sshd (OpenSSH Daemon or server) is the daemon program for ssh client. It is a free and open source ssh server. ssh replaces insecure rlogin and rsh, and provide secure encrypted communications between two untrusted hosts over an insecure network such as the Internet. Ubuntu Desktop and minimal Ubuntu server do not come with sshd installed. 1. $ sudo apt-get install openssh-server 2. $ sudo apt-get install openssh-client We would run these on our two machines.Machine 1: master
master@master-VirtualBox:~$ hostname master-VirtualBox master@master-VirtualBox:~$ uname Linux master@master-VirtualBox:~$ uname -a Linux master-VirtualBox 5.13.0-21-generic #21-Ubuntu SMP Tue Oct 19 08:59:28 UTC 2021 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux master@master-VirtualBox:~$ cat /etc/hosts 192.168.100.5 slave-VirtualBox 192.168.100.4 master-VirtualBox master@master-VirtualBox:~$ ifconfig enp0s3: flags=4163<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST> mtu 1500 inet 192.168.100.4 netmask 255.255.255.0 broadcast 192.168.100.255 inet6 fe80::9c46:b732:6918:fb34 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x20<link> ether 08:00:27:ab:ba:4d txqueuelen 1000 (Ethernet) RX packets 5452 bytes 4579765 (4.5 MB) RX errors 0 dropped 0 overruns 0 frame 0 TX packets 4973 bytes 1580656 (1.5 MB) TX errors 0 dropped 0 overruns 0 carrier 0 collisions 0 lo: flags=73<UP,LOOPBACK,RUNNING> mtu 65536 inet 127.0.0.1 netmask 255.0.0.0 inet6 ::1 prefixlen 128 scopeid 0x10<host> loop txqueuelen 1000 (Local Loopback) RX packets 821 bytes 95012 (95.0 KB) RX errors 0 dropped 0 overruns 0 frame 0 TX packets 821 bytes 95012 (95.0 KB) TX errors 0 dropped 0 overruns 0 carrier 0 collisions 0 master@master-VirtualBox:~$ whoami masterMachine 2: slave
slave@slave-VirtualBox:~$ hostname slave-VirtualBox slave@slave-VirtualBox:~$ uname Linux slave@slave-VirtualBox:~$ uname -a Linux slave-VirtualBox 5.13.0-21-generic #21-Ubuntu SMP Tue Oct 19 08:59:28 UTC 2021 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux slave@slave-VirtualBox:~$ cat /etc/hosts 192.168.100.4 master-VirtualBox 192.168.100.5 slave-VirtualBox slave@slave-VirtualBox:~$ ifconfig enp0s3: flags=4163<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST> mtu 1500 inet 192.168.100.5 netmask 255.255.255.0 broadcast 192.168.100.255 inet6 fe80::ce9b:aad2:bc20:943a prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x20<link> ether 08:00:27:3d:96:40 txqueuelen 1000 (Ethernet) RX packets 1627 bytes 1564019 (1.5 MB) RX errors 0 dropped 0 overruns 0 frame 0 TX packets 1116 bytes 124674 (124.6 KB) TX errors 0 dropped 0 overruns 0 carrier 0 collisions 0 lo: flags=73<UP,LOOPBACK,RUNNING> mtu 65536 inet 127.0.0.1 netmask 255.0.0.0 inet6 ::1 prefixlen 128 scopeid 0x10<host> loop txqueuelen 1000 (Local Loopback) RX packets 234 bytes 21826 (21.8 KB) RX errors 0 dropped 0 overruns 0 frame 0 TX packets 234 bytes 21826 (21.8 KB) TX errors 0 dropped 0 overruns 0 carrier 0 collisions 0 slave@slave-VirtualBox:~$ whoami slave slave@slave-VirtualBox:~$ cat /etc/hostname slave-VirtualBox slave@slave-VirtualBox:~$Checking Connectivity Between Two Machines
Pinging Slave From Master
master@master-VirtualBox:~$ ping -c 3 192.168.100.5 PING 192.168.100.5 (192.168.100.5) 56(84) bytes of data. 64 bytes from 192.168.100.5: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=0.482 ms 64 bytes from 192.168.100.5: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=0.614 ms 64 bytes from 192.168.100.5: icmp_seq=3 ttl=64 time=0.542 ms --- 192.168.100.5 ping statistics --- 3 packets transmitted, 3 received, 0% packet loss, time 2034ms rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 0.482/0.546/0.614/0.053 msPinging Master From Slave
slave@slave-VirtualBox:~$ ping -c 4 192.168.100.4 PING 192.168.100.4 (192.168.100.4) 56(84) bytes of data. 64 bytes from 192.168.100.4: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=0.550 ms 64 bytes from 192.168.100.4: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=0.634 ms 64 bytes from 192.168.100.4: icmp_seq=3 ttl=64 time=0.716 ms 64 bytes from 192.168.100.4: icmp_seq=4 ttl=64 time=0.544 ms --- 192.168.100.4 ping statistics --- 4 packets transmitted, 4 received, 0% packet loss, time 3070ms rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 0.544/0.611/0.716/0.070 ms slave@slave-VirtualBox:~$SSH Setup On Slave
slave@slave-VirtualBox:~$ sudo iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport ssh -j ACCEPT [sudo] password for slave: slave@slave-VirtualBox:~$ ssh-keygen -t rsa -f ~/.ssh/id_rsa -P "" Generating public/private rsa key pair. Created directory '/home/slave/.ssh'. Your identification has been saved in /home/slave/.ssh/id_rsa Your public key has been saved in /home/slave/.ssh/id_rsa.pub The key fingerprint is: SHA256:/yxMvEOLDQqL71s0afvlnDF5T9liMihniSinzXQmxH0 slave@slave-VirtualBox The key's randomart image is: +---[RSA 3072]----+ | | | | | | | . o | | B S.E | | .+ +.+++ o | | ..oB.=B@o+ = .| | . .O.=.BBB * . | | o=.o . +oo . | +----[SHA256]-----+ slave@slave-VirtualBox:~$ ls ~/.ssh/ id_rsa id_rsa.pubSSH Setup On Master
