Kenya

Recently, I visited Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya, in the middle of December. Culturally, it was an enriching and learning experience, with many first-time moments on the trip.

As a child, I had some black neighbors. The general impression was that Black people were aggressive and might harm us. We kids used to fear them. Someone taught us to call them "Habsi." So, if we saw a group of Black people coming our way, we would climb onto our roofs and shout, "Habsi, Habsi," surreptitiously observing their unique hairstyles, physical features, and demeanor. Today, having grown up, I realize how unfair and misguided that behavior was. After visiting Kenya and living among its predominantly Black population for about a week, I recognize that what we did as children was not only ignorant but also deeply disrespectful and prejudiced.

My journey started on a sour note. I missed my flight at Mumbai airport, thanks to the poor service quality of Indigo Airlines, which ranks 103rd in the world and among the top 10 worst-performing airlines globally. However, this gave me unexpected time to spend with my dear friends Prathmesh, Priyank, and Chetan. I visited Mumbai's R City Mall and Palladium Mall before taking a flight the next day. The missed connection also led to an unexpected meeting with Mehul, a fellow passenger and a Kutchi Indian living in Nairobi for the past 15 years as a construction businessman. He became my companion and later drove me around Nairobi.

I reached Nairobi early in the morning after a six-hour flight from Delhi. The weather was incredibly pleasant, with a clear sky and AQI in double digits—a welcome change from Delhi's polluted, overcast skies. The city was green and clean, which added to the overall positive impression. I took an Uber to my accommodation at the Adventist LMS Conference Centre. It was a good, economical hotel that served vegetarian food (in Kenya, vegetarian often includes eggs). Outside the hotel, I found large avocados and mangoes for as little as ₹20, which was a delightful surprise.

A common perception is that Kenya is unsafe, but my experience differed. At least in Nairobi, I found the city as safe as any other in India. Contrary to fears of phone snatchers and street crime, the people were well-mannered and courteous.

In some respects, I found Kenyan society more advanced than Indian society. The cleanliness stood out—perhaps because I only visited prominent tourist areas—but the people’s demeanor also reflected politeness and a sense of purpose. The government’s focus on wildlife preservation was commendable. Nairobi is the only national capital in the world with a national park. The societal openness and acceptance were notable; the division among people seemed based on manners and cleanliness rather than race or caste. The openness of girls and boys in social settings and the dating culture were far more progressive than what one typically sees in second-tier Indian cities. Kenyan women were confident and stylish, with their hairstyles and nail art reflecting a keen sense of fashion.

One striking feature of Nairobi was the strong presence of the Indian community. Kutchi, Oswal, Patels, Punjabis, and other groups have transformed parts of Nairobi into a "mini-India." Many businesses are owned and operated by Indians, employing Kenyan workers. The Parklands and Westlands areas are dominated by Indians. These communities have built gated societies with all amenities, offering safety and a great quality of life.

The trip became memorable with visits to the Nairobi National Park, the Giraffe Centre, and the Mamba Conservatory. For the first time, I saw so many animals in the wild and witnessed a cheetah napping under a tree. I wish I could have visited Masai Mara and spent more time in the wilderness, but time constraints and the absence of my family deterred me from indulging further.

Speaking of Masai Mara reminds me of the Masai tribe, known for their fearless nature and traditional practices like drinking animal blood. A trip to Kenya or Nairobi would be incomplete without visiting the Masai Market, where I bought several souvenirs at very reasonable prices. The same wooden artifacts would have cost me much more in India. This highlights the role of affordable labor and raw materials in Kenya.

The resemblance of marketplaces, common language, availability of vegetarian food, and the strong Indian presence made me feel as if Kenyans were part of an extended Indian family. I hope to visit again and explore the places I missed this time, like Mombasa, Masai Mara, and other parts of the East African Union.

  

Mexico Trip

Recently, I visited San Luis Potosí, a smaller city in Mexico, even though it has international flights. The city is located in the central part of Mexico, nearly a three-hour flight from Houston, Texas, USA. I visited during the annual Día de Muertos festival. Though my trip lasted six days, I stayed in the city for only two days, mostly exploring the downtown area, which was buzzing with festivities, music, and food.

