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Indian Express
2 days ago
- General
- Indian Express
Manifestation and angel numbers: The quiet search for meaning online
I check my phone as a notification lights up. The time reads 5:55. In a second, I am transported back to 2020, to a version of me chasing angel numbers and their meanings the way a dog chases a passing car: wide-eyed, relentless, totally convinced it was all leading somewhere. As a twenty-something girl coping with a complicated 'situationship', I slowly found myself pulled into the world of manifestation, affirmations, and angel numbers. For the uninitiated, angel numbers refer to numerical patterns, most often a sequence of repeated numbers, that some believe carry hidden messages from the universe, or the angels, so to speak. Though angel numbers have been around for centuries, the concept gained traction in the early 2000s in the West as part of New Age spirituality. But more recently, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, the Internet became obsessed with manifestations (visualising a future) and affirmations (repeating positive phrases) in hopes of making dreams come true. For me, it was a quick fix to get 'the boy' back, but over time, it became something that helped me cope with stress, uncertainty, and health scares during the pandemic. Affirmation videos on YouTube with chants like 'I am okay' and 'I am healthy' helped me get through the fear of contracting the virus, which for the longest time had no cure and had brought the world to a standstill. A way to cope Like many, I always thought I was a practical, logical person until I needed something to believe in, something to help me move forward and feel in control. And maybe that is what all of this was, at the core — a way of holding on. There were only so many loaves of banana bread you could bake, or so many whipped Dalgona coffees you could make. After a point, the stillness became unbearable, and people reached for anything that made them feel like they were still connected to a future they could no longer clearly picture. A 28-year-old business director from Mumbai shared that he reconnected with spirituality when faced with personal adversity. 'I was always spiritual, but it was during Covid-19 that I got into it again, when my mum was diagnosed with cancer. For how long can you stick to trends and keep making Dalgona coffee? When the cases started to rise, it got real. That is when I started manifesting again, mostly through practising gratitude every night. I would thank the universe for things, and I still do it.' At the peak of the pandemic, with people stuck indoors and schools, temples, and community spaces closed off, the Internet opened its arms. TikTok became an oracle, Instagram a guide, and YouTube a sanctuary. According to Google Trends, searches for 'manifesting' went up 600 per cent. Manifestation accounts gained traction all over social media, racking up followers and views. From gratitude scripting to candle rituals, creators were teaching people how to ask the universe for love, money, clarity, or peace. Every other post was about visualising your dream life, attracting the right energy, or writing your goals 33 times for three days. It did not matter whether it worked; what mattered was that it gave people something to do, a way to feel a little more in control. The business director added, 'Taking a step back and practising gratitude, chanting personal affirmations I came up with, that really helped me through the negativity.' Spirituality in the age of apps and reels The Secret, a book first published in 2006, also found a second life online. Its central idea, that your thoughts shape your reality, suddenly felt more relevant than ever. Even if you had not read the book, its messages were everywhere: 'Trust the timing of your life', 'the universe is always working in your favour', 'what you think, you attract.' Anjali Khanchandani, 20, shares: 'I first tried it because it was trending, but it actually made me feel good, so I kept going. I read The Secret, and then started following a YouTube channel that shared manifestation success stories, which really pulled me in. Once I tried it myself and saw it working, I began to believe in it. Even now, I use it for almost everything.' People started using these tricks and tools not just for peace of mind, but to manifest growth in their professional lives, too. Sharing her manifestation journey, Devanshee Arora, a 23-year-old teacher, said, 'During Covid-19, I had a lot of time, and through social media, reels, posts, I got into numerology. Even if I was doubtful, I still did it. And honestly, it worked for me.' 