master@master-VirtualBox:~/Desktop$ sudo iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport ssh -j ACCEPT [sudo] password for master: master@master-VirtualBox:~/Desktop$ master@master-VirtualBox:~/Desktop$ sudo ufw allow ssh [sudo] password for master: Rules updated Rules updated (v6) master@master-VirtualBox:~/Desktop$ master@master-VirtualBox:~/Desktop$ ssh-keygen -t rsa -f ~/.ssh/id_rsa -P "" Generating public/private rsa key pair. Your identification has been saved in /home/master/.ssh/id_rsa Your public key has been saved in /home/master/.ssh/id_rsa.pub The key fingerprint is: SHA256:XJE706Wgy1CVQYvkG9ImPpPU61+BvTIFJL/XzcbIQxk master@master-VirtualBox The key's randomart image is: +---[RSA 3072]----+ | oo*+ E | | =.=+o .o | | +.B.=+ oo | | o.*.=+=o+ = | | =oS.oo= = =| | +o o o o | | . o o | | . + | | . | +----[SHA256]-----+ master@master-VirtualBox:~/Desktop$ master@master-VirtualBox:~/Desktop$ ssh-copy-id -i ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub slave@192.168.100.5 /usr/bin/ssh-copy-id: INFO: Source of key(s) to be installed: "/home/master/.ssh/id_rsa.pub" The authenticity of host '192.168.100.5 (192.168.100.5)' can't be established. ECDSA key fingerprint is SHA256:fJ4WXjotryiK6Log/u8tHtwNiTpc16q/hcYPMeX0m3w. Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no/[fingerprint])? yes /usr/bin/ssh-copy-id: INFO: attempting to log in with the new key(s), to filter out any that are already installed /usr/bin/ssh-copy-id: INFO: 1 key(s) remain to be installed -- if you are prompted now it is to install the new keys slave@192.168.100.5's password: Number of key(s) added: 1 Now try logging into the machine, with: "ssh 'slave@192.168.100.5'" and check to make sure that only the key(s) you wanted were added. master@master-VirtualBox:~/Desktop$ ssh slave@192.168.100.5 Welcome to Ubuntu 21.10 (GNU/Linux 5.13.0-21-generic x86_64) * Documentation: https://help.ubuntu.com * Management: https://landscape.canonical.com * Support: https://ubuntu.com/advantage 37 updates can be applied immediately. To see these additional updates run: apt list --upgradable slave@slave-VirtualBox:~$ exit logout Connection to 192.168.100.5 closed. master@master-VirtualBox:~/Desktop$Connecting with Master from Slave machine
slave@slave-VirtualBox:~$ ssh-copy-id -i ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub master@192.168.100.4 /usr/bin/ssh-copy-id: INFO: Source of key(s) to be installed: "/home/slave/.ssh/id_rsa.pub" The authenticity of host '192.168.100.4 (192.168.100.4)' can't be established. ECDSA key fingerprint is SHA256:x1sg2YzMK+8ITBSoH/7m1mc1gUOHmfazPd6DsGuL2kk. Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no/[fingerprint])? yes /usr/bin/ssh-copy-id: INFO: attempting to log in with the new key(s), to filter out any that are already installed /usr/bin/ssh-copy-id: INFO: 1 key(s) remain to be installed -- if you are prompted now it is to install the new keys master@192.168.100.4's password: Number of key(s) added: 1 Now try logging into the machine, with: "ssh 'master@192.168.100.4'" and check to make sure that only the key(s) you wanted were added. slave@slave-VirtualBox:~$ ssh master@192.168.100.4 Welcome to Ubuntu 21.10 (GNU/Linux 5.13.0-21-generic x86_64) * Documentation: https://help.ubuntu.com * Management: https://landscape.canonical.com * Support: https://ubuntu.com/advantage 0 updates can be applied immediately. master@master-VirtualBox:~$ exit logout Connection to 192.168.100.4 closed. slave@slave-VirtualBox:~$Errors You Might Encounter On Slave If Above Steps Are Not Followed Properly:
slave@slave-VirtualBox:~$ ssh-copy-id -i ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub master@master /usr/bin/ssh-copy-id: INFO: Source of key(s) to be installed: "/home/slave/.ssh/id_rsa.pub" /usr/bin/ssh-copy-id: INFO: attempting to log in with the new key(s), to filter out any that are already installed /usr/bin/ssh-copy-id: ERROR: ssh: Could not resolve hostname master: Temporary failure in name resolution slave@slave-VirtualBox:~$ ssh-copy-id -i ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub master@master-VirtualBox /usr/bin/ssh-copy-id: INFO: Source of key(s) to be installed: "/home/slave/.ssh/id_rsa.pub" /usr/bin/ssh-copy-id: INFO: attempting to log in with the new key(s), to filter out any that are already installed /usr/bin/ssh-copy-id: ERROR: ssh: Could not resolve hostname master-virtualbox: Temporary failure in name resolution slave@slave-VirtualBox:~$ ssh-copy-id -i ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub master@192.168.100.4 /usr/bin/ssh-copy-id: INFO: Source of key(s) to be installed: "/home/slave/.ssh/id_rsa.pub" /usr/bin/ssh-copy-id: INFO: attempting to log in with the new key(s), to filter out any that are already installed /usr/bin/ssh-copy-id: ERROR: ssh: connect to host 192.168.100.4 port 22: Connection refused
Monday, November 29, 2021
SSH setup on an Ubuntu-based two-node master-slave network
Sunday, November 28, 2021
Journal (2021-11-29)
Index of Journals
2021-Nov-11 (Afternoon)Gratitude
1. Anil Dahiya I am sharing my problems, my moments of happiness and troubles with him. 2. Sakshi Dahiya With whom am I able to spend my leisure time, lunch times and dinners. 3. Manmohan Singh and Balkishan Sharma Who helps me with any kind of facilities at work.Refelection
1. What went well? I was able to rejuvenate and relax yesterday, a Sunday. 2. What didn't go well? I had to demonstrate setting up of a Hadoop cluster with two nodes (master and slave) but I was not able to start the 'data nodes' on the slave machines due to some issue with the SSH. 3. What can be improved? Did not exercise. Need to be regular with exercises.Focus and Action
1. What I should stop doing? Over-thinking. 2. What I should start doing? Focusing a bit more on cleanliness and welcoming people into my life like Sakshi Dahiya and Shivani Gahlawat. I need start washing bedsheets more often. I also bought a bedsheet for double bed while being out in market with Shivani and Sakshi. 3. What I should continue doing? Reading, personal development and professional development.
