This Golden Milk DIY Mask Is a Drink of Hydration For Your Face

Golden milk is one of the hottest buzz terms in health right now. This magical concoction has been used for centuries in Ayurvedic medicine and features a mix of turmeric, coconut milk, and sometimes coconut oil. We already know turmeric has amazing beauty benefits (for bringing down inflammation and offering antiaging elements). Coconut oil and milk have been seen "superfoods" for hair, skin, nails — you name it — thanks to their naturally hydrating abilities. So when you combine this all together, you get a DIY formula that will make you look and feel your best.
To get an exclusive skin mask DIY featuring golden milk, we asked Joanna Vargas, a celebrity esthetician and owner of her eponymous brand and spa. Joanna whipped one up for us and also explained why it's so damn good for you: "This anti-inflammatory and hydrating face mask recipe is a treat to your skin, similar to the Ayurvedic drink golden milk being a treat to your body. It's wonderful for anyone who has supersensitive skin, but even for normal skin types, it makes the skin look flawless."
She also notes that not all turmerics are created equal. "Make sure you are using pure organic turmeric," she said. "Some generic store-bought options contain dyes that can stain your skin after application. This is one ingredient where you must go organic."
Here is what you need to create it:
DIY Golden Milk Mask
1/2 cup of coconut yogurt
1/4 tsp. organic ground turmeric
1 tsp. honey
1 tsp. coconut oil
Instructions: Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Apply to face and leave on for 10 minutes; rinse thoroughly with a warm washcloth, being sure to not leave any traces of the mask behind.
Why it works: "Combining coconut milk/oil with turmeric makes for an anti-inflammatory super combo," Joanna explained. "Coconut oil is loaded with essential fatty acids to lock in moisture. Add that to its additional anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antibacterial properties and you have the perfect base for a face mask. Turmeric is an ancient skin care treatment and rightfully so: it also provides powerful anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anti-bacterial properties to the skin. Both of these ingredients work simultaneously to create a flawless complexion."

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5 Amazing Things No One Ever Tells You About Therapy

 "Only the crazy kids go there" was the first response I'd gotten from my peers when trying to gauge the vibe of our college counseling services.
I was in my senior year of undergraduate studies when my life became doused with unfortunate events and overwhelming decisions. During my time in college I mastered the persona of a girl that always had her sh*t together, but in a matter of months that all changed. I was extremely stressed out and crumbling, and I knew that I couldn't offload my feelings to my family or friends. When my emotions became too much to bear, I knew therapy would be the answer to my problems. But I faced a huge dilemma: I didn't want my family to know that I was seeing a therapist — or worse, think I was crazy or emotionally damaged, though I felt like I was.
I remember scanning my campus website and noticing that free counseling services were offered to students. It was just what I needed! I wouldn't have to go too far between classes to talk to a professional (and my family would be totally in the dark). But then it hit me: What would people think of me if they saw me going in for counseling? Would they call me crazy? Was I crazy?
Before I made my decision, I had to pick the brains of a few students to see what their thoughts were on the service. Plenty of my peers pointed out that only "weird people" went to the counseling floor. But after weeks of weighing out the pros and cons, my curiosity and desperate need for help surpassed my desire to avoid being called weird by my peers."F*ck it," I told myself, and I made my first appointment.
When the day came, I was summoned to a room and greeted with a smile. "How are you, Aimee?" I was asked by a seemingly happy woman. Before I could say a word, a flood of emotions took over me. I couldn't keep it together. I cried my eyes out and gave her what felt like my entire life story in under an hour. I was handed tissues as I sobbed and before I knew it my session was over.
I continued meeting with her for an entire year until I graduated. Fast forward to over a year later, I successfully completed college, and now, I am in a much better place emotionally than I was as a 20-year-old senior. My entire perspective on speaking to a therapist has also changed. While I am no longer seeing a therapist, there are times I consider going back. For one hour a week I was given the opportunity to lay out all of my problems, and I was given all the tools and education I needed to change them IRL — all while never feeling as if I was being judged. It was that one hour a week that made me a much better person and adult.
I've learned that while it is unfortunate that society has allowed many of us to feel crazy for seeking help, it is important, and quite liberating once we do. Since my very last session I've tried to convince all my 20-something-year-old friends to speak to a therapist at least once, whether they are going through a tough time or not. I've grown to believe that seeking therapy doesn't make you crazy, but makes you smarter and stronger than ever. Here's why:

You can get sh*t off your chest in a safe space

Between school, work, pursuing a career, family, relationships, and becoming an adult, life can begin to feel like a really intense puzzle. It is common to avoid being completely open with the people closest to you. However, in therapy you are given designated time to focus on your feelings and needs alone. Everything discussed in therapy is also confidential, so you won't have to worry about anything you say meeting another set of ears, or dealing with awkwardness between family and friends. Plus, an hour (or more) to sit and talk about whatever you want — without interruption — will feel like a huge relief once it's all said and done.

Instead of just venting, you can create actionable solutions

If you've ever felt like you are constantly stressed out about the same things, but nothing ever changes, therapy will help fix that. Once you've released the bulk of your venting, your therapist will strategically work with you to come up with realistic solutions and actions for your life. You can act out scenarios and figure out ways to address any concerns you may have. With a little coaching, you'd be surprised at how confident you'll feel to act on things you probably wouldn't have before.

It'll improve your relationships

You don't have to be in a romantic relationship or attend some form of group therapy to improve how you communicate with other people. During therapy, you'd be surprised at how much you learn about yourself, how you affect others, and vice versa. If you're dealing with an issue in any relationship, going to therapy can also open your mind to view things from another person's perspective, allowing you to handle situations so both parties can benefit. You'll be more aware of your personality, and you'll treat others better as a result.

You'll feel more confident

If you go into therapy feeling invisible, you'll notice a huge boost in confidence even after just one session. Sharing your problems with a therapist can open your eyes to how strong you've actually been the entire time. As you make small, positive changes, you will feel more empowered to take control of situations and your emotions — without the help of a professional.

It'll keep you strong when things get tough

Even though I am not in therapy at the moment, I find myself referencing many of my learnings in my life today. As a result, I handle stressful situations better than I would have before. The strength you gain from therapy is very likely to stick. You'll handle more of life's situations with a smile rather than with stress, and you'll be so proud of your choice to go to therapy in the first place.

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Model slams 'prudes' who called her lingerie ad 'amateur porn'

 

 Guess model Simone Holtznagel is clearly not one to be messed with.

