Who is Hindi

Egyptians say: “you think I am Hindi,” or “you think I have the elephant parked outside,” a comment to mean that I am not naïve. Apart from the derogatory aspect of the comment, it came to signal Egyptians belief that they live better than Indians.

I am driving right now from Delhi to Agra. Quite interesting how much India is really trying very hard to create progress and industrialize. Engineers are working real hard, gaining self confidence, learning, and they are well connected with the world. Look at how many international companies are located in India. Last time I visited Bangalore in 2001, a large international company had 300 engineers there. Today, there are 5000. In 2001, they were young and amateur and focusing software only. Today, they are growing in stature. They are learning and coming up the curve and their expertise are covering a wide range of activities including labs and testing.

I compare that to my experience so far with the Saudis and getting a Saudi visa. A series of very interesting events.
Unable to upload my picture on the Saudi consulate website. I spend a day personally with my administrative assistant debugging the problem for them until I discover that the issue is that the picture must have a white background. Saudi site doesn’t tell you that and you have to guess. They also didn’t know that.
Saudi consulate in Houston cannot print the visa on the passport for technical reasons. I spent personally time with them to understand the bug and fix it. By the time we fixed it, it was too late on Friday. They told me I could get it in New Delhi because they don’t have a consulate in Bangalore nor in Bombay. I get a contact in the New Delhi embassy that I am told will help me.
I show up here in Delhi. They tell me that I have to apply through a local Indian sub-supplier since it is a different process.
I go to talk to the Indian sub supplier and he tells me it takes 2 days "just for me."
I laughed all the way back to the hotel.

This was a very interesting experience of how new technology doesn’t really improve the lives of people in the Middle East. As a matter of fact, it makes it more difficult. How the new technology is being developed without the user needs in mind but rather to show that there is new technology in use. The Saudi website for visa is not geared toward users. Its first page is praising the company that developed the software. This is not intended for the user but rather for the higher-up who couldn’t care less about visa because he doesn’t need one. I want you to experience that yourself: https://enjazit.com.sa/

A human resource manager in a large international company was also unable to get a visa and then she was told she has to get in with the same men that she will get out with. First of all, from Sharia law perspective, these men are not related to her. Second, is who cares. If Saudi really wants to convey the message that they do not want to grow and create technology jobs, the message came clear.

India has managed to accomplish few things in the past 10 years:
1- Achieve strong growth rates. You can clearly see that in all the modern construction happening across Indian cities and villages.
2- Maintained its vibrant democracy. Yesterday, there were elections in India. Everybody voted. I didn’t see the normal road blocks common in Cairo even though I went through Bangalore at 4 am at night on elections eve.
3- Maintained strength of its middle class as the locomotive of its growth. India’s growth is propelled by the strength of its engineers, doctors, and lawyers…the educated class who we see in traditional movies as highly educated, fluent in English, conservative, with strong family ties. This enabled Indian growth to mature into industrialization areas which are critical for sustained growth and employment.
4- India opened significantly to the rest of the world with no inhibitions. An industrialized capitalist society emerged in India with significant ties to the west to exchange technology. For example, look at the Tatas and Mittals.
5- India maintained strong education emphasis. There was no erosion to the prestige of the various Indian Institutes of Technologies to benefit private schools. Indian education remains free, remains the most important vehicle for social progress, and remains extremely competitive and cutting edge.
6- India was able to attract talent from the Indian Diaspora to come back to India with attractive incentives. This accelerated modernization and exchange of technology. This included laws change. For example, India used ot ban acquiring dual citizenship. This has been relaxed. Man Indians prefer to go back to their country, live comfortable lives there, and maintain their family ties.
7- Finally, India preserved its strong family oriented culture. I have seen people leaving jobs to take care of their parents. Religion still plays a significant role in Indian lives, whoever, the Eastern religions with their emphasis on openness and moderation are making India better positions with less inhibitions. Like any religion, Hinduism has its extremists, however, the Indian democracy was able to absorb that by the return of the Congress party to government highlighting the vitality of the Indian democracy. I have seen signification protection and preservation of Muslim shrines in India. I also have not seen any Indian girl being harassed in the poor streets of Faridabad, Delhi, Agra, Bombay, or Bangalore. I call on all Egyptian girls to immigrate to Delhi. They will have a better life.

I want you to look at Egypt and make the comparison by yourself. You can easily tell who really is “Hindi.”