Friday, November 26, 2021
Make Virtual Machines Talk to Each Other in VirtualBox
My VirtualBox version:So finally you have a Ubuntu-master machine running and an Ubuntu-slave machine running and both of them in VirtualBox. But they are not talking to each other. By default if you do not set-up a separate NAT network, they will both be NAT'ed. But they will be NAT'ed in isolated environment. For instance, I have got Ubuntu-master in one window. If I do an "ifconfig" and this is in VirtualBox. I see my IP address as 10.0.2.15. In the other Window, I have Ubuntu-slave and I see my ip address using "ifconfig" and it is 10.0.2.15. They both have the same address but they cannot talk to each other. 10.0.2.15 is the default address that virtual box assigns to any machine that is set up for NAT. If we want these two machines to talk to each other and be NAT'ed, we have to set up a separate new NAT network. Let's go to VirtualBox. Let's verify what we are discussing. Both of our VMs (two Ubuntu VMs) are set-up for NAT (which is default). Open VirtualBox Manager. Click on "Tools".
Click on "Prefrences".
Click on "Network".
Click on "Plus" sign to create new NAT network. They call it "NATNetwork".
Click on the gear icon to change the name to "TopGunNetwork" or "MyNATNetwork".
Address Space --> Network CIDR: 192.168.100.0/24 We certainly want to support the DHCP.
Next step is to add both Ubuntu-master and Ubuntu-slave to this new network. And they should be automatically assigned a new IP address in the 192.168.100.X space. I start with Ubuntu-master, I go to "Settings" of Kali.
I go to "Network". It says "Attached to:" -- "NAT" here. We are going to change its "Name" from the dropdown to "NAT Network" that was created by us a minute back.
Do the same thing for Ubuntu-slave machine.
Now, try doing "ifconfig" on Ubuntu-master: you get 192.168.100.4
master@master-VirtualBox:~$ ifconfig enp0s3: flags=4163<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST> mtu 1500 inet 192.168.100.4 netmask 255.255.255.0 broadcast 192.168.100.255 inet6 fe80::9c46:b732:6918:fb34 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x20<link> ether 08:00:27:ab:ba:4d txqueuelen 1000 (Ethernet) RX packets 28322 bytes 21509883 (21.5 MB) RX errors 0 dropped 0 overruns 0 frame 0 TX packets 21151 bytes 3096104 (3.0 MB) TX errors 0 dropped 0 overruns 0 carrier 0 collisions 0 lo: flags=73<UP,LOOPBACK,RUNNING> mtu 65536 inet 127.0.0.1 netmask 255.0.0.0 inet6 ::1 prefixlen 128 scopeid 0x10<host> loop txqueuelen 1000 (Local Loopback) RX packets 16547 bytes 1408605 (1.4 MB) RX errors 0 dropped 0 overruns 0 frame 0 TX packets 16547 bytes 1408605 (1.4 MB) TX errors 0 dropped 0 overruns 0 carrier 0 collisions 0 Ubuntu-slave becomes: 192.168.100.5
And trying pinging the machines from each other. You can also try and ping "google.com" and see that your internet access is also still there.
Wednesday, November 24, 2021
2011-Apr-14
Index of Journals
April 14, 2011 I am going to skip Prachi’s birthday or it could have been any event at buaji’s house. I will miss it, no point giving it a second thought. How can this woman comment on my results, and whom is she saying is sucking the bones of his old grandfather? There was time when I was friends with Smita. Those were the very tough days of my life. She looked friendly. I had been chewed up by everyone, everyone. She was still a friend, but of course, I had doubts on her intentions and I just didn’t treat her right. I may have been wrong, or may be right, that hardly does matter today. Babaji, chachi, and amma went to see the greater Noida house. After they came, I was in drawing room during tea time. I heard Manju buaji was coming. I was in my room when she came; I was ignoring her without any intention on mind. But when I was having dinner in drawing room, she came there to lecture me. I didn’t know that the result thing was in her mind. She asked why I was still failing when I had no other side job, or entrance exams going on. What the hell, she came here to lecture me! My new strategy to handle oversleeping problem: I make sure that I reward myself with enough sleep and rest before time so that I don’t mess up my time tables and schedules at any time later. It is going to be a full staying night today. I wasted my yesterday, but not today hopefully. God bless me Ashish
2011-Apr-13 (AIEEE Result Scans)
Index of Journals
April 13, 2011 It was Algorithms Design and Analysis exam today, and I didn’t do well. I overslept last night. I have been giving the same reason for all my failures for like two years now. Before the exam, I was with Nishant, Apurv and Gaurav and it was surprising how these fools were making fun of me on my face, they were acting like rejecting me, like I stand nowhere in between them. I placed the various Graph Algorithms in the toilet and picked on other topics to study; anyhow neither the Graph algorithms nor what I studied came, except a few lucky hits due to which I might pass. I am making a total of around 14 marks and if everything goes well I may get 13. I was very sad. I am very sad about today. I got previous years question papers from Vishal and his Rajendra, they are charging me R22 for that, and I am going to treat them nicely for any future help. Well, the question papers given by them just forced me to clean my drawers and that was good, I needed to do that, I am running out of place. Prxnt has been forcing himself into my life; I don’t belong to this place or anyone here anymore. I took pictures of my belongings I had to throw away during the process. Admit cards from various engineering colleges, IIT, AIEEE, DTU, BITS, and all, there was my report card of AIEEE exam. I took photo of it and threw that away. I was at my best in those days, a ninety percentile result was worth recognition, and look at me today. AIEEE Result Pg 1:AIEEE Result Pg 2:Can’t believe I did this to me. I took pictures of other things I had to throw away. They were remembering of my lost past. I put before babaji my need for a separate room. I don’t know what will happen, but I had to do my part. God bless me Ashish
2011-Apr-12
Index of Journals