An ad for Playboy lingerie was banned Monday after complaints to the Advertising Standards Bureau. The reason? It was too sexy. "Vulgar" apparently. Now the ad's star has taken to Instagram to vent about it.

According to Mumbrella, one complaint labelled the ad, shown in the window of underwear boutique Bras N Things, as"amateur porn" and said Holtznagel was "not merely modelling the underwear, they were moving suggestively, gyrating and looking lasciviously at the camera … It was a demeaning and embarrassing display."

The watchdog's decision was based on their view that "the silent, moving image draws the eye of passers-by … the model is stroking her hair and her moving her body suggestively and that this amounts to a sexualised impact."

But the video's star also takes offence, albeit for totally opposite reasons. Holtznagel did not mince words in her Instagram response to the advertisement's ban, saying "How dare you sexualise my body. How dare — after all society's requests — you take a confident and carefree depiction of a normal, healthy womanly body, promoting women's products to women, and deem it offensive."
"Do not impress your insecurities on me, whether physical or sexual. But by saying my body, just comfortably being my body, is somehow 'wrong' or 'dirty' you are insulting and potentially damaging any woman who may identify with me. Keep your neuroses off my body and go watch some REAL porn, you might be less uptight." 

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Australia's first driverless bus has begun public trials

Australia's driverless future just got one bus length closer.
An autonomous electric bus, known as the RAC Intellibus, has begun on-road trials in Perth. Driving along the South Perth Esplanade, it will carry passengers while dodging anything from parked cars to cyclists.

What's This?

The RAC Intellibus is taking to the road in Perth.

Image: RAC

Australia's driverless future just got one bus length closer.
An autonomous electric bus, known as the RAC Intellibus, has begun on-road trials in Perth. Driving along the South Perth Esplanade, it will carry passengers while dodging anything from parked cars to cyclists.

SEE ALSO: Singapore gets world's first driverless taxis

To undertake the three-month public trial, the Royal Automobile Club of Western Australia (RAC) received a special permit from the state government. Patrick Walker, RAC executive general manager, told Mashable he expects that if the trial goes well, the route will be extended with the appropriate permits.
The current route is about 2.5 kilometres (1.6 miles) long, which amounts to a 20-minute circuit. Walker said the third phase of the trial would potentially travel from Sir James Mitchell Park and past Perth Zoo, which is about 20 minutes one way.
The esplanade trip was chosen because the RAC team wanted a route that wasn't too complicated and that stayed off high-speed roads. The bus has a maximum speed of 45 km (28 m) per hour, but will typically travel at 20 km (12 m) per hour.
"It's a pretty busy place with parked cars, pedestrians, cyclists and other vehicles, as well as dogs," Walker said. "We needed a site that had a degree of complexity, but that was realistic for the site of a first trial."

There are 11 seats, as well as space for four people to stand.

Potential passengers can register to try the driverless bus, he said, which will operate Monday to Thursday, as well as Saturdays.
In Walker's view, the bus is a level-five automation — the highest level of automation under the SAE classification system — given it has no steering wheel, no operator and no pedals.
Its LIDAR system uses ultraviolet light to sense and avoid obstacles, supported by stereovision cameras that can read traffic signals. Like many other vehicles already on the road, it also has GPS and autonomous emergency braking that should leap into action if a potential collision is detected.
The bus has 11 seats. There is room for four to stand, but no one will be standing during the trial for safety reasons. Also, as a precaution, seat belts have been installed. There will be a chaperone on board who can press the emergency stop button if necessary, but their main role will be to answer questions.

"We'll be conservative, it won't be zipping around the streets."

"We'll be conservative, it won't be zipping around the streets," Walker said.
As part of an effort to reduce the number of cars on the road, Walker sees the technology fitting what's known as the "first and last mile" of people's journeys — small but inconvenient distances for which people often jump in their cars.
"If you had a regular shuttle bus, you could hop on where you live and it could take you to a train, bus or ferry," he suggested.
Walker hopes the trial will win over Aussies. "Over the next three months, we're keen to give members of the public the chance to not only see this new technology, but also try it," he said. "We've been pleasantly surprised, the majority of people are keen to have a go."
In only four years, Walker predicted, autonomous vehicles will be readily available: "We just want to be sure we can safely transition driverless vehicles into our public road network."

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Trump Hits Clinton For Not Doing News Conferences While Banning Reporters From His Pressers The GOP nominee’s media blacklist has excluded a big chunk of the press

John Moore via Getty Images

Donald Trump and the Republican Party have attacked Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton for not holding news conferences, even though he has banned dozens of reporters from attending his own.

WASHINGTON – Republicans have ramped up their hammering of Hillary Clinton for not holding a news conference this year – even as their own presidential nominee has been banning dozens of journalists from participating in his.
Trump has banned Univision, Buzzfeed, The Huffington Post, The Daily Beast, The Des Moines Register, Politico and The Washington Post from receiving credentials to his campaign events, including news conferences. The ban prevents reporters who have produced some of the most critical coverage of Trump from even attending, let alone asking questions.
The news organizations were blacklisted because of coverage Trump did not like. (Many of the banned news organizations, though, including this publication, are taking part in a rotation for pool coverage of Trump through the election.) The Des Moines Register was banned after its editorial board called on Trump to drop out of the GOP race last July. HuffPost was also banned last summer after its editors relegated coverage of Trump to its entertainment section. Politico was banned this spring after it ran a story questioning the temperament of its first campaign manager.
This record, though, has not stopped Trump and the RNC from trying to exploit the Democratic presidential nominee’s aversion to question-and-answer sessions with the reporters who cover her campaign daily.
At the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani scolded reporters for not more forcefully demanding news conferences from Clinton. “You, the press should be ashamed of yourself. You should be ashamed for not doing your job,” said Giuliani, now a top Trump supporter. “She should not be allowed to run for president and hide in an ivory tower.”
In the intervening weeks, Republican leaders have taken to taunting Clinton on Twitter, in interviews and in their daily emails to campaign reporters.
“Why is the press OK with that?” asked Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway last week on CNBC. “Two hundred and sixty days, you could have had a baby by then.”
Starting last week, the campaign also began sending out emails counting how many days have passed since Clinton’s last formal news conference in December. “HIDING HILLARY: DAY 269,” was the subject line for Tuesday’s, which included a statement from Trump spokesman Jason Miller demanding “full transparency.”
On the issue of transparency, however, the Trump campaign lags far behind the Clinton operation in one key area: fundraising.
The Clinton campaign, from the day it was launched, has disclosed the location of every fundraiser, the name of the hosts, how many were in attendance and what the minimum donation amount was. The practice has been common for presidential campaigns in recent years. Both President Barack Obama and GOP nominee Mitt Romney routinely disclosed this information in 2012.
Clinton, for example, on Monday released information on three fundraisers she attended in the Hamptons. The third, according to the campaign, was held at the home of Tracy and Jay Snyder in East Hampton, where the 25 attendees each donated a minimum of $33,400 to attend.
Trump also held a fundraiser Monday, at a private home near the Stanford University campus in Woodside, California. His campaign revealed zero information about who attended or how much was raised.
Neither the Trump campaign nor the Republican National Committee, which co-sponsors his events as part of a joint fundraising agreement, responded to requests for comment from HuffPost.
The names of donors and the amounts contributed are eventually reported to the Federal Election Commission, but those records do not reveal the names of the hosts or event locations.

