Saurabh

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a copy of my facebook feed, circa July 2026.

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09 March 2016
Seeing is believing. Visit https://www.google.co.in/maps/@28.5779141,77.2838038,487m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en, and view the venue from the eyes of a satellite. Google still has images from when construction had not begun.

You will see that the area has many trees. It is all green, a combination of trees, shrubs and perhaps even moss. Now find a contiguous 7 acre area within this territory. Sure, they left a tree standing in front of the stage. But could they construct a 40+ feet high, 7 acre stage without uprooting a single tree? Also, does fauna survive only on trees?

I will post some images from flashearth.com in the comments.
07 March 2016
Jodhpur has a Bhagwan Mahavir Park with an actual battle tank being the center of attraction. OK.

PS: I hope the irony isn't lost on you guys. Mahavira is an icon of non violence. A battle tank is an icon of, I don't know, peace keeping?

The turret of the tank was pointing at a statue of Mahavira. Maybe it was an artistic representation of the standoff between war and peace. Should have stopped and investigated.
07 March 2016
The beauty of a morning walk through nature. A must visit for anyone visiting Jodhpur. The best part is the extremely courteous and helpful staff.
05 March 2016
धर्म कोई भी हो, धर्म कि सिर्फ़ दलाली बाकी है।

Building on what Kanhaiya said, तुम मे इतनी हैसियत हो गई कि भगवान का कुछ कर पाओ? जो भगवान कण कण में है, उसका घर बनाने चले हो, उसे बचाने चले हो। किसी दूसरे इंसान के लिए कुछ कर लो, वही बहुत है।
05 March 2016
Nilay had to gather information about miniature paintings for homework. So I got him to Jaipur. His response: 'Duuuuude!'

The joys of fatherhood.
05 March 2016
Nilay: What cruelty and torture. Sometimes I wonder why I was born a human and why humans evolved. We should have just stayed in the jungle.

This one's going down too fast I say. Maybe spending some time in the forest, bring hunted by predators, will evolve his perspective a bit ;)
04 March 2016
EPF investments are subject to government whims. Please read the (job) offer document carefully before accepting.
01 March 2016
@[564198067:2048:Balaji Sampath], something for your students to chew on, I suppose: http://what-if.xkcd.com/145/

For the others, if this articles doesn't get you interested in Physics, nothing can. Which, also makes you a certified non-nerd.

Finally, the surface of the moon is boiling hot. The sunlit part - the part we can see, that is. It does look 'cool' up in the night sky.
28 February 2016
Here you will find photos of me exercising. And also gorging on drinks to balance the exercise out :p
26 February 2016
All we wanted was a dislike button. Instead we got five flavours of reactions.

दोस्तों इस पोस्ट को इतना शेयर करो कि यह बात प्रधान मंत्री तक पहुँचे!
22 February 2016
How long can we ignore the "hearts and minds" problem in Kashmir?

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india/in-kashmir-army-caught-between-enemy-bullets-and-friendly-brickbats/story-uo27vvFhvb4wzpGBMRN5yH.html
21 February 2016
Nilay's take: If they love their country why don't they go feed the poor instead of wasting money on a march. I bet whoever came up with the idea of this march isn't a very smart person. This is the world's most polluted place and they're creating a traffic jam.

I swear I didn't discuss the JNU issue with my kids.
20 February 2016
Everything that could be said has now been said by @[114594478556758:274:P Sainath]. What we need now is action.

By the way, does anyone know if he is still in Delhi? Better still, does anyone have his phone number? @[601093713:2048:Mayank], @[1004023253:2048:Dhanada], @[519891786:2048:Pushpa], @[552301979:2048:نندنی کرشنن اینگار], @[1214257652:2048:Meera]...
20 February 2016
A brilliant take on patriotism. Looks like mobs all over the world are using the measuring stick of nationalism to make important decisions.
20 February 2016
Oh, Steve Martin.

"I'll be honest with you, right off the top, because I'm a little upset with the Beacon Theatre," one joke began. "I was backstage and I used the restroom. And there was a sign that read, 'Employees Must Wash hands.'" Pause. "And I could not find [pause] one employee [pause] to wash my hands."

By the way, I apologize for the ticket prices. [Pause.] I know it seems expensive, because there is like one guy, two guys, and a couple of mics, but it's not that way. There are like four sound people, and two lighting people, and [pause] drivers, and wardrobe people, and catering, and someone to walk Jerry's Fitbit around. [Pause.] A celebrity look-alike, in case Steve doesn't feel like going on. Steve says hi, by the way.
18 February 2016
@[2232434:2048:Sushant Sinha] अब तो TV News देखना छोड़ दो भाई
18 February 2016
The Art of Living foundation is an organisation that prides itself on its voluntary and community work. Why it should choose to come to my city and damage the Yamuna's flood plains, I cannot tell. But the volunteers and members of AOL would do well to question the organisation rather than tow the party line. They should also devise a plan to ensure that the banks of the Yamuna are restored to their original state once the party is over. And if the organisation isn't doing it, then the volunteers can stay back and carry out shramdaan to this effect. Otherwise they'll be in the company of characters like Mayawati and events like the CWG games, that destroyed the Yamuna bank for dubious reasons.

http://m.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/art-of-living-event-under-ngt-scanner/article8230582.ece

@[100000506450390:2048:Ankur Jain], @[739589583:2048:Gowri Krishnamurthy], please see this video. What is the AOL official stance on this? Are there any commitments on restoring the greenery being removed? Is their an explanation on why this site was chosen. Other than the Yamuna banks, much of Delhi is just barren land, being in the rain shadow of the Aravalis. The amount of land this event needs can easily be found elsewhere - flat, empty and ready for use. Can you as long standing volunteers bear upon them to either change the site, or draw out a clear restoration plan?