April 12, 2011 Why didn’t I say what is truth yesterday when they were asking me about the circumstances I am into? That was creepy if that was the plan. Okay, chachaji had asked me about results and then babaji pulled it through to the drawing room. Before leaving the room he had asked that when he left nothing to do of his part then why I didn’t give I had to, don’t I see his circumstances? I asked him don’t he see my circumstances? He asked, “What circumstances I was talking about?” I had to tell him the answer, a sort of public declaration but I just took steps away saying I need to go study. He repeated the question and I said, “You don’t let me study”. Now I wonder if I was framed, if the scene was framed, if chachaji just wanted to show that I don’t have anything on my mind real and reasonable than just crap which I can’t unleash in public. But that is not the thing, had I started to make them count the circumstances than I would have to start from person to person and that would have become a show, a day-and-night show. I didn’t want that, I don’t want anything from this family, just that I could walk away that would be great. I just want to move out, to a free world. I don’t want to get into any kind of discussion with chachaji if that would result in me staying in this place. No way, I want separation and that is the thing. And, I guess, for that I will have to walk out empty handed, no matter what, chachaji is money-minded, crap things go in his mind, he is like he can’t see anyone rising above him in his home. He doesn’t want that, I don’t want that either, this man is better dead, and I don’t have anything to do with the family that I would take his animal-down-line with me. It has to be me alone, sooner or later. 2352: I was asleep the afternoon and I had written it in the morning, I almost forgot I had started the entry right with the first creepy thought about the creepiest person I ever had in my life. I need to stop thinking about USA. That is just a blurred image in my mind I don’t even seem to have started a run after. And the run can never be started until uncle is around. He can’t see anyone rise, he don’t want people to go after money, the only real and true thing in this materialistic world, when he himself is running after no other thing hiding under the veil of Jainism. That’s bullshit. I need to be realistic with my plans, my dreams, my wishes; I leave uncle aside ignoring the fact that this man will never stop playing games with my life and he was never too far. He may have gone away but until and unless he and I share a direct or indirect link (like via Rekha buaji, or like how he had played babaji on me yesterday) I am vulnerable to attack. He is a very dangerous man. I have to be fucking careful. I need to be real. I am never chasing the American dream blindly again. One way, I can get there is by giving entrance exams for higher education in America. Still, I need to concentrate on my Undergraduate results because they form a part of the criteria for admission. I have that in mind. I never thought of other ways, because they have nothing to do with BTech. I don’t see any scope of catching back soon with other nerds at college, my life at home has killed the student in me. Thing that hurts me the most is that I have no one to go and explain myself without asking for pity. It is not fair; I am not being fair with myself while setting up such high standards of achievements which don’t look far, but impossible. What if I don’t get out this place successful? What if uncle never let me come out of this cage? What if lose everything in the search for fresh air? I will concentrate on my Under-graduation. No matter what result will come; I am capable enough to start a life afresh with the little I will have without anyone else’s help. I have enough aptitude and endurance to have a run without BTech degree in hand, Bill Gated didn’t go to Harvard to find Microsoft. Steve Jobs didn’t go to college to take lessons on how to find Apple. Sean Parker, he didn’t undergraduate. Both the list and the representatives’ worth are countless. I know English, I know Computers, I have been through JEE twice in two years, and that instills in me enough experience about the exam. I am very capable; I just need to have a Run. God bless me Ashish
2011-Apr-11
Index of Journals
April 11, 2011 The day was fast, I just didn’t have a moment to analyze my state. It was exam in the morning. I had not slept since last afternoon. My eyes were tired, way too tired but I had to study. I went to library. I couldn’t have gone to other classmates because of course the discussion would be about results and I didn’t want that. I studied in the library and I was feeling lonely, I thought I needed someone around for a while now. I went into the reading room and there it was that guy Nishant. He looks like a nerd, a loner. I went to him and we discussed the question papers to revise the syllabus for a while now. That was helpful to the psyche but not for the exam. Nothing was that sort was asked, I had question papers and I thought I could predict the question paper, but not all the obvious things came. The format was changed and it came as a shock. But still paper had quite a lot for me to do. I wish I get above 15 this time (MM 30). After the exam I got Sonam to get her OS notes and that was good. I hadn’t thought of a positive response after the conversation-in-between-network-problems we had last night in which I kept saying hello for 20 seconds and then she hung up. I got Arushi’s number and she said she might help me by her second semester physics notes. That was cool! Sonam got the SE project work done from her part, and now Parul will carry on with DFDs. I went to Prashant sir and it was an okay meeting with see him for the first time since when I can’t remember. I had a doubt and answer to it was simple, only after he disclosed it. He reminded me of Open Book Test. That was cool! I liked that. Erstwhile, I saw Gareema ma’am in first floor. She was there for work in net lab. I didn’t wish even after we had closed on to each other’s sight once. And she was looking on to me, I ignored that but then jerked my neck back to give a questioning look like ‘What are you looking at, huh’. I am glad she was looking away this time. Huh, I need her of course; I don’t know why I am always in trouble. At home Ankur was there and my mark sheet was disclosed, I don’t think it was him. Well I got 61.2 percent and that’s okay as for now, I need to work harder. This time we got a new topper, Kawal Jeet of second section. He got 87.4 percent and Arushi has 86.6 percent marks. Ankur was here till 2200 and I was sleeping through the evening, so my day starts now. God bless me Ashish
2011-Apr-10
Index of Journals
April 10, 2011 The day was fine. I was just trying to keep up to SE book but that was not fair. I just cleared a few things around me like my phone memory, my old notebooks, diaries off their used pages (digitalizing them) etc. It was JEE today. I was busy with myself so didn’t have much thoughts about it. But it seems from Prashant’s paper that the kid has done something in the paper, the rest will be told by the result only. Now, my phone calls are charged at Rs 1 per minute. That’s creepy! I called Ankur for help but he knew less. Okay, I noticed the problem when I called Sonam for the third time and this time she picked up the phone and kept pretending that she wasn’t hearing anything, I tried to stay on the line but the creature cut down the call after twenty seconds. I was charged one rupee for this; that was too much for that conversation. God bless me Ashish
Journal (2011-Apr-5, Unsent Letter to Rashmi and Smita)
Index of Journals