Editor’s note: Donald Trump regularly incites political violence and is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist and birther who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims — 1.6 billion members of an entire religion — from entering the U.S.

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Teen Reportedly Dies From His Girlfriend’s Hickey The suction likely created a blood clot that traveled to his brain.

A hickey turned out to be the kiss of death for a 17-year-old boy in Mexico City.
Julio Macias Gonzalez suffered a stroke that doctors reportedly think was caused by a hickey from his 24-year-old girlfriend, according to the Independent. The teen had convulsions during a family dinner and then died.
The woman’s skin-sucking could have created the blood clot that traveled to Julio’s brain and led to the stroke, according to Hoyestado.com.
His girlfriend, who has not been publicly identified, is reportedly in hiding. Sources told Hoyestado.com that Julio’s parents were already upset over the relationship due to the age difference.
Hickeys usually just cause blemishes to the skin and, occasionally, the reputation, but there have been reports of more serious physical damage.
In 2010, the New Zealand Medical Journal wrote up the case of a 44-year-old woman who was rushed to the hospital after losing movement in her arm under mysterious circumstances. At first, doctors couldn’t figure out why the woman was having a stroke.
Eventually, they noticed a bruise on her neck and figured out that the suction on a major artery created a blood clot that went to her heart and caused a minor stroke, according to KUTV.com. The woman survived.

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Back-To-Back Hurricanes Hurtle Toward Hawaii The first storm, Madeline, could make landfall on the Big Island Wednesday.

HONOLULU ― Two powerful hurricanes, one right behind the other, are headed toward the Hawaiian Islands, prompting the National Weather Service to issue a hurricane warning for Hawaii’s Big Island.
The nearest storm, Madeline, currently a Category 3 hurricane, was moving west toward the Big Island. As of 2 p.m. HST on Tuesday, the storm was about 350 miles east of Hilo and had maximum sustained winds of 110 mph.
Madeline is predicted to bring high winds, flash flooding and high surf to the island on Wednesday if it remains on its current path, according to the Central Pacific Hurricane Center.
Hawaii Gov. David Ige issued an emergency proclamation on Tuesday evening, declaring a disaster relief period from Aug. 31 to Sept. 9.

NOAA

Hurricane Madeline’s predicted course through Sunday.

Forecasters predict Madeline will pass just south of the Big Island around 2 a.m. Thursday, according to The Associated Press. Residents are being told to expect tropical storm conditions and potential hurricane conditions.
“Preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion,” the National Weather Service warning reads.
In Madeline’s wake is Hurricane Lester, which also was a Category 3 storm on course for the Hawaiian Islands. Forecasters predict Lester will weaken to a tropical storm before it reaches land, AP reports.
If either storm makes landfall at hurricane strength on the Big Island, it would be the first hurricane to hit the island in recorded history, according to Weather Underground. In records going back to 1949, tropical storms have hit the Big Island, but no hurricanes. 

NOAA

Hurricanes Madeline (left) and Lester (right) approach Hawaii’s Big Island.

Hawaii News Now reports that meteorologists believe the effects of Madeline could be worse than those of Tropical Storm Iselle, which hit the Big Island in 2014. They’re warning residents to prepare accordingly.
“This looks like potentially the strongest tropical cyclone, which includes hurricanes and tropical storms, to approach very close to the coast in the past several years,” Central Pacific Hurricane Center meteorologist Chris Brenchley told Hawaii News Now.
Florida is also preparing for possible nasty weather, as an unnamed tropical depression strengthens and heads for the state’s Gulf Coast. The National Hurricane Center issued a hurricane watch for parts of the state, warning of potential hurricane conditions and flooding.
In order to stay safe during a major storm, follow National Weather Service hurricane safety guidelines: Prepare a disaster supply kit, have an evacuation plan and stay updated on current storm information.

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Italian Coast Guard Saves 3,000 Migrants From Mediterranean Sea In 30 Separate Rescue Missions

ROME (Reuters) - Some 3000 migrants were saved in the Strait of Sicily in 30 separate rescue missions on Tuesday, the Italian coastguard said, bringing the total to almost 10,000 in two days and marking a sharp acceleration in refugee arrivals in Italy.
The migrants were packed on board dozens of boats, many of them rubber dinghies that become dangerously unstable in high seas. No details were immediately available on their nationalities.

Antonio Melita via Getty Images

Favorable weather conditions this week have seen an increase in boats setting sail.

Data from the International Organization for Migration released on Friday said around 105,000 migrants had reached Italy by boat in 2016, many of them setting sail from Libya. An estimated 2,726 men, women and children have died over the same period trying to make the journey.
Favorable weather conditions this week have seen an increase in boats setting sail. Some 1,100 migrants were picked up on Sunday and 6,500 on Monday, in one of the largest influxes of refugees in a single day so far this year.
Italy has been on the front line of Europe’s migrant crisis for three years, and more than 400,000 have successfully made the voyage to Italy from North Africa since the beginning of 2014, fleeing violence and poverty.

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8 Signs You May Have a Codependent Parent

The Fine Line Between Caring and Codependence

The first thing that comes to mind when we hear the term “codependent” is usually an abusive boyfriend-girlfriend relationship. However, this is not always the case. Believe it or not, most codependent relationships are between a parent and child, not romantic partners. In a codependent parent-child relationship, the lines between protective and obsessive, engaged and over-involved are often blurred beyond recognition. The caregiver/care-receiver nature of a parent-child relationship makes codependency particularly difficult to detect.
Here are a few signs to help you figure out whether your parent-child relationship is codependent.