एक पेड़ गिरा
सैकड़ों चिड़ियों का घर गया
17 February 2016
Facebook, learn from Apple. This is how you reach out to your customers and create awareness about a public issue. And encourage the involvement of the public in a matter that they might find too technical and legal and not of concern to them.

http://www.apple.com/customer-letter/
16 February 2016
Times are tough. You need a break. You need a taste of Twinkle's blog.

http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/author/twinklekhanna/

However, if you insist on dwelling upon the present, she has something to keep you pleasantly worried:

http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/mrsfunnybones/why-some-of-us-choose-to-face-the-cave-wall/
16 February 2016
More gems from misaddressed mail.

(Those of you who have been here long enough would know that I get dozens of misaddressed emails every day. People assume that every Saurabh Jain on this planet must live at saurabh.jain@gmail.com. This one is a classic because of its arrogance.)

I have applied for an internship in which letter of recommendation is required. I have given your email id for the letter of recommendation because you are our head of department. You will receive a mail from that internship regarding internship. You have to upload that letter of recommendation. I have already written that letter of recommendation. I am attaching that file with this mail. You can go through it and if you have any problem with file kindly mail me as soon as possible. Actually its deadline is 15th feb ( 10:30 AM ). Kindly attach that file on the link which you will receive with that mail before that deadline.
16 February 2016
They paved paradise to put up a parking lot.

What for centuries was forests, farmland and villages, has been drowned to create this lake and boathouse. विकास।
15 February 2016
Women dominated the field of computing in its early days. Where are they now?

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/gallery/2016/feb/13/future-women-the-bell-lab-computer-operators-of-the-1960s-in-pictures-women-in-computing
13 February 2016
सर कलम होंगें कल यहाँ उनके
जिनके मुँह में ज़बान बाकी है
13 February 2016
रात थी जब तुम्हारा शहर आया
मगर खिड़की तो मैंने खोल ही ली

Jashn-e-Rekhta
08 February 2016
Now that TRAI has ruled in favour of net neutrality, let us not forget how Facebook misled its users. Yes, misled. Go through the comments in this petition and you will see how most users used words like "withheld information" to describe the Free Basics campaign. Not only did Facebook lose the ruling, it also lost user goodwill.

https://www.change.org/p/facebook-india-free-basics-facebook-allow-people-to-unsign-the-free-basics-petition/
07 February 2016
If an Iqbal Masih frees 3,000 children, then India needs hundreds of such boys and girls before we can put an end to slavery. And thousands before child labour is behind us.

Which is to say that I'm putting no hopes in our government or the "middle class" to do anything for these children. They must rise for themselves. And then we wonder how maoism or communism still thrive in India.
01 February 2016
रज़ा साहब की नकल बना कर हम भी कलाकार हो गए।
29 January 2016
@[100002104093966:2048:Arvind] भाई इस logic से तो हिंदुस्तान की अधिकतर कंपनियां भी बंद हो जानी चाहिएँ। Starting with most of the startups.
29 January 2016
Solar power has finally arrived in India...

because we now have a full scale scam related to it.
25 January 2016
saudade

http://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/destination-of-the-week/of-earth-and-water/
24 January 2016
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Hamilton_(scientist)

If you're looking for an inspirational role model, here's one. Humble background, yet defined a new field (software engineering) that created millions of livelihoods. Many of us would do better to study her work rather than undermine it by practicing agile "methodology".
14 January 2016
If the AAP wins Punjab, they'll have an actual police force under them. And drugs and terrorism to fight. There'll be little space for excuses and fighting with the center, and a lot of urgent genuine work to be done. Should be interesting. Neither Congress nor BJP/SAD seems bothered about drugs at all.
14 January 2016
The purification power of a car AC compared with that of a car air purifier.

Learnings: The purification power of a car AC is amazing. It takes you down to a PM concentration of under 25 µg/m3 (healthy) in five minutes. Whether the compressor is running or not, the car is running or not, the performance stays the same. Make sure your car is air tight, the vent is not exhausting air, and the fan is not on the lowest setting.

A car purifier, especially the no-brand kind that I tested, is entirely useless.
13 January 2016
At first I read "messy in the Middle East" and it kind of made sense to me.

Then I realised I'm reading Robin Sharma and none of it is supposed to make any real sense.
11 January 2016
What would the world be without sensors? The Philips AC4014 air purifier consumes 4.6W when the fan is set to medium, 23.60W when fan is on high. The fan is the only (significant) active component in the product.

What this means is that compared to high, on any other fan setting your device is essentially off. When the device is on high, the noise doesn't let you sleep. Now I need to throw a sound level meter into the mix. Find the purifier that cleans the air while making bearable amounts of noise and consuming reasonable amounts of power.
07 January 2016
Oh damn. Why do people who I have declared nutjobs ever talk sense? It just makes the world a confusing place for my puny brain. Everything needs to be in black and white, OK. People I disagree with need to be consistently disagreeable. Mr. Owaisi, please return to the dark side; you are upsetting the delicate balance of the force.
04 January 2016
Early results for the Moonbow AP-4800UIN are out, and it is giving the Philips AC4014 a run for its money. Of course, a smaller filter means more frequent cleaning and filter replacements, but hey, it costs only 45% as much as Philips. Get the whole story here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1FkrLQ_Ma8v3T39tOmTS96ub7AGFbzFDhggde0hEpilo/pubhtml