To start from the beginning, I had a horrible time at the Mexican embassy in India. While my USA visa exempted me from needing a separate visa for Mexico, my wife and child required one, necessitating visits to the embassy. I had to visit the embassy 4-5 times, each time facing new documentary requirements related to financial support for the trip. It was a frustrating experience, further compounded by difficulties with the State Bank of India (SBI), ICICI Bank, and securing approval for my salary slips. The process became even more challenging when a three-day delay occurred due to a mismatch in the signature of my superior and his identity card. Unfortunately, this delay forced my wife and child to cancel their travel plans, and I ended up traveling alone.

I broke my journey to Mexico with a stop at San Francisco (SFO) airport, where I met my elder sister, Dr. Rashmi. It was a proud and joyous moment to see her doing so well. She drove me around SFO, showing me places like the 17-Mile Drive, Fisherman’s Wharf, Pleasanton downtown, Pier 39 Market, and other iconic locations. Later, I took a connecting flight to Houston and then to San Luis Potosí, finally arriving in Mexico.

The airport in San Luis Potosí was surprisingly small and fell short of my expectations, especially compared to U.S. airports where I had stood in immigration lines for over 1.5 hours. From the airport, I took a cab straight to my accommodation, a hostel called SUKHA, located in the downtown area. The hostel, run by a Mexican, derived its name from the Hindi word "Sukha." However, it was purely a hostel; calling it a hotel would be an exaggeration. By Indian standards, it resembled a cheap dharamshala near railway stations.

After attending to my official commitments, I explored the downtown area. Initially, I was cautious, keeping an eye out for drug addicts, alcoholics, and daylight robbers, as often portrayed in movies and online accounts. However, I later realized my fears were unfounded since the downtown area was quite safe, though sparsely patrolled by police.

The downtown was full of churches, museums, and markets, all built in an old European style with brick-laid roads, large open squares, and high ceilings in the buildings. The area felt historic, with many structures over 100 years old. I visited a couple of museums, churches, and art galleries, enjoyed local energy drinks from roadside vendors, and cycled through the downtown blocks several times.

Language proved to be a bit of a challenge as few people understood English. I had to rely heavily on Google Translate. Thankfully, my Mexican friends, Marco and Cassandra, helped by showing me around and assisting with shopping. With the exchange rate at 4.5 INR to 1 Mexican peso and many items imported from China, shopping was tricky. Still, I managed to find a good souvenir shop that met my needs.

Finding good vegetarian food was another challenge. While the conference food on the second day was satisfactory, most local dishes were cooked in lard (pig fat), making it hard to find vegetarian options. Meat was a dominant ingredient in most dishes.

Downtown was alive with the festive spirit of October, a global season of celebrations. Germans have Oktoberfest, Indians celebrate Diwali, the USA observes homecoming, and Mexicans honor the Day of the Dead (Día de Muertos). This festival involves offering food, drinks, and clothes to the deceased. Most downtown squares featured decorative setups with skeleton installations of various sizes and shapes. People offered food, flowers, and incense sticks to honor their ancestors. It was fascinating to see how culturally different India and Mexico are, yet they share striking similarities in traditions and social practices.

I enjoyed local street performances like Mariachi and Callejoneadas, which involved musical storytelling with instruments like violins, tunas, and guitars. On the side, I watched a fashion show where women showcased embroidered garments styled in 100 unique ways. Mexican women, like women elsewhere, exuded confidence and were quite open to conversations. Interestingly, I even noticed shops selling sex toys in the area.

Overall, the trip was enjoyable. The availability of Uber cabs alleviated some of my concerns about safety and security. It was amazing to experience a new culture, a new land, and yet observe similar hopes and dreams in people’s eyes. I hope to revisit Mexico someday for a longer stay.

Rent seeking as intractable problem of under-developed world

Recently, I visited Kenya. As soon as I landed and stood in the immigration queue, one of my fellow passengers advised me to take out all the dollars from my purse and keep them in a separate pocket. I asked him about the rationale behind this suggestion. He explained that corruption and rent-seeking are common problems in Kenya, similar to other parts of the world. Sometimes, people at the airport may seek extra dollars from passengers. This did not come as a surprise to me. Being born and brought up in India and having seen the workings of the government from both sides of the table, I can confidently claim to understand the psychology of rent-seeking behavior in the underdeveloped world. In this article, I attempt to provide insights into this phenomenon.