1. The Codependent Parent Has a Victim Mentality

We all face obstacles in life, but the codependent parent believes that the other people in their life, particularly their children, owe them penance for the wrongs committed against them. Often this manifests in guilt-tripping behavior intended to garner sympathy from the child for negative experiences the parent has been through, with the end goal of altering the child’s behavior in a way that will somehow set things right.
This is where the problems begin. Rather than dealing with the traumas and difficulties in their own life through healthy means such as self-reflection and therapy, the codependent parent latches onto a child and demands compensation.
Compensation can take many forms. Many times a codependent parent will live vicariously through a child. For example, a mother who got pregnant in her teen years may demand repayment of the burden she faced by putting expectations on her daughter to seize advantages in life that she missed out on. A codependent father may demand that his son excel in sports to make up for his own lack of athleticism in childhood. If the child shows signs of taking their own path in life, the parent will use guilt to manipulate them into compliance.

“

Rather than dealing with the traumas and difficulties in their own life, the codependent parent latches onto a child and demands compensation.

2. The Codependent Parent Is Never Wrong

In normal relationships, one party is right some of the time but never all of the time. In a codependent parent-child relationship, the parent is always right. Even when the child is an adult, the parent will refuse to approach an argument or even a simple discussion with openness to the possibility of being wrong. Instead, they will seek to impose their own view of the situation and “correct” the adult child, as opposed to engaging in a discussion where neither party is presumed right by default.
So rather than listening to the child's feelings and problems and learning about the child's personality and way of being in the world, every situation becomes a threat to parent's authority.
Even if it becomes apparent that the codependent parent is wrong, they will not apologize—or, if they do, it will come off as forced or insincere. The codependent parent requires absolute dominance over the child, and any admission of wrongdoing on their part would be a sign of weakness and an invitation to challenge their dominance in the relationship.

“

In a codependent parent-child relationship, the parent is always right.

3. The Codependent Parent Is Overly Emotional

People sometimes end up crying, yelling, and giving others the silent treatment, but the codependent parent has refined these acts into an art form. When they feel that they are losing control of a situation or the upper hand in an argument, they will resort to crying, screaming, and other acts of intimidation to restore the balance in their favor. If called out on this manipulation tactic, the codependent parent will often accuse the child of being callous or insensitive, or feign ignorance altogether.
If the child cries or expresses hurt or anger, the codependent parent may get unusually angry and claim that the display, no matter how genuine, is insincere and being used to manipulate when, in reality, they are upset that their tactic is being turned around on them.

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The codependent parent has refined crying, yelling, temper tantrums, and silent treatments into an art form.

4. The Codependent Parent Never Listens

Many children of codependent parents complain that speaking with their parent is like “talking to a brick wall.” In fact, one doesn’t speak with a codependent parent as much as to them. No matter how valid the argument, the codependent parent will not be moved in their position. Instead, even when presented with irrefutable facts that would cause a normal person to reconsider and reevaluate their position, the codependent parent will either refute the facts or move onto a different argument without addressing the point being made.

“

Speaking with a codependent parent is like “talking to a brick wall.”

5. The Codependent Parent Parrots Words and Phrases

Instead of listening to the child's feelings, a codependent parent will parrot, mirror, or mimic them. If the child claims that the parent is hurting their feelings, for example, the codependent parent will, perhaps seconds or even hours later, return with, “You’re hurting my feelings!” Whatever concern the child expresses, the codependent parent will find a way to turn it around and regurgitate it as their own, thus reversing the defensive and offensive roles in the conversation. If called out on this behavior, the codependent parent will ignore it, become angry, or act bewildered and confused.

“

The codependent parent will find a way to appropriate the child's feelings and present them as their own, thus reversing the defensive and offensive roles in the conversation.

6. The Codependent Parent Has Mood Swings

Drastic mood swings can happen over a couple of minutes or a couple of days, but the codependent parent has the ability to rapidly shift from one mood to another. This is especially true when their manipulation tactics have succeeded in garnering the child’s acquiescence. The codependent parent may be yelling and screaming one moment, but once they get their way, they may be exuberant. Conversely, they may sulk in an effort to rebuff any guilt as a result of their power play.
For example, a mother screaming at her son for not calling often enough may eventually get him to give in and promise to call more. Once she attains what she wants, in an effort to keep her victory and her role as the victim, she may say something like, “No, never mind. I don’t want you to call. You’ll just be doing it because you have to.” Then, the son will not only have to call more, but ensure her that this is what he truly wants to do of his own free will, thus absolving her from any responsibility and guilt.

“

The codependent parent will rapidly shift from one mood to another in order to avoid responsibility and guilt.

7. The Codependent Parent Must Maintain Control at All Costs

Control is the end goal of all codependent parents. Most codependent parents expect a level of devotion and love from their children that is unhealthy and unnatural, intended to make up for that which they lack in other relationships. Often the codependent parent wishes to garner from their child the love and/or attention they failed to receive from their own parents. This creates a dramatic role reversal of the parent-child relationship and turns it into a vampiric dynamic rather than a mutually beneficial one.
Whatever it is that the codependent parent seeks to gain by controlling the adult child, when it becomes clear that they won’t succeed, a meltdown will often ensue. If the parent controls with guilt by appearing frail and playing the victim card, they may become suddenly venomous and aggressive when the adult child refuses to give them what they want. Conversely, a codependent parent who controls through subtle manipulation and passive-aggression may suddenly become dominant and plainspoken.
It is important to remember that these dramatic shifts in the face of lost control are not a mood swing or an “episode.” Instead, the codependent parent is revealing their true nature as opposed to the façade they must maintain in order to keep things going their way. Once there is no hope of getting their way, this façade will become useless and be easily stripped away.

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Often the codependent parent wishes to garner from their child the love and/or attention they failed to receive from their own parents.

8. The Codependent Parent Manipulates – Subtly

The most effective form of manipulation is the kind that you can never be called out for directly. Examples include the silent treatment, passive aggressive comments, denial of wrongdoing and projection, among others. The codependent parent will leave the child in a state of confusion, wondering who really is “the bad guy.”
Often, the parents will be genuinely unaware of their own manipulation. Many codependent parents truly believe that they are doing what’s in their child’s best interest and execute some of the most unsettling control tactics and manipulative power plays with simultaneous mastery and obliviousness. In fact, when called out on their manipulation with specific examples, the codependent parent will often be genuinely and deeply hurt and bewildered.
In fact, the codependent parent does not usually manipulate because they want to; they manipulate because they have to. They simply don’t know any other way to communicate with the adult child who is beyond their direct control. Thus, they will manipulate with finances, emotion, guilt, and any other tool at their disposal to maintain the imbalance of the codependent relationship.