'I only had four students at the coaching centre I used to teach at. After getting into manifestation, I too ended up getting a class of 60 students. I still practise manifestation, I listen to and write affirmations. I even stop people when they speak negatively,' she added. Covid-19 also saw a rise in astrology apps like Astrotalk, Astroyogi, and GaneshaSpeaks. With a small joining fee and the first 'chat free', a lot of people found themselves talking to digital gurus predicting their future. Questions like 'When will I get married?' or 'Will I clear my exam?' started to appear on chat screens. Tarot readings, once seen as niche or expensive, also became widespread. Readers with soothing voices and velvet backdrops popped up on screens, asking people to pick one deck out of the three, offering collective readings on reels. They would say, 'whoever finds this, I have a message for you.' Moving on For a 26-year-old auditor, tarot became her new normal when she found herself heartbroken over a complicated crush. 'When I saw my crush with someone else, I did not know what to do. I had strong feelings for him. To understand why it was happening, I started going for tarot readings,' she said. 'I spent a lot of money, went to at least 10 readers. But out of those, only two really made sense. The rest did not help much; they just said enough to keep me coming back. I also tried astrology apps, especially after my father passed away, trying to figure out what was happening in my life,' she added. Her journey, however, was short-lived. 'I do not believe in all of this anymore. It did not really work. Angel numbers did not work for me either,' she said, adding that she cringes when she looks back at how much she believed in it, and how much she spent on it. My own connection to meditation and affirmations faded too. It started to feel a bit fake, like something I no longer fully believed in. While some may look back at it as a strange but meaningful phase, many still carry their beliefs and practices with them. Spirituality, once quiet and personal, now shows up in shopping carts. Affirmation decks, gratitude journals, crystal kits, and manifestation candles are suddenly everywhere. It makes the whole idea more approachable, even tempting to try. Whether it sparked lasting belief or served as a temporary fix, the spiritual wave of the pandemic revealed that in the absence of control, people reached for hope that made the silence feel a little less empty.
Express Tribune
15-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
More than just a drink
Coffee's pop icon status is firmly established — from Starbucks' iconic Frappuccino turning 30 this year to the latest TikTok trends leading us to try Dalgona or cloud coffee. But beyond fads, coffee has been brewed in ceremonies and sipped in salons across time and geography. Its history is steeped in colonialism; establishments serving it have also fuelled revolutionary thinkers, reports DW. Today, rising global temperatures and erratic rainfall are hitting farmers hard, leading coffee prices to soar to record highs. But the beverage remains — at least for now — an intrinsic part of world culture. Here's a (non-exhaustive) look at how and why it came to be that around 2 billion cups of coffee are reportedly drunk daily worldwide. Mythical and spiritual roots Legend credits an Ethiopian goatherd named Kaldi with discovering coffee after he'd noticed his goats becoming frisky from eating red berries. While the story is likely apocryphal, coffee — namely the Arabica variety — is indeed native to Ethiopia's Kaffa region, where it still plays a ritual role. The Ethiopian coffee ceremony, where beans are roasted over an open flame and brewed in a clay jebena, is a moment of pause, hospitality and community. In Senegal, cafe Touba — infused with Guinea pepper and cloves — originated from Islamic Sufi traditions and is both a beverage and spiritual practice. In Turkey, unfiltered coffee brewed in a copper cezve is often followed by a reading of the leftover grounds, a centuries-old tradition that is still cherished, even among Turkey's Gen Zs. In Brazil, the cafezinho — a tiny, sweet shot of coffee — is a symbol of welcome, offered everywhere from homes to street corners. Finally in 2020, as the world hunkered down during the COVID lockdown, South Korea's Dalgona coffee — instant coffee whipped with sugar and water — exploded on TikTok. Beyond aesthetics, the trend offered people a simple, soothing ritual. Unique flavours Across cultures, coffee has taken wildly inventive forms. In Nordic countries like Finland and Sweden, black boiled coffee is sometimes poured over cubes of kaffeost, or "coffee cheese," made from cow or reindeer milk, in a centuries-old tradition. Vietnam's ca phe trung (or egg coffee) blends whipped egg yolk with sweetened condensed milk — a wartime improvisation that is now ubiquitous. Then