Bureaucrats and politicians are often considered the most corrupt class across the world. However, this is not entirely true. Corruption in the private sector far exceeds the scale and volume of corruption in the public sector and government. People in operations, HR, purchase, and accounts sections of private enterprises are often the kingpins of significant financial scams. The reality is that government servants are merely cogs in the wheel, small pawns in a value chain that often originates in the private sector. If some idealists choose to resist these pressures, they face challenges such as transfers and unnecessary troubles from their own class. A case in point is IAS officer Ashok Khemka, who has been transferred 55 times due to his non-accommodative nature.

Corruption is a structural issue in the underdeveloped world. By design, bureaucracy consists of some of the most ambitious and smart individuals in the country. People in senior or mid-level positions either come through rigorous examination processes, leaving behind lucrative careers in the private sector, or are nominated through a nepotistic setup. In cases where officers are selected through fair means, they may display idealism in the initial years of service. However, as the idealism of their 20s and 30s fades and the realism of monetary needs hits, even the honest ones find themselves tempted by financial offers from the private sector. For instance, a government servant may find it difficult to afford the health and educational expenses of family members or to purchase a decent retirement house for their family on a government servant’s salary. Can a government servant purchase a piece of land without paying a cash component? Nowadays, even a Group A officer may find it difficult to save any significant amount of money due to inflationary pressures and social expectations regarding their standard of living. On the other hand, those selected through nepotistic setups focus primarily on repaying debts or settling quid-pro-quo arrangements, often ignoring rules and regulations.

The economic history of countries reveals that entrepreneurial human resources are crucial for national development. However, the most ambitious and entrepreneurial individuals often get absorbed into the bureaucracy. While in government service, this class of individuals gains exposure to global developments, best practices, and material comforts during government-sponsored tours. However, the country misses out on their entrepreneurial zeal and risk-taking abilities to bring these global developments and practices to their backyard. This is where bureaucrats act as semi-entrepreneurs. It is in the national interest for this entrepreneurial class to work overtime and don both hats: that of an entrepreneur and a bureaucrat.

Even on a psychological level, when bureaucrats see less competent individuals or private enterprises making significant profits by exploiting loopholes in the system, they are bound to experience conflict. The needs of their families, rising social expectations, and the association of money with power amplify feelings of inferiority within the bureaucracy, forcing them to play second fiddle. Consequently, they are often tempted to adopt the role of entrepreneurs. The top leadership tends to ignore the interests of the bureaucracy for two reasons: first, bureaucrats do not form a homogeneous, united voting class; second, leadership presumes that corruption is an unsolvable problem and assumes that every employee is seeking rent in some form or another. This perception removes any moral pressure from the officers.

Numerous other socio-economic factors drive rent-seeking behavior, including ethnic kinship, class attitudes, in-group/out-group behavior, and power distribution in underdeveloped societies. However, history reveals that a corruption-free society is a luxury of the developed world, where individuals enjoy social security, jobs, and some form of survival guarantee. As long as there is a fight for survival, some entrepreneurs or enterprises will be ready to pay rent, and some insecure officers will always be there to accept it. Thus, the focus should be more on maximizing guarantees and social securities rather than on anti-corruption crusades.

To complete my story: no one in Kenya sought rent from me, and I thoroughly enjoyed the trip. The details of the trip are covered in another blog.

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One bill that Bharat needs

The whole world is seething with political and military crises. The Middle East is burning. The Russia-Ukraine war has stretched beyond 1,000 days and poses a significant risk of nuclear escalation. Bharat is a bright spot in this turmoil, having positioned itself as a strategically independent nation with a peace-making orientation. As a result, many small and large nations are turning to Bharat with the hope and expectation of bringing normalcy to the situation. On the surface, Bharat appears well-equipped and prepared to provide leadership and mediation in this global crisis. However, deep down, it also suffers from fundamental problems. Some of the well-known issues include a burgeoning population, increasing joblessness, incivility, and a polarizing rather than reconciling political landscape. The disturbed neighborhood of Bangladesh and Pakistan exacerbates the situation, while occasional muscle-flexing by smaller neighbors like the Maldives, Sri Lanka, and Nepal puts Bharat in a difficult spot. This raises the question: what remedial actions should Bharat take to address these fundamental problems before staking its claim as a world leader or global guru?