“

Examples of things codependent parents will use to subtly maintain power:

guilt trips,

the silent treatment,

passive-aggression,

withholding (of money, time, or affection),

denial of wrongdoing,

and projection, among others.

So You Have a Codependent Parent... What Should You Do?

This is not an exhaustive list, but it does cover the basic signs and symptoms of codependency to watch out for. In my experience with my own codependent parent, many of these are hard to recognize but, on closer inspection, they deviate significantly from the norms of a healthy parent-child relationship.
There is no single, quick, or easy way to deal with a codependent parent. It depends on the individuals as well as the severity of the codependency within the relationship. In some cases, the only thing the adult child can do is sever ties with the codependent parent completely. In others, carefully imposed boundaries, discussion, and family therapy can be used to maintain a healthy relationship for both parties.

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Mole on a Mountain: A Short Story Response to Bill Holland's Writing Challenge

This story is my response. Bill gave us the following guidelines for our stories.

1) The title of the short story must have the word “mountain” in it, and the subject matter of the short story must be, in some way, related to the mountain in the photo.
2) There are three other photos included in this short article. Your story must, in some way, include and mention those three photos.
3) Short story….flash fiction….I don’t care. There is no word limit in this challenge, but you are limited to only one Hub article….no two and three part stories, please. Say what you can in one episode and then you are done.
4) Post your entry on HubPages by September 10th.
5) You choose the genre.

I have labeled the photos which Bill has provided as "Contest Photos." The genre of my story is Action/Adventure. I apologize for the length, 2182 words, but I cut out as much as I possibly could. I hope you enjoy, Mole on a Mountain

Mole on a Mountain

The Cessna 210 zipped along at one hundred seventy-five knots over the Sawtooth Mountains. Tony wasn’t enjoying the scenery though. As soon as the plane landed north of the Montana-Canada border, he would be a dead man.
He had spent more than a year infiltrating a drug cartel in northern Mexico until he was asked to be part of the crew for this delivery of methamphetamine. He and the pilot had boarded the plane in the early morning darkness to wait for their team leader to arrive. When Marco showed up, Tony nearly shit his pants.

Contest Photo

Source

Marco had been more interested in getting the plane off the ground than in meeting his new partner and had gone directly to his seat next to the pilot and buckled himself in.
The two middle seats had been removed, leaving the two in front and the bench at the rear where Tony sat. The illegal cargo was stacked in the middle, the law on one side, the bad guys on the other.
Marco began a conversation with Tony and still did not turn to face him.
It’s amazing, thought Tony. I arrested him in Denver for drug smuggling. He spent three years in a federal penitentiary. And he’s still an arrogant asshole.

“So you’re Antonio? Marco turned his head slowly and their eyes locked. Tony drew his FN five-seven semi-automatic pistol from his coat pocket and aimed it at Marco.
Marco pulled his weapon and held it on Tony. “Tito,” he said, glancing sideways at the pilot. “Why is there a DEA agent on our plane?”
The pilot glanced over his shoulder. “I don’ know nuthin ‘bout that, Boss.”
“Tony…. Antonio. I like the Spanish better. Let me remind you of my last words to you in Denver.” Marco turned farther in his seat and spoke with the passion of a stage actor. “If it takes the rest of my life, I will find you, and I will kill you, you son-of-a-bitch.” Marco aimed his five-seven. “But you’ve come to me instead.”

FN Five-seveN Semi-automatic Pistol

Wikipedia: "According to the ATF, the Five-seven is one of the weapons favored by drug cartels in the Mexican Drug War, and a smuggled Five-seven pistol can sell for up to 66,000 pesos (US$5,000) in Mexico." | Source

“Boss, can I make suggestion?” said Tito. Without waiting for a response, he continued. “Little Cessna may not be best place for gunfight….if you want to live.”
Marco hesitated. “It seems we are at a stalemate for now, my friend.” Marco slid the gun back into his coat pocket and turned around. He rested his head against the back of the seat and closed his eyes. “Wake me if he tries anything, Tito.”

For the next few hours, Tony forced himself to stay alert. He scanned the cabin. Next to the stack of meth were three parachutes. That was the extent of the cargo.
The plane sputtered and drifted downward.
“What’s going on?” Marco snapped forward.
“Fuel line had little frozen spot, but is ok now,” said Tito.
Tony looked out the window. The peaks of the Sawtooth mountain range rose nearly to the plane’s altitude.
“Get us up higher,” said Marco.
“I can’t get no more altitude in this thin air, señor.
“Are we high enough to make it across?”
“We’re at eight thousand feet. There must be hundreds of peaks higher than that out here.”
“Then turn this crate around.” Marco was sweating. He pulled off his coat.
“Hold on!” Tito strained at the controls. The side of the mountain took up their whole field of vision.
The belly of the plane glanced off the rocky peak sending boulders down the snow covered slopes to the trees beyond.
“You’re supposed to be the best,” Marco shouted. “Get us out of here.”

“Boss, I no think I can do that.” Marco and Tony followed his gaze. A stone wall towered above them. A mountain lake, deep in a bowl and half covered with ice was all that lay between them and the sheer side of the peak.
“I’m setting her down, Boss.”
“You’re what?”
“On the ice.”
Tony didn’t waste a second. The next time Marco looked back was when one of the side doors popped open. Tony was out before Marco’s five-seven came up.
Tony struggled with the parachute pack while the frozen lake came at him like a locomotive. He tightened the straps, pulled the ripcord and the canopy filled with air. The Cessna smashed into the side of the peak and the sound reverberated around the stone amphitheater.

He was falling too fast. If he hit stone or ice at this speed there wouldn’t be enough left of him to scrape up and bury.
Something caught his eye. Two other parachutes were descending toward the lake. The zing of a bullet passing close brought him back into the moment. He could land on the ice and climb down, or he could stay aloft and try to maneuver the parachute down the side of the mountain. Another zing and Tony was on his way.
His fingers were frozen. He could barely grip the steering lines. He crossed over a low spot of the peak and watched the alpine terrain sweep away. He shot down the side of the mountain, a juggernaut from danger into danger.

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He passed the tree line and swooped toward a stand of leafless aspens. Branches ripped his coat and tore into the exposed flesh of his face. The point of a sturdy, broken branch punctured his thigh. He came to a swinging rest, twenty feet above the forest floor. Blood dripped from his leg creating a pattern of red dots on the snow below.
Shouts from above told him that Marco and Tito were having better luck than he. Tony unbuckled the parachute straps and dropped to the ground. The impact sent lightning bolts of pain through his torn thigh muscle.
He removed his shirt and wrapped the wound to stop the bleeding. He followed the downhill slope of the mountainside and shuffled his way through knee deep snow.
A clearing lay directly ahead, lit by the midday sun that glinted off ice cycles hanging from the roof of a decrepit barn. Voices drifted his way. HIs pursuers were searching for him inside. He took advantage of their wasted time and continued downhill.