there's Indonesia's kopi luwak, often called the "Holy Grail of Coffees," made from partially digested beans that have been eaten and defecated by the Asian palm civet. Though prized for its smooth, fermented flavour, kopi luwak has been ethically controversial. High demand has led some producers to cage and force-feed civets. Others now promote "wild-sourced" versions from free-roaming animals, but third-party verification has been inconsistent. From sacred brew to global commodity Coffee didn't just travel in sacks — it travelled with trade winds, spiritual journeys and imperial ambitions. Though discovered in Ethiopia, the earliest written evidence of coffee cultivation points to Yemen. There, it earned the Arabic term "qahwa" — originally meaning wine - which gave rise to the words coffee and cafe. Sufi mystics drank it to maintain spiritual focus during long night chants. The port of Mocha on Yemen's Red Sea coast became a centre of trade, shipping beans across the Islamic world and into Asia. Another legend says that an Indian Sufi saint, Baba Budan, smuggled seven fertile beans from Yemen to southern India in the 17th century, defying an Arab monopoly. That act seeded coffee plantations in Karnataka's Chikmagalur region. Soon, European colonial powers also grasped the bean's potential. The Dutch planted it in Java, the French in the Caribbean and the Portuguese in Brazil — each expansion driven by empire and built on the backs of enslaved labour. Brazil, introduced to coffee in the 1700s, would grow into the world's largest producer. Even Australia, a latecomer, has developed a robust coffee culture. Fun fact: Both Australia and New Zealand claim to have invented the flat white in the 1980s. Conspiracies, civil unrest and cats Throughout history, cafes have been more than watering holes — they've been incubators of ideas, art and revolution. In 16th-century Istanbul, authorities repeatedly tried to ban them, fearing that caffeine-fuelled gatherings could spark unrest. In Enlightenment-era Europe, cafes offered a cup of coffee and a heady dose of radical thought, frequented by thinkers like Voltaire and Rousseau. In colonial America, coffee became a patriotic substitute for British-taxed tea. Boston's Green Dragon Tavern, dubbed the "Headquarters of the Revolution," hosted meetings of the Sons of Liberty — activists who organised resistance against British rule, particularly unfair taxation and policies that eventually led to the American Revolution. Over the past decades, cafes have returned as a "third place" — neither home nor office, but somewhere in between. Coffeehouses have also evolved into refuges for modern life. In the early 1990s, when home internet access was not yet widespread, many cafes started providing public internet access, which drew people to start working from those spaces. Meanwhile, other cafe owners came up with unusual perks for their businesses. In Taipei, the world's first cat cafe — Cat Flower Garden — opened in 1998, giving urbanites a cosy space to sip and socialise among feline companions. The trend exploded in Japan and now thrives worldwide, where the blend of caffeine and calm continues to comfort overstimulated cities.
DW
13-06-2025
- Business
- DW
The cuppa that connects us: Coffee drinking across cultures – DW – 06/13/2025
The beverage's global consumption has been rooted in culture, comfort, rebellion — and TikTok fame. Coffee's pop icon status is firmly established — from Starbucks' iconic Frappuccino turning 30 this year to the latest Tiktok trends leading us to try Dalgona coffee. But across time and geography, coffee has been brewed in ceremonies and sipped in salons. Its history is steeped in colonialism; establishments serving it have also fueled revolutionary thinkers. Today, rising global temperatures and erratic rainfall are hitting farmers hard, leading coffee prices to soar to record highs, but the beverage remains — at least for now — an intrinsic part of world culture. Here's a (non-exhaustive) look at how and why it came to be that around two billion cups of coffee are reportedly drunk daily worldwide. Mythical and spiritual roots Legend credits an Ethiopian goatherd named Kaldi with discovering coffee after he'd noticed his goats becoming frisky from eating red berries. While the story is likely apocryphal, coffee — namely the Arabica variety — is indeed native to Ethiopia's Kaffa region, where it still plays a ritual role. The Ethiopian coffee ceremony, where beans are roasted over an open flame and brewed in a clay "jebena," is a moment of pause, hospitality and community. In Senegal, "cafe Touba" — infused with Guinea pepper and cloves — originated from Islamic Sufi traditions and is both a beverage and spiritual practice. Turkish coffee culture and tradition was