Given the scale and complexity of these problems, there are no short-term measures. The solutions lie either in the medium term, with a 6-8 year horizon, or in the long term, with a 15-year perspective. Here is my wishlist in this regard. Other scholars may have different views of the situation.

1. Law and Order

Ensuring law and order in the country is paramount. The burgeoning population poses significant risks in terms of security and crime mitigation. To this end, it is essential to track every individual, vehicle, and human/non-human asset in real time. This can be achieved through the appropriate use of technological solutions such as UID (Unique Identification), image recognition, high-speed cameras, and financial footprint mapping for every entity in the nation. Without technological support, the police system is bound to collapse sooner or later. China has already achieved significant success in this area with the help of state-controlled private enterprises like Tencent's WeChat and Alibaba.

2. Social Security

Provision of jobs is the most effective guarantee of social security. However, there is a limit to the number of low-wage, low-skill jobs that can be generated in the country. Moreover, such jobs neither solve the social security problem nor substantially contribute to the economy. Therefore, we must take a step back and focus on skills and entrepreneurship first. While there are many initiatives aimed at promoting skills and entrepreneurship, such as Start-Up India and Stand-Up India, they have not yielded revolutionary results.

India's re-skilling ecosystem is fragmented and lopsided, with most efforts focusing on soft skills and software skills. This can be addressed by upgrading Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) to state-of-the-art institutions equipped with the latest technology, tools, and instruments. These should cover all skill areas, including farming, manufacturing, and the service industry. However, implementing such reforms is easier said than done. Even with activity-based learning curriculums, the challenge of finding skilled teachers remains.

Moreover, skill development alone is insufficient. The issue of jobs is directly linked to market size and innovation. Expanding the market size requires tapping into both domestic and global markets for "Make in India" goods and services. At the same time, fostering innovation necessitates a different level of thinking and a robust research ecosystem.

3. Civility and Attitudinal Change

Richness does not come merely by earning money; it should be accompanied by socio-cultural changes in attitude. While Bharat has performed moderately well on the growth curve, it seems to be slipping in terms of civility and failing to keep pace with the need for attitudinal change. Examples include the misuse of urban public transport, stubble burning, and non-compliance with traffic rules.

How can we bring about a change in attitude? One way is proper enforcement and optimal penalization. However, any effort in this direction must be preceded by creating pathways for the easy adoption of alternative behavior. For instance, farmers need alternative schemes to discourage stubble burning.

4. Political Fragmentation

The fragmented political landscape is the most concerning issue. Ideally, political institutions like Parliament should discuss, innovate, and formulate solutions for the aforementioned problems. However, fragmentation in the political space and rigidity in constitutional and judicial interpretations create challenges for fresh thinking, innovative legal provisions, and their enforcement.

One promising institution for long-term solutions is Indian universities. Unfortunately, apart from a few bright spots like IITs and NITs, even globally recognized institutions are prisoners of India's social structure and realities. Hierarchical mindsets in colleges and universities, along with gaps in industry-academia-research linkages, raise doubts about their ability to foster fresh thinking and design innovations.

5. Opening Up Education to Foreign Universities

Opening up the education sector to foreign universities can address several issues. Allowing foreign university campuses in India can revolutionize the education, skill, technology, and design sectors. It can also strengthen industry-academia-research linkages, retain talent within the country, and curb brain drain.

Imagine the impact of creating ecosystems at home that match global standards. Allowing foreign universities to establish mega campuses in India and offer innovative courses can increase competition in the education sector, introduce global best practices, and set up energetic innovation labs. These can become new fountains of development in rural or untouched territories, taking foreign investment and its benefits to remote areas.