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The sunshine faded and clouds claimed their territory. Wind came down the mountainside carrying sheets of snow. Tony stumbled over grave markers that had become part of the forest floor. What survival story did these people have to tell? He would never know. He had his own survival to think about.
A piece of thick tree bark served as a shovel. Tony piled snow as high as he could. Bloody patches marked where he had crawled, pushing the bark ahead of him like a bulldozer. He dug out a cave in the snow dome and covered the doorway with the tree bark.
Inside, his own body heat slowly raised the temperature to a survivable level. He unwrapped his leg and cleaned the debris out of the wound by the light of his cell phone. The wind roared and whistled through the trees outside while Tony slept on a bed of melting snow.
When he woke, the bleeding had stopped, but the pain was intense. He checked his cell phone. The battery was half spent. As soon as he stumbled into a spot where there was service, his coordinates would be available to anyone at the DEA who might be monitoring him.

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Tony set out again in snow that reached to his thighs. The trees stopped at the edge of a set of wind swept train tracks. The coating of rust was a blanket statement regarding their disuse, but they had to lead somewhere.
Hours later, dragging his injured leg, he came to an abandoned switching station. On the sides of some of the train cars, he could still read, Chicago, Milwaukee, Saint Paul and Pacific Railroad.
Tony checked his phone. No service was available. He was about to power down, but the signal changed to Service Available. It was a weak signal, but it was something. He dialed the DEA, San Diego Division. He knew Rhonda, the receptionist who answered, and he rattled off the basics of his situation. When he stopped, the call had been dropped.

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A bullet ricocheted off a nearby caboose. Tony took shelter behind a long row of train cars. Marco and Tito were running toward him. They were still several hundred yards away, but he had little time to hide. He struggled uphill into the forest until he found an outcropping of rocks.
He ducked down and watched the two men approach. Tony reached for his five-seven. It was gone, a casualty to his parachute landing in the trees, no doubt. The two men checked the train cars and gave up for the night.
They built a fire and used an old bucket to melt snow. Tony had been ignoring his need for water, but it was becoming a crisis. He knew better than to try eating snow for hydration, so he melted small amounts in his hands and tipped it into his mouth. After they had their fill of water, the two men continued along the tracks.
He descended the slope and helped himself to the remainder of the water in the bucket. It was getting dark, so he climbed into one of the train cars and slept.

He awoke to the sound of train car doors being opened, corroded rollers and rails screeching their protests. Tony scrambled up a pile of rotten crates at one end of the car.
The ceiling was rusted through and he climbed out onto the roof just as the door opened. He tread as lightly as he could, but his injured leg caused him to limp.
Holes appeared around his feet. Bullets zinged past him on all sides. He leapt to the next roof, and the next and the next. He dropped down between two passenger cars and slipped inside the first one. Marco and Tito ran beside the cars and looked in through dusty windows. They stopped outside the car in which he hid.
“Boss, lets give up and get the hell out of here.”
“That man stole three years of my life. This is the showdown, and he will die before this is through. But you go ahead. Take off, it’s fine. I can get this guy on my own.”
“You serious, Boss?”
“Dead serious. Now get going before I change my mind.”
The crunch of gravel under boots faded as the man walked away. Tony closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable, but the sharp pop of a single gunshot still made him flinch. He heard the body collapse onto the gravel.

Tony’s cell phone vibrated. A text message had come in. He read it and knew what he had to do. He made his way to the end of the line of train cars. He had to stall for time.
“Marco? Can you hear me? He waited.
“I hear you, Antonio.”
“I can’t go on anymore.”
“Meaning what, exactly.”
“My leg is injured. I’ve lost a lot of blood.”
“So what do you expect me to do? Call the paramedics?”
“Let’s walk out of here together, and I’ll give you anything you want.”
“I want three years of my life back.”
Tony stepped out into the open. “I can’t give you that, Marco, but I can promise that you will never be caught again. I’m already inside the DEA. I can be your own personal mole. How about it?”
Marco stepped out at the other end of the line of cars. “You are a treacherous liar, Antonio. But your offer is intriguing. You and me together with this kind of arrangement could take over the cartel. Hell, we could own Mexico.”
“Yes, an alliance. You win. I win. Isn’t that really all that matters?”

Twelve men and women of a DEA Mobile Enforcement Team slipped out of the trees and fell in behind Marco. But the drug smuggler’s attention was on Tony.
“Why did you shoot Tito,” said Tony.
“He wanted to leave without you. He was soft. If they had caught him, he would have talked far too much about me.”
“Are you sure Tito is dead?”
“Of course. I’m not a novice at this business. I shot him in the head at ten feet.”
“You can drop the gun, Marco. It’s over.”
“What do you mean, it’s over?”
“Drop the gun,” barked one of the DEA Team.

“Marco froze. He held the gun out to his side. “You are right, Antonio. It is over.” He swung the gun around, level with Tony’s head, one last chance to claim revenge. He squeezed the trigger. Two shots were fired. One from Marco’s gun and another from one of the DEA agents.
Tony limped forward and stood in front of Marco who held his shoulder where he had been hit. “I think I can keep one of my promises to you, Marco.”
The drug smuggler spit in Tony’s face.
“Because of that full confession to murder, you won’t have to worry about ever being caught again.”

