vaisrinivasan
Bio
Writer of musings. Occasional traveller.
https://ko-fi.com/vaishnavi_scribbles
Stories (23/0)
The Best Engagement Gift from a Mom to her Daughter
To say Indian weddings are grand is an understatement. India has a plethora of communities following unique traditions. I'm from Tamilnadu, South India. In my circle, the wedding traditions last for three days. The Engagement ceremony is one of the pre-wedding ceremonies. Nonetheless, it is a grand gathering. How grand? A gathering of 600 people!. That's how important the Engagement ceremony is in our culture. It is a mini wedding in itself. Many of the families from both the boy's and the girl's side meet for the first time. (Now don't ask me how many people came to my wedding. Well.. We served 2700 servings of food for a total of three days!).
By vaisrinivasan3 years ago in Families
I Bought Some Time Machines From the Thrift Store
What if I told you I buy time machines from the local thrift stores now and then? Each one takes me to an entirely unimaginable place and time, and it works like a charm every single time. One moment, I’m sitting at my desk sipping coffee on a warm Saturday afternoon, then the next moment, I’m in old London or Paris in the 1920s or with the Mughals in India. I can choose how long I stay in that period, live, breathe and eat the food of the locals, wear the local attire, and come back once I have experienced it all. If you haven’t guessed by now, I’m talking about books. Old and dusty, having passed many hands, books are my favorite time traveler guides to buy from the local thrift stores. Sure, I love the smell of new books whenever I enter the bookstores or receive my orders on Amazon, but there is something evocative about the old books you find in the thrift shops. Well, here are some of the treasures I bought for less than $5 each in various shops.
By vaisrinivasan3 years ago in Geeks
World's First Programmer was a Woman and Software Programming was Meant to be a Woman's Job
But first, a little on why I feel the urge to write about these two uncommon facts even those in the software field are not aware of. I'm a software developer. I love challenging myself and solving problems. I look forward to the design and architecture discussions in my daily meetings. And I truly believe that with the help of technology when used rightly, we can solve the world's problems. Writing on Vocal and sharing it with the world wouldn't have been possible without a group of software developers figuring out solutions to build a scalable product. Without code, it wouldn't have been possible to put a human on the moon. Without the Python code that Katie Bouman wrote, it wouldn't have been possible to capture the first-ever image of the black hole. Yes. My heart swells with pride whenever I see women accomplishing the impossible feats in my field. Because, Gender Inequality is one of the most frequently discussed shortcomings in STEM fields. I look around in my office and I see very few women whom I look forward to having as a role-model. As the career ladder gets higher, the number of women climbing it drops significantly. So how are companies solving the problem of Gender Inequality? Through some of the below initiatives aimed at encouraging the women workforce.
By vaisrinivasan3 years ago in FYI
Him
Have you ever fallen in love with another soul while holding hands with your partner? No, I'm not talking about the cheap kind of love which makes you cheat your partner, but a reverential admiration that evokes emotions deep inside from within you. And, knowing that you may never be able to reciprocate your love but confine it in the cellars of your heart along with other prisoners? I had one such moment.
By vaisrinivasan3 years ago in Humans
The Perfect Picture is Created Through AI
I'm a software engineer by profession and a novice photographer. I have used the term novice a little loosely here. Okay, I'll admit. I have no idea about photography. All I know is, when I click the button on my phone, the camera takes a picture. But I know how to analyze the photos I took. With Machine Learning getting traction over the past decade, my work involves designing the ML models and using them for various applications. Photo editing is one such example. Give me a photo of Kanye West, and I can make him smile. Give me your best picture, and I can transform it into a Van Gogh-like art. Imagine that. AI copying the styles of various artists. There are much more applications in the AI space, but since we're dealing with photos, let us look at some of the ground-breaking technologies in image transformation.
By vaisrinivasan3 years ago in 01
In Conversation With Chiron
I was out on a Saturday. You know, spending some time in nature, cooling off the stress, with occasional Facebook checks. The Pine Forest is a famous tourist spot, but to my surprise, it was not crowded that day. Except for a few horses and a trainer nearby, it was practically empty. The trainer was a good-looking man. I wouldn't lie if I said I threw a couple of glances at him. I sat down on the grass, took a deep breath, immersing myself in "Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief"; I don't know how much time had passed when I suddenly heard a voice say, "I trained him";
By vaisrinivasan3 years ago in Futurism
Bhutan is Not My Hometown
First, let me put it out front that I'm not from Bhutan. I'm from India. Though I love my country very much, I had a strong urge to document my experiences with Bhutan for the hometown feature. But Bhutan is not my hometown. You can seldom call a country you visited for ten days a hometown. But I can, and I will. Garry Davis paved the way for that. Let me explain.
By vaisrinivasan3 years ago in Wander
How Bitcoin Saved and Ruined My Life
It is polite to introduce oneself before starting the conversation. But I'm afraid I will give out more information than intended. If I have to tell my name, it would have to be a fake one. But I don't want to keep adding to the lies. Not again. The information given here is accurate to the best of my knowledge without affecting Ollie or I. Ollie. My saviour and my guardian angel. Ollie is the reason I'm alive today. There are some times I wish I had not met him. But I'm digressing. This is the story of how Ollie and Bitcoin saved me only to tear my heart to pieces.
By vaisrinivasan3 years ago in The Chain
No Time to Prepare? Have Only 5 Minutes? I Got You
We've all been there. We plan meticulously to organize the perfect game day, but things don't always go as planned. Someone visits unannounced, you step out to help a friend, ad hoc work meetings, whatever may be the reason, it doesn't have to ruin your food preparation. I have got you covered with these five easy recipes that take under 5 minutes to prepare. The recipes are easy enough you can even make them with your kids and have fun doing it.
By vaisrinivasan3 years ago in Feast
It's Always "Super Bowl" with these Recipes
I have always been a fan of "Super Bowls"; You know, as long as the bowl has food. Food that tingles your taste buds while the game gets on your nerves. Nothing brings family and friends together like the game day. SuperBowl, Wimbledon, Cricket World Cup, it doesn't matter which tribe you belong to, emotions run high during the game. You'd be remiss if you do not have crunchy, tasty savories in your mouth while your eyes are feasting on the tv.
By vaisrinivasan3 years ago in Feast
The Path from Dreams to Goals
2020 was a year of mixed emotions. LinkedIn feed turned from job vacancy posts to job search posts. News from the relatives was almost always about someone getting the coronavirus. Most of them recovered except for an unfortunate few. On a personal front, it was a good year for me. Being a newly married couple, I spent more time with my husband. Also, there was no commute to work, so we had extra time, which otherwise would have been spent on traffic. We're from Bangalore, India, and if there's one thing Bangalore is famous for, it's traffic. Don't believe me? Google it and see for yourself.
By vaisrinivasan3 years ago in Motivation