An unsent letter: (Dated 5 April ‘11) Dear Rashmi & Smita I take this opportunity to write you guys this letter. I heard of Rashmi finishing her school this year. That makes six of us with Shruti and Rashmi adding to it, welcome to the party. Ankur and Anu have already lined up for getting paid. I still have two years left to join the club of elite. Well, getting paid is not what I want. I am more interested in post graduation. What are your plans for the times ahead? Alright, it is better earlier than late, so I make it sure that I do not miss the eighth of April. Happy Birthday! -Ashish Jain
April 09, 2011
Index of Journals
April 9, 2011 Anna Hazare fasted unto death demanding enactment of a strong Anti Corruption Law from 5th April 2011 at Jantar Mantar. At 78, Anna is not fasting for him own; he is fasting for the future of our children. Today the government has inclined to talk on his proposals. He broke his fast at 1030. This movement was neither affiliated nor aligned to any political party. And it had taken whole nation to stand as one against the government, not just high rank officers, businessmen, politicians, film stars, and cricketers. Last time when Anna sat on fast: - 6 corrupt ministers in Maharashtra had to resign - 400 corrupt officers were dismissed from job - 2002: Maharashtra RTI Act was passed - 2006: Central Government withdrew its proposal to amend Central RTI Act. God, I still can’t believe that Gareema ma’am gave me 14 in internals (Data Structures). 14 are no marks, shameful number. I feel like sodomizing that woman and then sending her into vegetative state for life, I want to make all her fears come true, the fears which she had felt when I was down and needed to see her for help. She got discipline committee to look over my actions. I thought I must have impressed her by my flow, but it worked in exactly the opposite manner on her. She should be dead. But, one thing I want to convince is that I failed in DS because of my own less effort in theory. I could have passed the exam had I been a little more with the subject, and by scoring in externals. Huh, whatever! I was snoozing through the day till three in the afternoon, that’s when I woke up to have lunch. It was because I was awake last night. I then finished watching movie ‘TERE BIN LADEN’ that’s about a Pakistani America-dreamer, genre was comedy. Just look at the height of shamelessness! It is Joint Entrance Exam tomorrow, which marks the first anniversary of my two-year long struggle. I moved out at 2330 when I noticed that the dog couldn’t sleep after half an hour of wait. God bless me Ashish
April 8, 2011
Index of Journals
April 8, 2011 It didn’t have to be that hard to forget Rashmi’s and Smita’s birthday. I had been thinking the girls but I knew I was right, both logically and philosophically, to miss their birthday. I need to cut contacts from this family because it has never been a part of my success but has caused failure more than enough times. It is enough. Anu got good results in her CPT group tests and she was going to get called big companies for article-ship. Anu wants to go there, work with them, they will pay good amount somewhere like Rs 15000 per month. Nobody but this family is opposed to that. Uncle says that she would not get time to study. Amma says that they free the interns from work very late. Babaji is just humming the mixed tunes of amma and uncle. Badi buaji was here to advocate for Anu. Buaji think that Anu should go for the job. She was tried her best to make others convince of what Anu, badi buaji, and Ankur think, but there is a deeper thing to discover than just the benefit of Anu that is there in vicious uncle’s mind. Is the money, is the independence, is the sort of power, the status that Anu will get once has an earning hand? I don’t trust this man, nor should anybody else. Last night around 1 am, I had planned to go to bed and get up around 3 am to study again. But Prashant didn’t let me sleep. He was changing fan speed, changing light in the room, was making noises from his throat like clearing heavy mucus stuck in his throat. What the hell was that? It was only around 1:48 that I gave up waiting for peace and put music on repeat on phone, lying near by it, showing no concern for whoever was doing what in the room. ‘Umbrella’ was playing the second time when the guy jumped out the bed and rushed out. By the time he was back with his father I had shut down the phone again after the completion of the track. He said, “He must have shut it down only after hearing us coming”, then his father asks for the time and he leaves. That was a scene. I was thinking only about it before going to bed. In the morning the donkey said nothing, I wasn’t anticipating that. There was fuss about me not bathing since four days and on, but that was nothing in comparison to heavy discussion I was setting my brain up for. Badi buaji is kind of avoiding me. That’s fine by me. I remember she had taken my name as a bad example in the talks in the afternoon. I was hearing from my room, inevitably. I hear this religious music playing all the time on uncle’s laptop. What is this, what is on his mind? Am I or the others are crazy? No matter what, but this family surely is. Jainism is nothing what these people do or talk or whatever. God bless me Ashish
Tuesday, November 23, 2021
Journal (2021-Nov-23)
Index of Journals
23 Nov, 2021 (Tuesday) Time: AfternoonGratitude Journal
Person 1: Mother For being there in helping with the rental business. Person 2: Anu For being there when I needed to talk to her regarding a match for marriage. Person 3: Sachin Kumar For being there as a friend and mentor, when I needed to discuss about regarding my issues about finding a match for marriage. - - -Reflection
Q1: What went well? A1: I took my project calls in a timely manner. Q2: What didn't go well? A2: I need to start regular exercise to control my weight. I have a belly as of today. Q3: What can we improve? A3: We need to start with regular exercises. - - -
Monday, November 22, 2021
Rule 1: Stand up straight with your shoulders back
LOBSTERS—AND TERRITORY
Lobsters nervous systems are comparatively simple, with large, easily observable neurons, the magic cells of the brain. Because of this, scientists have been able to map the neural circuitry of lobsters very accurately. This has helped us understand the structure and function of the brain and behaviour of more complex animals, including human beings. Lobsters have more in common with you than you might think (particularly when you are feeling crabby—ha ha). Lobsters live on the ocean floor. They need a home base down there, a range within which they hunt for prey and scavenge around for stray edible bits and pieces of whatever rains down from the continual chaos of carnage and death far above. They want somewhere secure, where the hunting and the gathering is good. They want a home. This can present a problem, since there are many lobsters. What if two of them occupy the same territory, at the bottom of the ocean, at the same time, and both want to live there? What if there are hundreds of lobsters, all trying to make a living and raise a family, in the same crowded patch of sand and refuse?Other creatures have this problem, too.