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The Child Victim of a Narcissistic Personality Disordered Parent

The NPD Parent

Young children of a parent who has Narcissistic Personality Disorder are genuine victims of their parent and the disorder, as much as any child who lives through life with an addicted parent, or a parent guilty of physical or sexual abuse. The narcissistic parent abuses in an intensely subtle and devious fashion: they are guilty of severe emotional and mental abuse, and no one outside of the family would ever suspect anything wrong.. These child victims quite often go unnoticed, untreated, and not helped by other adults outside of the immediate family. This is due to the nature of Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD).
The overriding behavioral sign of a NPD parent is their almost total lack of concern for their child. On the surface, and in public, the NPD parent is often unnoticeable as an abusive person. Inside the family, there is no doubt for the child that there is something very, very wrong. In some cases, the NPD parent will begin to ‘heat up’ and make mistakes that brings negative attention to them and begins to shine a light on their NPD, but in most cases, the NPD abuse continues for years unabated. One might consider NPD a kind of ‘spectrum’ with varying degrees of disorder and behavioral inconsistency. While some NPD adults express their disorder in a fairly mild fashion (think the beauty pageant mom or the sort of dad who pushes his child to do a sport they do not want to do), other NPD parents are very intelligent, experts at hiding their abuse, and are able to manipulate others at will (even teachers, ministers, police, lawyers, and even judges).
NPD parents, due to the disorder, have little to no regard for their child’s individuality, ambitions, or emotions. The NPD parent is quite simply all about themselves, all the time. This is a very difficult concept for most normal people to grasp; it is hard to relate to a parent who has no genuine concern for their child other than how that child can enhance the parent’s image, or how the child can be drawn from as a source of ‘narcissistic supply’. People with NPD consistently look for and ‘groom’ people with charm, false interest, and quite often lavish gifts in order to get them to commit to relationship with the NPD’d person. When they have a child, they have a built in ego supplier. An individual with NPD absolutely needs to see reactions in the people around them in order to reassure themselves of an identity. And they do not really care what kind of reaction it is, as long as they get a reaction. So the NPD parent frequently will rapidly change from the most charming, loving and giving parent on the planet to the most enraged, unfeeling, cruel parent imaginable (think of the film ‘Mommy Dearest’).

The Child's Experience of NPD Abuse

For all the complaints most parents make about spoiled children, children really do have very little power over their parents. This is even more true in the case of a child with an NPD parent, since the child intimately knows the unpredictability, implied threats and intense rages that the parent demonstrates. The child learns early in life to ‘duck and cover’ by constantly appeasing the childish whims (that change with the breeze) of the NPD parent. The child becomes terrified that if they speak to anyone outside of the family about their very ill parent, no one will listen or believe them, since the NPD parent is a master of the ‘false face’ in public. Secondarily, the child is terrified that their complaint will get back to the NPD parent, and they will pay a high penalty for this.
The NPD parent affects intense fear in the child in one of several ways. First, they may tell the child that they have ‘eyes and ears everywhere’ and the child can hide nothing from them. One father of three little girls gave them necklaces that he told them they had to wear at all times, because he had special powers and could ‘see’ everything the children did through the necklaces. They were terrified to keep them on, and terrified to take them off. Another way that NPD parents incite fear is to make either vague or direct threats to the child that the parent will abandon them, or that the parent will not be able to live if the child is not compliant to the parent’s will. Any child naturally loves and wants to please their parent; NPD parents can never be pleased and the child is never good enough. Yet other NPD parents make it clear ‘between the lines’ that if the child should ever be disloyal to the parent, grave and dangerous things will happen, up to an including harming their non-NPD parent or the child themselves.
The child victims of NPD parents are simply there to supply the parent ego boosting reassurance; the parent needs the child to adore and agree with them always, something that the child gets very skilled at doing when in the presence of the parent. Away from the parent, these children are often depressed, anxious, and morose, as if they have simply given up on being a normal child. While some school counselors or coaches may notice that the child is having difficulty, they never suspect it is due to NPD abuse, especially if they know the child’s NPD parent. Should the child tell the adult about the parent, the child will instantly be suspect as having some innate emotional or mental health problem; this plays right into the hands of the NPD parent when the school counselor calls for a meeting. The child is then caught in an impossible trap: the child gets diagnosed with the mental health problem.
The personality disordered parent can slip up sometimes, letting their real lack of character show. This might happen when the parent, intent on what they want, creates an embarrassing public scene with the child present. In fact, they will at times use their children as levers in public situations to get others to back down or give them what they want. The witnesses to such public rages will give in just to save the child the intense embarrassment that their parent is willing to put them through.
The child learns that they must set aside the things that are important to them or the things that they would like to do, because it is only what the NPD parent wants that counts. The parent always places their own desires and needs before the child, often cloaking this with the altruistic statement that the parent is just doing what is best for the child. The child has no real choice not to buy into their parent’s plan for them, even if the child has no desire or any real talent for the activity that the parent is forcing them to do. Emotional blackmail is a given. On the other hand, some NPD parents will simply ignore any achievement that the child makes on their own, and may even belittle the achievement in private while taking full credit for the child’s accomplishment in public, if the accomplishment reflects the NPD parent as parent of the year.
In private, NPD parents will present to the child as either over controlling, totally ignoring of the child, and angry at the child or overly kind, giving, and generous. These presentations can alternate in rapid fashion, leaving the child constantly emotionally ‘off balance’. This is, in essence, a form of mind control and torture well known to survivors of POW camps. So the child is faced with a very narrow choice of how to respond to the NPD parent: they can choose to submit in total compliance (and so lose their identity), wait patiently until they turn eighteen and then get as far from the parent as possible and try to find healing, or through constant exposure and training become narcissistic adults themselves. The latter child may be treated like a ‘little prince’ or ‘princess’ by the parent, at the expense of any other siblings who have chosen a different path of coping.
The normal development of children dictates that they begin to individuate and differentiate as they grow, meaning that children blossom into their unique selves. This normal progress gains momentum as the child gets older. The NPD parent begins to be very uncomfortable when the child begins to assert their individuality or independence; the parent perceives this as betrayal, disloyalty, or disobedience. Children often realize their parent’s illness fairly early in grade school when they have the chance to compare other children’s parents to their own. As the child gets older, the stress in the family system grows to intolerable levels for the child.
Some NPD parents can develop a reputation in the community as at least ‘difficult’ and at worse be considered unpredictable and dangerous. NPD’s may ‘heat up’ and can pose real danger in that they view their children (and ex) as possessions that they are privileged to ‘dispose of’ should they wish to do so. Many cases of domestic violence and murder can be trailed to an NPD individual.