Conclusion

While there are other reforms with long-term benefits, such as One Nation, One Election, the Uniform Civil Code, or a Population Control Bill, these are politically sensitive and difficult to navigate. The Foreign University Bill, however, is a low-hanging fruit that Parliament can easily tap into. It has the potential to sow the seeds of a prosperous Bharat, making it a global guru and earning wider acceptance on the global stage.

Cyber Security Day two

My Kali Linux firefox was throwing alert stating that "one instance is already running". For this, I restarted networking services from the "/etc/init.d networking restart". Further, I did "ps aux" and searched for any instance of Firefox which is already running. There was an issue in accessing websites from Firefox. This remained unresolved. However, I found this link to be useful. https://forums.kali.org/showthread.php?39725-Issue-to-access-websites-from-Firefox-ESR&highlight=firefox https://forums.kali.org/showthread.php?42676-Kali-linux-2018-4a-upgrade-breaks-firefox&highlight=firefox I tried to install Google Chrome browser and tried to follow the instructions listed on below link: https://linuxconfig.org/how-to-install-google-chrome-browser-on-kali-linux In order to install "gdebian", I followed this video tutorial. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJFZZQeVUhw However, this did not work because there were problems in apt-get installation. The sources.list file in the /etc/apt did not have the right URL from where Kali was supposed to download libraries. These links helped in this regard. https://www.kali.org/tutorials/advanced-package-management-in-kali-linux/ https://docs.kali.org/general-use/kali-linux-sources-list-repositories Even then the problem was not solved. The reason being, my installation download stopped in the middle due to connectivity issues. When I tried for apt-get update again, it started showing problems in temp file creation. When I removed some files, moved the folder named partial inside /etc/apt, it started throwing the problem of invalid signatures. So it was proving to be a very futile effort. I tried many links listed as following: https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=807948 https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/apt/+bug/1642386 https://superuser.com/questions/1059346/apt-get-update-not-working-signing-verification-errors In addition, I did "sudo apt-get clean/auto clean", Df -u, Du -h etc. But none of this seems to work. https://www.maketecheasier.com/fix-linux-no-space-left-on-device-error/ In the process of resolution, I faced another of GPG keys. I tried things listed on the following link. https://askubuntu.com/questions/198371/apt-encounters-errors-with-bad-gpg-keys Finally, the problem was solved when a friend indicated the high usage of inodes in /var/lib/font-config. He deleted a few files which helped me in restoring the sanity of apt-get. This page came very useful: https://askubuntu.com/questions/590315/no-more-space-available-even-if-there-is-a-lot https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/222221/how-to-fix-intermittant-no-space-left-on-device-errors-during-mv-when-device-h After this, I attempted to install the "tor" browser. But this did not work because some "lock" problem was coming. https://itsfoss.com/could-not-get-lock-error/ However, it got resolved on its own. This was the effort of the last 3-4 days. There were many other problems I faced and the solutions I tried. But these are the ones I could recall and write here. Good bye for now.

Cyber security Day one

I installed virtual box and set Kali Linux on it. I faced a problem with running Kali directly from the Virtual disk image. Another problem I faced was my wi-fi did not work inside the Kali Linux installed using iso files. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWslvnI4SwA Thirdly, I faced a problem with the failure of the installation. To resolve this, I pursued the steps mentioned below. https://www.hacking-tutorial.com/hacking-tutorial/how-to-install-kali-linux-on-virtualbox-part-1/#sthash.8yeAPaMW.dpbs https://www.hacking-tutorial.com/hacking-tutorial/how-to-install-kali-linux-on-virtual-box-part-2/#sthash.0RpsSA43.dpbs

OGRE, Visual studio and CEGUI

Today i spent whole day on setting up OGRE and Visual studio on my account.
This was highly frustrating experience. I am a Java developer and usually prefer Eclipse as my IDE. Eclipse is really simple and intutive in its setting. I found Visual studio to be highly complex and ridiculous at some points.

Just to mention, whenever i create a new project my old projects are automatically closed. If i want to keep both of them open then i need to put them in same solution scope which is poor. Moreover all the files are dumped in the same folder and i need to create folder in the actual disc location to put some structure to the application.
I don't see the use of filters as they just get flat when i open the actual project location.

Will keep you posted on this.