listed as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2013 Image: Liu Lei/Xinhua/picture alliance In Turkey, unfiltered coffee brewed in a copper "cezve" is often followed by a reading of the leftover grounds, a centuries-old tradition that is still cherished, even among Turkey's Gen Zs. In Brazil, the cafezinho — a tiny, sweet shot of coffee — is a symbol of welcome, offered everywhere from homes to street corners. Finally in 2020, as the world hunkered down during the COVID lockdown, South Korea's Dalgona coffee — instant coffee whipped with sugar and water — exploded on TikTok. Beyond aesthetics, the trend offered people a simple, soothing ritual. Unique flavors: Cheese, egg and … poop? Across cultures, coffee has taken wildly inventive forms. In Nordic countries like Finland and Sweden, black boiled coffee is sometimes poured over cubes of kaffeost, or "coffee cheese," made from cow or reindeer milk. A centuries-old tradition. Vietnamese egg coffee with foam featuring patterns of Hanoi's landmarks Image: Pham Dinh Duc/Xinhua/picture alliance Vietnam's ca phe trung (or egg coffee) blends whipped egg yolk with sweetened condensed milk — a wartime improvisation that is now ubiquitous. Then there's Indonesia's "kopi luwak," often called the "Holy Grail of Coffees," made from partially digested beans that have been eaten and defecated by the Asian palm civet. Though prized for its smooth, fermented flavor, kopi luwak has been ethically controversial. High demand has led some producers to cage and force-feed civets. Others now promote "wild-sourced" versions from free-roaming animals, but third-party verification has been inconsistent. The ethical harvest of 'kopi luwak' remains moot despite assurances to that effect Image: Rafael Ben-Ari/Avalon/picture alliance From sacred brew to global commodity Coffee didn't just travel in sacks — it traveled with trade winds, spiritual journeys and imperial ambitions. Though discovered in Ethiopia, the earliest written evidence of coffee cultivation points to Yemen. There, it earned the Arabic term "qahwa" — originally meaning wine — which gave rise to the words coffee and cafe. Sufi mystics drank it to maintain spiritual focus during long night chants. The port of Mocha on Yemen's Red Sea coast became a center of trade, shipping beans across the Islamic world and into Asia. An 1850 engraving of people working at a coffee plantation in Brazil Image: Ann Ronan Picture Library/Photo12/picture alliance Another legend says that Indian Sufi saint, Baba Budan, smuggled seven fertile beans from Yemen to southern India in the 17th century, defying an Arab monopoly. That act seeded coffee plantations in Karnataka's Chikmagalur region. Soon, European colonial powers grasped the bean's potential too. The Dutch planted it in Java, the French in the Caribbean, and the Portuguese in Brazil — each expansion driven by empire and built on the backs of enslaved labor. Brazil, introduced to coffee in the 1700s, would grow into the world's largest producer. Even Australia, a latecomer, developed a robust coffee culture. Fun fact: Both Australia and New Zealand claim to have invented the flat white in the 1980s. Brazil, the world's largest coffee producer, has been impacted by climate change and soaring prices Image: Igor Do Vale/ZUMA Press Wire/picture alliance Cafes: Conspiracies, civil unrest and cats Throughout history, cafes have been more than watering holes — they've been incubators of ideas, art and revolution. In 16th-century Istanbul, authorities repeatedly tried to ban them, fearing that caffeine-fueled gatherings could spark unrest. In Enlightenment-era Europe, cafes offered a cup of coffee and a heady dose of radical thought, frequented by thinkers like Voltaire and Rousseau. In colonial America, coffee became a patriotic substitute for British-taxed tea. Boston's Green Dragon Tavern, dubbed the "Headquarters of the Revolution," hosted meetings of the Sons of Liberty — activists who organized resistance against British rule, particularly unfair taxation and policies that eventually led to the American Revolution. Over the past decades, cafes have returned as a "third place" — neither home nor office, but somewhere in between. Coffeehouses have also evolved into refuges for modern life. In the early 1990s, when home internet access was not yet widespread, many cafes started providing public internet access, which drew people to start working from those spaces. Meanwhile, other cafe owners came up with unusual perks for their businesses. In Taipei, the world's first cat cafe — Cat Flower Garden — opened in 1998, giving urbanites a cozy space to sip and socialize among feline companions. The trend exploded in Japan and now thrives worldwide, where the blend of caffeine and calm continues to comfort overstimulated cities. Edited by: Elizabeth Grenier