When songbirds come north in the spring, for example, they engage in ferocious territorial disputes. The songs they sing, so peaceful and beautiful to human ears, are siren calls and cries of domination. A brilliantly musical bird is a small warrior proclaiming his sovereignty. Take the wren, for example, a small, feisty, insect-eating songbird common in North America. A newly arrived wren wants a sheltered place to build a nest, away from the wind and rain. He wants it close to food, and attractive to potential mates. He also wants to convince competitors for that space to keep their distance.Birds—and Territory
My dad and I designed a house for a wren family when I was ten years old. It looked like a Conestoga wagon, and had a front entrance about the size of a quarter. This made it a good house for wrens, who are tiny, and not so good for other, larger birds, who couldn’t get in. My elderly neighbour had a birdhouse, too, which we built for her at the same time, from an old rubber boot. It had an opening large enough for a bird the size of a robin. She was looking forward to the day it was occupied. A wren soon discovered our birdhouse, and made himself at home there. We could hear his lengthy, trilling song, repeated over and over, during the early spring. Once he’d built his nest in the covered wagon, however, our new avian tenant started carrying small sticks to our neighbour’s nearby boot. He packed it so full that no other bird, large or small, could possibly get in. Our neighbour was not pleased by this pre-emptive strike, but there was nothing to be done about it. “If we take it down,” said my dad, “clean it up, and put it back in the tree, the wren will just pack it full of sticks again.” Wrens are small, and they’re cute, but they’re merciless. My dad suggested that I sit on the back lawn, record the wren’s song, play it back, and watch what happened. So, I went out into the bright spring sunlight and taped a few minutes of the wren laying furious claim to his territory with song. Then I let him hear his own voice. That little bird, one-third the size of a sparrow, began to divebomb me and my cassette recorder, swooping back and forth, inches from the speaker. We saw a lot of that sort of behaviour, even in the absence of the tape recorder. If a larger bird ever dared to sit and rest in any of the trees near our birdhouse there was a good chance he would get knocked off his perch by a kamikaze wren.Despite being very different from each other, Wren and Lobsters have some things in common...
Both are obsessed with status and position, for example, like a great many creatures. The Norwegian zoologist and comparative psychologist Thorlief Schjelderup-Ebbe observed (back in 1921) that even common barnyard chickens establish a “pecking order.”Pecking Order
The determination of Who’s Who in the chicken world has important implications for each individual bird’s survival, particularly in times of scarcity. The birds that always have priority access to whatever food is sprinkled out in the yard in the morning are the celebrity chickens. After them come the second-stringers, the hangers-on and wannabes. Then the third-rate chickens have their turn, and so on, down to the bedraggled, partially-feathered and badly-pecked wretches who occupy the lowest, untouchable stratum of the chicken hierarchy. Chickens, like suburbanites, live communally. Songbirds, such as wrens, do not, but they still inhabit a dominance hierarchy. It’s just spread out over more territory. The wiliest, strongest, healthiest and most fortunate birds occupy prime territory, and defend it. Because of this, they are more likely to attract high-quality mates, and to hatch chicks who survive and thrive. Protection from wind, rain and predators, as well as easy access to superior food, makes for a much less stressed existence. Territory matters, and there is little difference between territorial rights and social status. It is often a matter of life and death.When the aristocracy catches a cold, as it is said, the working class dies of pneumonia.
If a contagious avian disease sweeps through a neighbourhood of well-stratified songbirds, it is the least dominant and most stressed birds, occupying the lowest rungs of the bird world, who are most likely to sicken and die. This is equally true of human neighbourhoods, when bird flu viruses and other illnesses sweep across the planet. The poor and stressed always die first, and in greater numbers. They are also much more susceptible to noninfectious diseases, such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease. Because territory matters, and because the best locales are always in short supply, territory-seeking among animals produces conflict. Conflict, in turn, produces another problem: how to win or lose without the disagreeing parties incurring too great a cost. This latter point is particularly important. Imagine that two birds engage in a squabble about a desirable nesting area. The interaction can easily degenerate into outright physical combat. Under such circumstances, one bird, usually the largest, will eventually win—but even the victor may be hurt by the fight. That means a third bird, an undamaged, canny bystander, can move in, opportunistically, and defeat the now-crippled victor. That is not at all a good deal for the first two birds.Conflict—and Territory
Over the millennia, animals who must co-habit with others in the same territories have in consequence learned many tricks to establish dominance, while risking the least amount of possible damage. A defeated wolf, for example, will roll over on its back, exposing its throat to the victor, who will not then deign to tear it out. The now-dominant wolf may still require a future hunting partner, after all, even one as pathetic as his now-defeated foe. Bearded dragons, remarkable social lizards, wave their front legs peaceably at one another to indicate their wish for continued social harmony. Dolphins produce specialized sound pulses while hunting and during other times of high excitement to reduce potential conflict among dominant and subordinate group members. Such behavior is endemic in the community of living things. Lobsters, scuttling around on the ocean floor, are no exception.5 If you catch a few dozen, and transport them to a new location, you can observe their status-forming rituals and techniques. Each lobster will first begin to explore the new territory, partly to map its details, and partly to find a good place for shelter. Lobsters learn a lot about where they live, and they remember what they learn. If you startle one near its nest, it will quickly zip back and hide there. If you startle it some distance away, however, it will immediately dart towards the nearest suitable shelter, previously identified and now remembered. A lobster needs a safe hiding place to rest, free from predators and the forces of nature. Furthermore, as lobsters grow, they moult, or shed their shells, which leaves them soft and vulnerable for extended periods of time. A burrow under a rock makes a good lobster home, particularly if it is located where shells and other detritus can be dragged into place to cover the entrance, once the lobster is snugly ensconced inside. However, there may be only a small number of high-quality shelters or hiding places in each new territory. They are scarce and valuable. Other lobsters continually seek them out.Dispute Resolution: Level 1
This means that lobsters often encounter one another when out exploring. Researchers have demonstrated that even a lobster raised in isolation knows what to do when such a thing happens.6 It has complex defensive and aggressive behaviours built right into its nervous system. It begins to dance around, like a boxer, opening and raising its claws, moving backward, forward, and side to side, mirroring its opponent, waving its opened claws back and forth. At the same time, it employs special jets under its eyes to direct streams of liquid at its opponent. The liquid spray contains a mix of chemicals that tell the other lobster about its size, sex, health, and mood. Sometimes one lobster can tell immediately from the display of claw size that it is much smaller than its opponent, and will back down without a fight. The chemical information exchanged in the spray can have the same effect, convincing a less healthy or less aggressive lobster to retreat. That’s dispute resolution Level 1.Dispute Resolution: Level 2
