cloud-based solutions are plug and play which in other words mean they can be tailored to suit your business needs. With Big- data analytics-enabled it helps access patterns and insights and enabled to choose business decisions accordingly. From manufacturing to supply chain to CRMs they are tailored accordingly. Mailing Management – MS Outlook ,Gmail Storage management – One drive and Google Drive, Accounting software – Intuit QuickBooks Online, CRM software – Apptivo Though it requires time and effort to choose the best that suits your needs, the return on investment is exponential.
Versatile cost-effective medium
To reach out to prospects nationwide and worldwide is the best means. Another added advantage being the ability to effectively narrow down the target prospects based on purchase power, demography, and many such factors. Online videos on Youtube, are a great way to capture the eyeballs and register your brand to the target audience. A key performance metric is an engagement that decides the success rate. The prospects’ progress journey that lands on sales are the result every business looks out for. This can be achieved by content creating that is compelling and interactive enough to initiate engagement.
Sales enablement
An eCommerce platform could either be your own or can be chosen to be a part of eCommerce aggregator platforms like Amazon, Flipkart, Paytm, snapdeal, and Shopclues.
The deeper you go into digital, the number of benefits it would reap you. But the ultimate choice of what solutions you select should take your business to the next level. This should be the ultimate goal. The digital space has a lot of aspects to offer so choose wisely. If done appropriately, it can propel growth to greater heights. But bad customer experiences could get blown out of proportion so that needs to be taken care of.
Double or triple check before you dive into a digital initiative. So make wise choices and keep testing for loopholes that need attention. Investments into these solutions could be counted as risks, but if you have everything in place and confident about what lies ahead then definitely the results would overshadow the risks that you take.
Written as part of Blogchatter’s campaign #ECommerceInnovation. Read more posts in the campaign here.
COPYRIGHT NOTICE – @Sindhu Vinod Narayan. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Sindhu Vinod Narayan (Thatmadrasmom) with the right and specific direction to the original content.
The Government of India introduced Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in agreement with the Micro, Small and Medium enterprises development act of 2006. Predominantly these enterprises engage in producing, manufacturing, processing, and preserving goods and commodities.
Also referred to as the backbone of the country next to agriculture. They play a dominant role in contributing to the country’s GDP, manufacturing output, and the country’s exports.
The enterprises generate a lot of employment opportunities thereby helping bridge the gap between unemployment and poverty; also paving the way for the development of the rural areas in the country.
They have helped industrialization in these areas with low capital cost compared to large industries. In complementary to the large business sectors, MSMEs have a major part in the country’s economy, thereby helping in the socio-economic development of the nation.
They produce and manufacture both for domestic and international markets. So much advancement and product improvement has been seen in the khadi and coir industries. The upbringing of rural areas has been one of the major outcomes of the MSMEs collaboration with the various ministries and State Governments. To be precise the 6.3 crore MSMEs are not only contributing one-third to the nation’s GDP but also help in the employment of the population in the non-formal sector.
The MSMEs play a major role in the transformation of India from an emergent power to a reputable financial center. Not wrong in saying that the MSMEs will be the gear in the wheel for this journey.
Importance of MSME for the economy
Throughout the world, the MSMEs have been accepted to be a major means of economic growth and for the promotion of justifiable development. The rate of growth in the highest rate is from the MSMEs.
Requiring Low investment for setting up, flexible operation, and the ability to develop the native technology accordingly are few major reasons that MSMEs have for having taken India to greater heights. The second-largest employment generating sector next to agriculture, employing about approximately 120 million people.
MSME ministry targets to increase the GDP to 50% due to their contribution by the year 2025, as India moves ahead to become a $5 trillion economy.
At present, they contribute about one-third of the GDP which is 6.11% from manufacturing, and about 24.63 from the MSME service activities of the 45 lac units across the nation.
MSMEs contribute about 45% of the overall exports. By specifically employing the people in weaker sections of the rural society, the MSMEs promote all-round development through the provision of employment opportunities.
Opportunities to utilize banking services and products are encouraged to be used by MSMEs in tier 2 and tier 3 cities thereby an additional way wherein the amount can be used in the inclusion of the final economy contribution.
MSMEs encourage innovation in budding entrepreneurs to build new products thereby boosting the growth and help in fueling the economy.
COVID-19 and its impact
MSME’s play a crucial role in realizing the vision of ‘Aatmanirbhar’ or self-reliant India. It was also one of the hardest-hit sectors due to the COVID -19 pandemic as the supply chains in world trade took a major jolt and came to a standstill. The government has been lending helping hands to regain the momentum in these sectors, knowing that prioritizing the development of these sectors is critical to the overall development of the Nation. As much as the Government provides support to these sectors, the benefits can be utilized only if the Business is registered as MSME under the MSME act. An economic package was proposed to regain the momentum, about 20 lac crores almost 10% of the GDP was brought in to help all sectors including the farmers, middle-class people, industrial units, and MSMEs.
LOAN TO MSME
Around two lakh MSMEs would be benefited from the 20,000 crore subordinated debts announced for MSMEs.
A collateral loan of three lac was provided with a tenure of four years.
The definition of MSMEs was changed which now included turnover as one of the parameters in addition to investment. Micro units can have a 5 crore turnover, with no global tender for up to 200 crores and any pending payment to the MSMEs to be made in 45 days.
A 12month moratorium on the loans and a 100% credit guarantee cover to be provided as well. These loans were provided until October 31st this year. Close to 45 lac MSMEs were supposed to be benefitted from this.
Global tenders up to 200 crores were banned in any Government venture, as foreign companies are bright competitors and use unfair practices to procure the opportunities. The result of which Indian MSMEs falling prey to such international giants. Banning these will help enhance the vision of a self-reliant India and also enable ‘make in India’ to come true sooner.
As the Government now highlights the role of MSMEs in enhancing exports and thereby making our country self-reliant, the need to import from China will stop. These were the Union Minister, Nitin Gadkari’s thoughts that echoed in his meeting .
Being self-reliant already being implemented in industries such as automobile and agriculture, solutions have been seemingly found and the need to import from China has certainly not been seen as a necessity. The results of which were seen sooner as India was now observed to export a lot than importing.
He also said that as far as Indian policies are concerned, our way of technology acceptance, reducing the production cost and providing products of good quality, the young talented manpower in the country is no doubt the strength behind the achievement of self-reliant India.
With the majority of countries not interested to be dealing with China currently, rather providing an advantageous situation for us; as they are rather interested in doing business with India. A great opportunity for the manufacturing sectors to scale up capabilities to boost exports and thereby contributing to the increase in the economy.
With positive trends showing lesser imports from China and greater exports, the minister added that MSMEs are doing a great job despite facing an economic crisis. He also added that the Government had sanction 93 schemes and over 100 schemes are in pipeline would be cleared sooner to pave the way development of MSMEs.
Certain areas that could boost the development of MSMEs at a quicker rate would be below
Artificial intelligence
Robotics
Using the waste to make something useful (in short waste to wealth)
Sustainability
Virtual reality-based solutions
E-mobility
Development of smart villages.
If we see notable developments in the above areas that could be an added advantage for us.
A lot of collaborative projects like centers of excellence are being set up across the nation. These projects are being set up across the IITs and NIITS which are one of the premier educational and research institutes. This would help ignite younger minds and also pave way for numerous budding entrepreneurs.
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COPYRIGHT NOTICE – @Sindhu Vinod Narayan. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Sindhu Vinod Narayan (Thatmadrasmom) with the right and specific direction to the original content.
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