Intervention

If the non-NPD parent is able gain the strength and finds assistance to extract from the relationship, the courts often support standard custody agreements, and the child, fearing the narcissistic parent, will not speak to counselors, lawyers, or judges about the situation. The disordered parent has proven over and over again the child’s whole life that they cannot be discovered for what they are, nor can they be beat or held accountable. The child has no faith that these adults can help them, and in fact, the narcissistic parent often ‘plays’ the legal system so well that lawyers and judges are ‘taken in’ and believe the non-NPD parent is simply exaggerating due to the emotions of the divorce situation. Indeed, the accounts that the non-NPD parent gives of the NPD parent often sound so ‘off the wall’ that even a judge has a hard time believing it. The child believes that there is no one in the world that can help them from the narcissistic parent, so will support the NPD publicly.
Clinical counselors are always very hesitant if not completely avoiding of treating children involved in custody cases when a parent is perceived to have NPD. Most clinicians will only very rarely publicly identify a person as having a personality disorder, lest the narcissist turn their full wrath on the counselor (meaning hauling them into court to ‘testify’ or more often, ‘harass’ them about their work, competency, etc.). Once again, the narcissistic parent does not really care about the child or the child’s needed therapeutic support, only that the narcissistic parent might be able to use the counselor against the non-NPD parent, and make themselves look better in court.
Ultimately, true intervention for the child can only come from the court system, as this is the only institution that a narcissist respects and fears. The problem, as alluded to before, is that judges often miss the fact that one of the parents they are dealing with has this personality disorder. In addition, it is often very difficult to demonstrate emotional and mental abuse, since the nature of the relationship with the NPD parent prohibits the child speaking honestly to the judge, and the non-NPD parent is most assuredly being considered biased. Since few if any counselors are willing to testify about the abuse and place themselves in the path of a narcissist, the court is left to discern these things on their own. By learning the many characteristic behavioral clues that NPD’s inevitably leave in a wide trail behind them, custody courts can begin to identify and then make valuable interventions for children with NPD parents.
If a court were to provide for a moratorium on the child’s contact with the NPD parent, it could give the child enough time to begin the healing process and gain courage to enter counseling treatment in a fashion that can be genuinely helpful. In addition, the court would need to provide greater protection for the counselor from being called into court and testifying (which effectively destroys the therapeutic relationship with the child into the future)so that they can do their job of helping the child recover and generate coping mechanisms for dealing with their NPD parent more effectively.

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Indonesia struggles with hundreds of forest fires, as schools shut

Hundreds of firefighters and military troops have been deployed to the raging forest fires in Indonesia's Sumatra to put them out, as air pollution levels in the region surge.

The firefighters are working round the clock across 338 fires detected in Sumatra's Riau province and Kalimantan, between Friday and Sunday.






The fires were caused in part by farmers using the illegal method of burning crops to clear land. Dry and hot weather in Indonesia has only exacerbated the spread of the flames.








In Riau, the air pollution rating reached 364 on Monday morning — well into the hazardous range on the country's measurement chart. Between 200-299 is considered "very unhealthy."

On Tuesday, schools in Riau were ordered shut. They'll stay closed for over a week, until next Wednesday, before the administration reviews whether they should reopen.
Sumatra and Kalimantan are south of Singapore and Malaysia, on separate land masses to their left and right, and the smog drifting over blanketed skies in the neighbouring countries during the weekend.

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Inside UPI: How India is bringing mobile banking to 1.3 billion people

India is embarking on an ambitious project that hopes to bring banking to every smartphone user in the country.

For decades, the country of more than 1.3 billion people has struggled to bring hundreds of millions of its citizens to a bank. The penetration of bank accounts, and by extension, debit cards and credit cards remain low in the country. But its new audacious payments system could bring banking and financial services to its entire population.

India has launched a new payments system called Unified Payment Interface, or UPI, which is designed to make person-to-person and e-commerce transactions swifter and easier. Doing transactions, the government says, will be as easier and as faster as sending a text message.

Unveiled earlier this year by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the primary body that governs all retail payments in the country, UPI aims to propel the economy towards more cashless transactions. This would, among other things, help the government curb unreported money exchanges that aren't subjected to tax. The number of non-cash transactions per person in India is only six per year.

The government has opted for smartphone as the computing platform for UPI. India is the world's fastest growing smartphone market. The country has over 350 million smartphone users, and the number is projected to grow past 700 million by 2020. By making digital payments available in full-fledged capacity on smartphones, the country is diminishing the barrier point and making it easier for more users to join the bandwagon.

The other integrals of UPI are inter-operability — allowing transactions across banks — and need for  a single-identifier to make transactions. It is built on top of IMPS protocol, a 24x7 and real-time transaction service. But unlike IMPS, which requires the concerned parties to provide a fair amount of bank details such as account number and IFSC code, UPI-enabled apps will only require the knowledge of a virtual address. For this, it leverages on India's biometrics-enabled national ID system, Aadhaar.

This virtual address is a 12-digit number which is unique to a person based on their fingerprint, iris, and facial features. Not only does utilizing Aadhaar makes the whole process more secure, it also gives the government a way to target a wider consumer base. Over a billion people now have an Aadhaar card.

So how do UPI-enabled apps work?

Nearly two dozen Indian banks including ICICI Bank, Canara Bank, Andhra Bank last week announced they will be releasing a UPI-enabled app on Google Play in two to three days. ICICI Bank announced on Tuesday that the feature is live on its 'iMobile' and 'Pockets' mobile apps. The latter allows peer-to-peer and e-commerce payments by users including those who don't have an ICICI Bank account.

"UPI is a path-breaking concept which will enable convenient person-to-person and merchant payments using mobile phones. I believe that it will revolutionize the landscape of electronic payments in India and go a long way in reducing the usage of cash in the economy," said Ms. Chanda Kochhar, MD & CEO, ICICI Bank.

It is the first time in the world that a project of such a scale is being introduced to customers.

"It is the first time in the world that a project of such a scale is being introduced to customers," she added.

Several other major banks in the country such as SBI, HDFC, and Kotak have assured that they will be releasing a UPI-enabled app soon. The iOS version of UPI-enabled apps are expected sometime in the next six months.  Any bank with over 1,000 pilot customers, 5,000 transactions, and an 80 percent higher success rate is eligible to adopt UPI on their app and offer it to the general public through the Google Play.
Once they become available, you're required to download a UPI-enabled app, set a PIN code, create a virtual address and link it to any bank account.  Once you have set it up, you only need to know the receiver’s unique ID. When you have it, you open the app, select the amount, enter the unique ID, and select “send.” The app will ask you for an authentication ID, which you will receive on your phone. After which, regardless of the bank in which the receiver has her account with, the money will go through instantly.
UPI offers a considerably wide payment range — between Rs 50 (75 cents) to Rs 100,000 ($1,500) in one transaction. The payments system is designed to serve as a replacement for all the apps that you needed to make money transactions on online shopping websites, pay electricity bills, barcode-based payments, and deposit college tuition.

This is by far one of the most audacious plans India has ever had. But it might just be enough to get everyone on the digital payments ground. Though how much time it will take to get substantial traction, and its impact on existing mobile payment solutions such as Paytm and mobile wallet apps by several other e-commerce portals and banks, remains to be seen.

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