Time of India
12-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
COVID-19 without a vaccine: How many people would have died? Here's a thought experiment
Let's time-travel for a moment—but not to a land of flying cars or robot butlers. Instead, let's picture an alternate reality: the COVID-19 pandemic, without any vaccines. No shots, no immunity drives, no fully vaccinated stickers on social media. Just endless variants, overloaded ICUs, and a world stuck in limbo. Scary? Oh, it would've been terrifying. Year one: Déjà Vu and denial The virus hits. Lockdowns begin. People bake banana bread, make Dalgona coffee and search for toilet paper like it's gold. Everyone's hopeful that 'normal' will return soon. But in this no-vaccine universe, the promise of a shot never materializes. There's no Pfizer miracle or Moderna breakthrough. The wait just goes on… and on. Governments pump money into testing and contact tracing, but let's be real—humans are social creatures, and not everyone plays by the rules. The virus continues to spread, morphing into new variants faster than you can say 'flatten the curve.' Hospitals turn into war zones Remember how things were in early 2020? Now multiply that by years. With no vaccine to protect even the most vulnerable, hospitals become battlegrounds. ICUs are filled to the brim. Nurses are running on caffeine and heartbreak. Doctors are forced to make unthinkable decisions: Who gets the last ventilator? Whose life gets saved? Elective surgeries are cancelled. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Perdagangkan CFD Emas dengan Broker Tepercaya IC Markets Mendaftar Undo Cancer treatments are delayed. Pregnant women face birthing in isolated COVID wards. The ripple effect is brutal, and it's not just COVID killing people anymore—it's everything else the system can't handle. The economy? Without vaccines, lockdowns become the only tool left to fight transmission. Entire industries collapse. Tourism? Ghost town. Restaurants? Bleeding money. Schools? On-again, off-again like a bad relationship. Small businesses close shops permanently. Unemployment soars. Mental health spirals. Zoom fatigue becomes a real medical condition (okay, not officially, but it should be). Parents juggle full-time jobs with full-time homeschooling. And kids? They lose precious years of real education, social skills, and childhood joy. Governments try stimulus packages, but the longer the pandemic drags on, the more the global economy limps. Developing countries, especially, are hit hard. Inequality widens. Some people can afford to stay home and get groceries delivered; others have to risk their lives daily to survive. Variants rule the world In our real timeline, vaccines helped prevent the worst-case scenario with Delta and Omicron. But in this world? Mutations go unchecked. Each wave is worse than the last. One variant is deadlier, another more contagious, a third one possibly affects kids more than adults. Every time we think, 'This is the peak,' a new spike slams the world back into lockdown. Scientists scramble for therapies—monoclonal antibodies, antivirals, you name it. But without widespread immunity, the virus has the upper hand. You can treat individuals, sure, but you can't stop mass transmission. Life becomes a constant trade-off Want to go to a concert? Too risky. Visit your parents? Depends on their age and how full the hospitals are. Dating? Let's just say 'Zoom first, maybe meet in 2027.' Weddings are still on hold, funerals are livestreamed, and holiday gatherings come with moral dilemmas. Everything becomes a personal risk assessment. Every cough sends someone into a panic spiral. Your social calendar isn't built around fun anymore—it's built around fear and exposure. Air travel remains restricted or totally banned in many countries. Global movement slows down. Cultural exchanges, international students, and borderless careers? Put on indefinite pause. The human toll Without vaccines, we could've lost tens of millions more people—young, old, rich, poor. It wouldn't just be about health; it would be about identity, grief, and generational trauma. Healthcare workers would burn out at record speed. Entire families would be wiped out. Essential workers—from delivery drivers to sanitation staff—would keep everything running while taking the biggest risks. The 'clap for heroes' moments would fade, replaced by frustration and despair. And long COVID? That silent, chronic thief of energy and brainpower would be far more common. We'd have millions of people unable to work or function at their previous level—with no end in sight. But wouldn't we have reached herd immunity naturally? Sure, some argue that we might've eventually achieved herd immunity the 'natural' way. But