Media personality Shiksha Arora has sparked debate online after weighing in on long-standing claims of “Indians only” housing and businesses in parts of Nairobi, particularly Lang’ata.
Speaking on the Mic Cheque Podcast, Shiksha said that while some cases may involve exclusivity within communities, others are often misunderstood and tied more to food culture, vegetarianism, and lifestyle preferences than outright racism.
During the conversation, Shiksha explained that people often assume every “Indians only” sign or restriction is rooted in racial discrimination, but she believes some situations are linked to specific dietary practices.
“I’ve seen online a bunch of times incidents where they say, like in Lang’ata, ‘Indians only,’” a host said.
Shiksha said: “But some of those places, by the way, it’s not a matter of race, it’s a matter of vegetarianism.”
According to Shiksha, certain Asian communities maintain strict food customs that influence where they live, eat, and socialize.
“They are very big on the food that they eat. They don’t even eat onions and garlic, some of these people,” she said.
Shiksha went on to describe how deeply rooted some of these practices are in certain households and communities.
“We have a community that does not eat garlic and onion,” she said, noting that many outsiders may not understand how seriously these customs are observed.
She explained that some people are raised in environments where meat and certain strong-smelling foods are completely absent, making it difficult for them to tolerate such food smells.
“I had friends back in the day in school who were so strictly vegetarian,” she recalled. “If we were on the same table and a dish came when we’re in a restaurant, they would feel like throwing up.”
She added that for some people, even the smell of meat can be overwhelming because they were never exposed to it while growing up.
“The smell of meat makes them throw up because they don’t know any better. That’s all they’ve learned their whole life. It’s a way of living,” she said.
Shiksha emphasized that vegetarianism remains a major part of life for many families of Indian origin, and this can shape housing and social preferences.
“Vegetarianism is big in the Indian community, Asian community,” she said.
Her comments suggest that in some cases, residential preferences may revolve around maintaining shared lifestyles, common kitchens, or environments free from certain foods rather than race alone.
At the same time, Shiksha clarified that not every case can be explained through food culture. She acknowledged that some communities do create exclusive spaces reserved for their own members.
“But yes, there are others that are gated community ones that are only rented out to their own community,” she said.
She specifically mentioned the Bohora community, describing how some close-knit groups maintain their own institutions and neighborhoods.
“The Bohoras do that as well. They have hospitals, they have schools, they have estates, their own stuff,” she said.
The debate around ‘Indians only’ spaces in Kenya has surfaced repeatedly over the years, especially on social media whenever rental adverts, club access complaints, or neighborhood tensions emerge.