If the two lobsters are very close in size and apparent ability, however, or if the exchange of liquid has been insufficiently informative, they will proceed to dispute resolution Level 2. With antennae whipping madly and claws folded downward, one will advance, and the other retreat. Then the defender will advance, and the aggressor retreat. After a couple of rounds of this behaviour, the more nervous of the lobsters may feel that continuing is not in his best interest. He will flick his tail reflexively, dart backwards, and vanish, to try his luck elsewhere. If neither blinks, however, the lobsters move to Level 3, which involves genuine combat.Dispute Resolution: Level 3
This time, the now enraged lobsters come at each other viciously, with their claws extended, to grapple. Each tries to flip the other on its back. A successfully flipped lobster will conclude that its opponent is capable of inflicting serious damage. It generally gives up and leaves (although it harbours intense resentment and gossips endlessly about the victor behind its back). If neither can overturn the other—or if one will not quit despite being flipped—the lobsters move to Level 4.Dispute Resolution: Level 4
Level 4 resolution involves extreme risk, and is not something to be engaged in without forethought: one or both lobsters will emerge damaged from the ensuing fray, perhaps fatally. The animals advance on each other, with increasing speed. Their claws are open, so they can grab a leg, or antenna, or an eye-stalk, or anything else exposed and vulnerable. Once a body part has been successfully grabbed, the grabber will tail-flick backwards, sharply, with claw clamped firmly shut, and try to tear it off. Disputes that have escalated to this point typically create a clear winner and loser. The loser is unlikely to survive, particularly if he or she remains in the territory occupied by the winner, now a mortal enemy.Aftermath of a losing battle
In the aftermath of a losing battle, regardless of how aggressively a lobster has behaved, it becomes unwilling to fight further, even against another, previously defeated opponent. A vanquished competitor loses confidence, sometimes for days. Sometimes the defeat can have even more severe consequences. If a dominant lobster is badly defeated, its brain basically dissolves. Then it grows a new, subordinate’s brain—one more appropriate to its new, lowly position. Its original brain just isn’t sophisticated to manage the transformation from king to bottom dog without virtually complete dissolution and regrowth. Anyone who has experienced a painful transformation after a serious defeat in romance or career may feel some sense of kinship with the once successful crustacean.The Neurochemistry of Defeat and Victory
A lobster loser’s brain chemistry differs importantly from that of a lobster winner. This is reflected in their relative postures. Whether a lobster is confident or cringing depends on the ratio of two chemicals that modulate communication between lobster neurons: serotonin and octopamine. Winning increases the ratio of the former to the latter. A lobster with high levels of serotonin and low levels of octopamine is a cocky, strutting sort of shellfish, much less likely to back down when challenged. This is because serotonin helps regulate postural flexion. A flexed lobster extends its appendages so that it can look tall and dangerous, like Clint Eastwood in a spaghetti Western. When a lobster that has just lost a battle is exposed to serotonin, it will stretch itself out, advance even on former victors, and fight longer and harder. The drugs prescribed to depressed human beings, which are selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, have much the same chemical and behavioural effect. In one of the more staggering demonstrations of the evolutionary continuity of life on Earth, Prozac even cheers up lobsters. High serotonin/low octopamine characterizes the victor. The opposite neurochemical configuration, a high ratio of octopamine to serotonin, produces a defeated-looking, scrunched-up, inhibited, drooping, skulking sort of lobster, very likely to hang around street corners, and to vanish at the first hint of trouble. Serotonin and octopamine also regulate the tail-flick reflex, which serves to propel a lobster rapidly backwards when it needs to escape. Less provocation is necessary to trigger that reflex in a defeated lobster. You can see an echo of that in the heightened startle reflex characteristic of the soldier or battered child with post-traumatic stress disorder.The Principle of Unequal Distribution
When a defeated lobster regains its courage and dares to fight again it is more likely to lose again than you would predict, statistically, from a tally of its previous fights. Its victorious opponent, on the other hand, is more likely to win. It’s winner-take-all in the lobster world, just as it is in human societies, where the top 1 percent have as much loot as the bottom 50 percent—and where the richest eighty-five people have as much as the bottom three and a half billion. That same brutal principle of unequal distribution applies outside the financial domain—indeed, anywhere that creative production is required. - The majority of scientific papers are published by a very small group of scientists. - A tiny proportion of musicians produces almost all the recorded commercial music. - Just a handful of authors sell all the books. A million and a half separately titled books sell each year in the US. However, only five hundred of these sell more than a hundred thousand copies. - Similarly, just four classical composers (Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, and Tchaikovsky) wrote almost all the music played by modern orchestras. Bach, for his part, composed so prolifically that it would take decades of work merely to handcopy his scores, yet only a small fraction of this prodigious output is commonly performed. - The same thing applies to the output of the other three members of this group of hyper-dominant composers: only a small fraction of their work is still widely played. Thus, a small fraction of the music composed by a small fraction of all the classical composers who have ever composed makes up almost all the classical music that the world knows and loves.Price’s law
This principle is sometimes known as Price’s law, after Derek J. de Solla Price, the researcher who discovered its application in science in 1963. It can be modelled using an approximately L-shaped graph, with number of people on the vertical axis, and productivity or resources on the horizontal.Pareto's Principle
The basic principle had been discovered much earlier. Vilfredo Pareto (1848–1923), an Italian polymath, noticed its applicability to wealth distribution in the early twentieth century, and it appears true for every society ever studied, regardless of governmental form. It also applies to the population of cities (a very small number have almost all the people), the mass of heavenly bodies (a very small number hoard all the matter), and the frequency of words in a language (90 percent of communication occurs using just 500 words), among many other things.The Matthew Principle
Sometimes it is known as the Matthew Principle (Matthew 25:29), derived from what might be the harshest statement ever attributed to Christ: “to those who have everything, more will be given; from those who have nothing, everything will be taken.” You truly know you are the Son of God when your dicta (winner-take-all) apply even to crustaceans. Back to the fractious shellfish: it doesn’t take that long before lobsters, testing each other out, learn who can be messed with and who should be given a wide berth—and once they have learned, the resultant hierarchy is exceedingly stable. All a victor needs to do, once he has won, is to wiggle his antennae in a threatening manner, and a previous opponent will vanish in a puff of sand before him. A weaker lobster will quit trying, accept his lowly status, and keep his legs attached to his body. The top lobster, by contrast— occupying the best shelter, getting some good rest, finishing a good meal— parades his dominance around his territory, rousting subordinate lobsters from their shelters at night, just to remind them who’s their daddy.All the Girls