let's break that down. For that to happen, 70–90% of the global population would need to get infected and survive. With a 1–3% mortality rate (conservative estimate), we're talking tens of millions of deaths just to get there. And that's before accounting for new variants resetting the clock. It's not 'natural immunity'—it's a brutal numbers game. Plus, immunity from natural infection doesn't always last. Without vaccines, reinfections would be common. You'd never really feel safe. So… why does this matter? Because we came dangerously close to this version of reality. Vaccines didn't just save lives—they saved livelihoods. They helped reopen schools, revive businesses, reunite families. They gave us a path back to something resembling normal. And even though they weren't perfect (hello, breakthrough infections), they drastically reduced hospitalizations, severe illness, and death. They bought us time. They gave scientists breathing room to study the virus and develop treatments. They allowed healthcare systems to catch up. And they reminded us that global collaboration, for all its flaws, can move mountains when the stakes are high. So next time someone downplays the vaccine effort or tosses out a conspiracy theory, remember: the alternative wasn't some magical utopia where everyone lived happily ever after without shots. It was this—an endless cycle of grief, isolation, and survival. We didn't get everything right in this pandemic, but the vaccine? That was one of humanity's best comeback moves. Thank science, thank researchers, and thank your lucky stars we didn't get stuck in the timeline without it. One step to a healthier you—join Times Health+ Yoga and feel the change
The Hindu
20-05-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
Wholebrew, a take-away spot for cold and hot brews in Thiruvananthapuram
Jostling for space in a 10x9 room near Sasthamangalam junction in Thiruvananthapuram is an espresso machine, grinder, freezer-cum-cooler, cylinder, stoves, utensils, packaging material…This is from where Athulya JR runs Wholebrew, a take-away spot for coffee and toast. The talking point of the place has been its round hatch window to serve orders and a service bell hung outside. 'The service window was an experiment and people liked it. The bell was kept to pique everyone's curiosity,' Athulya says. Athulya says that the idea has been brewing in her mind for a while; even when she was working after completing her course in User Interface (UI) and User Experience Design from the National Institute of Fashion Technology, Kannur. 'Although I got a job soon after I passed out, I always wanted to start something on my own. I was also unhappy with the atmosphere at my workplace, especially navigating office politics. The situation was no different even after I moved to Dubai. It was difficult to work in a male-dominated environment. The pandemic saw many employees being laid off, most of whom were women. That was the last straw. I quit and came home,' she says. While on a one-year break at her home at Mangattukadavu in Thiruvananthapuram, Athulya had decided that she would not work under anyone. Realising that coffee culture was gaining ground in Thiruvananthapuram, she decided to cash in on that. Coffee is her 'cup of tea' , especially cold coffee. 'I enjoyed the basic cold coffee and was never into the premium, high-end varieties from big brands.' Athulya, 28, adds that although she wanted to spend some time on the idea she could not because the space came up for grabs suddenly. 'I didn't want to let it go. I invested whatever money I had and opened it,' she says. She opted for the take-away concept because that seemed the viable option with the space available. 'Also, there are many who love their coffee on the go. I wanted to put up a big espresso machine and other equipment. But, right now, this is enough and people have accepted us as well.' Athulya manages the shop alone, except on certain days when one of her friends chips in. The menu has 10 varieties of cold coffee, including iced latte, Americano and cappuccino, fluffy Dalgona, caramel macchiato, Nutella coffee, vanilla frappe etc, priced from ₹80 onwards. Then there are hot coffees such as latte, Americano, cappuccino and mocha besides a healthy smoothie. While there is a fixed menu, specials are served occasionally. The toast varieties such as honey toast, Nutella with banana, and chocolate, coffee and Nutella options with ice cream (₹60 onwards) have many fans. 'I wanted to have pancakes and waffles on the menu. But since I manage everything alone, I found toast to be the best option,' she says. Latest addition on the list is egg and cheese sandwich. Wholebrew is open 3.30pm to 11 pm, Monday to Friday, and from 11am to 11pm on Saturdays. Contact: 7994996956