The female lobsters (who also fight hard for territory during the explicitly maternal stages of their existence14) identify the top guy quickly, and become irresistibly attracted to him. This is brilliant strategy, in my estimation. It’s also one used by females of many different species, including humans. Instead of undertaking the computationally difficult task of identifying the best man, the females outsource the problem to the machine-like calculations of the dominance hierarchy. They let the males fight it out and peel their paramours from the top. This is very much what happens with stock-market pricing, where the value of any particular enterprise is determined through the competition of all. When the females are ready to shed their shells and soften up a bit, they become interested in mating. They start hanging around the dominant lobster’s pad, spraying attractive scents and aphrodisiacs towards him, trying to seduce him. His aggression has made him successful, so he’s likely to react in a dominant, irritable manner. Furthermore, he’s large, healthy and powerful. It’s no easy task to switch his attention from fighting to mating. (If properly charmed, however, he will change his behaviour towards the female. This is the lobster equivalent of Fifty Shades of Grey, the fastest-selling paperback of all time, and the eternal Beauty-and-the-Beast plot of archetypal romance. This is the pattern of behaviour continually represented in the sexually explicit literary fantasies that are as popular among women as provocative images of naked women are among men.) It should be pointed out, however, that sheer physical power is an unstable basis on which to found lasting dominance, as the Dutch primatologist Frans de Waal15 has taken pains to demonstrate. Among the chimp troupes he studied, males who were successful in the longer term had to buttress their physical prowess with more sophisticated attributes. Even the most brutal chimp despot can be taken down, after all, by two opponents, each threequarters as mean. In consequence, males who stay on top longer are those who form reciprocal coalitions with their lower-status compatriots, and who pay careful attention to the troupe’s females and their infants. The political ploy of baby-kissing is literally millions of years old. But lobsters are still comparatively primitive, so the bare plot elements of Beast and Beauty suffice for them. Once the Beast has been successfully charmed, the successful female (lobster) will disrobe, shedding her shell, making herself dangerously soft, vulnerable, and ready to mate. At the right moment, the male, now converted into a careful lover, deposits a packet of sperm into the appropriate receptacle. Afterward, the female hangs around, and hardens up for a couple of weeks (another phenomenon not entirely unknown among human beings). At her leisure, she returns to her own domicile, laden with fertilized eggs. At this point another female will attempt the same thing—and so on. The dominant male, with his upright and confident posture, not only gets the prime real estate and easiest access to the best hunting grounds. He also gets all the girls. It is exponentially more worthwhile to be successful, if you are a lobster, and male.Why is all this relevant?
For an amazing number of reasons, apart from those that are comically obvious. First, we know that lobsters have been around, in one form or another, for more than 350 million years.16 This is a very long time. Sixty-five million years ago, there were still dinosaurs. That is the unimaginably distant past to us. To the lobsters, however, dinosaurs were the nouveau riche, who appeared and disappeared in the flow of neareternal time. This means that dominance hierarchies have been an essentially permanent feature of the environment to which all complex life has adapted. A third of a billion years ago, brains and nervous systems were comparatively simple. Nonetheless, they already had the structure and neurochemistry necessary to process information about status and society. The importance of this fact can hardly be overstated.The Nature of Nature
The part of our brain that keeps track of our position in the dominance hierarchy is therefore exceptionally ancient and fundamental...
This brings us to an erroneous concept: that nature is something strictly segregated from the cultural constructs that have emerged within it. The order within the chaos and order of Being is all the more “natural” the longer it has lasted. This is because “nature” is “what selects,” and the longer a feature has existed the more time it has had to be selected—and to shape life. It does not matter whether that feature is physical and biological, or social and cultural. All that matters, from a Darwinian perspective, is permanence—and the dominance hierarchy, however social or cultural it might appear, has been around for some half a billion years. It’s permanent. It’s real. The dominance hierarchy is not capitalism. It’s not communism, either, for that matter. It’s not the military-industrial complex. It’s not the patriarchy—that disposable, malleable, arbitrary cultural artefact. It’s not even a human creation; not in the most profound sense. It is instead a neareternal aspect of the environment, and much of what is blamed on these more ephemeral manifestations is a consequence of its unchanging existence. We (the sovereign we, the we that has been around since the beginning of life) have lived in a dominance hierarchy for a long, long time. We were struggling for position before we had skin, or hands, or lungs, or bones. There is little more natural than culture. Dominance hierarchies are older than trees. The part of our brain that keeps track of our position in the dominance hierarchy is therefore exceptionally ancient and fundamental. It is a master control system, modulating our perceptions, values, emotions, thoughts and actions. It powerfully affects every aspect of our Being, conscious and unconscious alike. This is why, when we are defeated, we act very much like lobsters who have lost a fight. Our posture droops. We face the ground. We feel threatened, hurt, anxious and weak. If things do not improve, we become chronically depressed. Under such conditions, we can’t easily put up the kind of fight that life demands, and we become easy targets for harder-shelled bullies. And it is not only the behavioural and experiential similarities that are striking. Much of the basic neurochemistry is the same. Consider serotonin, the chemical that governs posture and escape in the lobster. Low-ranking lobsters produce comparatively low levels of serotonin. This is also true of low-ranking human beings (and those low levels decrease more with each defeat). Low serotonin means decreased confidence. Low serotonin means more response to stress and costlier physical preparedness for emergency—as anything whatsoever may happen, at any time, at the bottom of the dominance hierarchy (and rarely something good). Low serotonin means less happiness, more pain and anxiety, more illness, and a shorter lifespan—among humans, just as among crustaceans. Higher spots in the dominance hierarchy, and the higher serotonin levels typical of those who inhabit them, are characterized by less illness, misery and death, even when factors such as absolute income—or number of decaying food scraps—are held constant. The importance of this can hardly be overstated.Therefore, look for your inspiration to the victorious lobster, with its 350 million years of practical wisdom. Then you may be able to accept the terrible burden of the World, and find joy. And... Stand up straight, with your shoulders back.
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