Sachi R
Friday, August 1, 2025
"श्रीमाता" - The Splendour of Mother Worship
Friday, July 18, 2025
Design with AI
Design Proposal: Spoon Stand for Pickle Bottle
Design Objectives
Convenience: The spoon should always be easily accessible.
Cleanliness: Prevent mess and contamination.
Compatibility: The stand should work with common pickle bottle shapes and sizes.
Stability: Securely attached to the bottle without risk of tipping.
Design Features
1. Clip-On Spoon Stand
Material: Food-grade plastic or stainless steel for easy cleaning and durability.
Mechanism: Spring or snap-fit clip that clamps around the neck or rim of the pickle bottle.
Shape: U-shaped cradle—open at the top for easy placement and removal of the spoon.
Rest Platform: Small drip tray below the cradle to catch drips and keep surfaces clean.
2. Lid-Integrated Holder
Lid Replacement: Replace the existing bottle lid with a custom lid featuring a side slot or tube.
Slot/Tube: A vertical channel or tube molded into the lid to insert the spoon’s handle, keeping the spoon suspended above the pickles inside the jar.
3. Adjustable Strap Holder
Attachment: Silicone (flexible) strap that can be tightened around bottles of varying diameters.
Spoon Pocket: Molded holder or pocket attached to the strap, positioned for easy access.
Example: Clip-On Spoon Stand Design
Feature | Description |
---|---|
Attachment Method | Snap-fit or spring clip for neck/rim of bottle |
Spoon Accommodation | U-shaped cradle for spoon bowl with drip tray |
Materials | Food-grade plastic or stainless steel |
Suitability | Fits standard pickle bottles (plastic/glass) |
Maintenance | Stand is detachable for washing |
Additional Tips
The spoon holder should be detachable and dishwasher-safe for easy cleaning.
The design can include a small notch or ridge to prevent the spoon from sliding off accidentally.
For commercial pickle jars, a universal adjustable version may maximize compatibility.
Inspiration from Market Products
Commercial pickle jars often come with a standalone spoon or as part of a set with a wooden or ceramic tray, but rarely a device that attaches directly to the jar neck or lid.
DIY solutions frequently repurpose plastic bottles or containers to create utensil stands but don’t include secure bottle-fixing features.
This stand provides an organized, mess-free solution for daily pickle serving and can be produced with a simple, cost-effective mechanism.
Monday, July 7, 2025
Saba Saba - my first flight
Sunday, June 29, 2025
The jackfruit tree - the heart of our land
- It grows tall, strong and sturdy.
- It has large and beautiful leaves in plenty.
- It provides dense shade.
- It produces countless fruits, all easy to reach!
- Its fruits are fragrant and most iviting, yet well-protected by a thick covering.
- To break open the jackfruit is an elaborate ritual, a veritable Yajna.
- Each fruit is so succulent and massive in appearance - simply irresistible.
- Elephants, bears, monkeys, men, all crave jackfruit. Elephants in reserve forests raid estates to feed on jackfruits.
- See the pic - this single crop would give maybe 1500 fruit pieces... Can feed a congregation in a temple!
- Jackfruit grows in large gardens in estates, farms and temples... absorbing the true spirit of people who live to share, give, play, laugh and love.
- Most Indian musical instruments, especially percussion, are made of jackfruit wood.
- A great mridangam maestro said that the jackfruit tree absorbs the sacred chants and bell sounds during temple processions and festivals. That is why the jackwood gives such resonance to musical instruments.
- The jackfruit is consumed as a fruit, as a vegetable, and made into dessert, payasam, curry, papad, pickle, ice cream and so on. Its thick outer layer is loved by cattle. Its fruits contain big, beautiful seeds, holding the promise of the next generation of trees.
- The jackfruit tree outlives generations. It is thus passed on as a tradition.
- When I enter the large estate of a happy family with a thriving jackfruit tree, I feel the jackfruit truly symbolises the cultural tradition of the family, our society and our country!
Friday, June 20, 2025
Prof. S. S. Raghavachar - a Tribute
Thursday, June 5, 2025
Vidyaa Dadaati Vinayam
Sunday, June 1, 2025
Jiva, Ishwara and Moksha
Jīva, Īśvara and Mokṣa
- This is the embodied Ātma, encased in the Body-Mind complex. The Jīva's soul component is reborn repeatedly until merging into/attaining Bhagavān. (2)
- The Jīva consists of two parts - the perishable and the imperishable. (3)
- The imperishable part i.e. the soul or consciousness, is located in the perishable body. At the moment of death, it begins its journey in the afterlife. This part migrates from one body to the next, carrying the accumulated Karma impressions, just as the wind carries fragrances as it passes through a floral orchard. (4)
- Jīva is always engaged in action (=Karma) (5). There is no escape, therefore, from Karma reactions, except...
- ...when the doer makes Karma his Yajña, or worship (6) (7). True Yajña adds nothing to the existing Karma.
- This path requires the doer to realise that he is merely a part of the play of creation, playing out his role. Then, he becomes a witness to his own actions, just as an actor can be a witness to his own acting. This is possible when we perform our actions without desiring, i.e. being invested in the resultant outcome for personal gain. This attitude confers equanimity, and, in addition, infuses efficiency into all our actions! (8) (9).
- Where there is striving done as one's worship, Bhagavān comes to one's assistance through grace. Then life runs on Autopilot, guided by Bhagavān Himself (10).
- This is the area where the Śrīmad Bhagavadgīta has total clarity, without confusing creation with the creator, and without weaving verbal webs about what is real and unreal.
- Īśvara = Bhagavān. He is incomparable, unique, and all creation is like so many beads strung into a necklace whose thread is Īśvara (11).
- This can be understood only by those who have attained the necessary insight and developed devotion. This is therefore the best course for the Yogis too. (12) (13)
- Īśvara is always our companion in all actions. But He transitions in His relationship to the Jīva, from being a mere onlooker to an approver, aide, facilitator and provider in inverse proportion to our sense of ego (=doership), which hopefully diminishes as we make spiritual progress. He is the Ultimate Witness, and is NOT the Jīva! Indeed, this difference makes it absolutely clear that He is Paramātmā! (14). The language of the Śrīmad Bhagavadgīta is crystal clear on this point. Therefore, any interpretation that dilutes this is unfortunate and should be discarded forthwith.
- Īśvara = Bhagavān is present in every creature. He runs the world like a spinning wheel, carrying all of us, making us go through our actions programmed through our Karmas! (15)
- Īśvara is always and totally separate from Jīva. This is crystal clear (16). Īśvara is continually engaged in the activities of creation, sustenance and destruction. On the other hand, a Jīva can only hope for merger into Īśvara and not a substitute for Īśvara!
- The goal of human life is liberation = Merger into Bhagavān. Equanimity paves the way for this. Practically, this means that one offers every one of one's actions as one's worship to Bhagavān. In this process, all reactions to Karma, as well as Karma itself, will drop off and the Jīva attains Bhagavān (17). This process is laid out in the Śrīmad Bhagavadgīta.
- The man who experiences his pure state of consciousness (and thus goes beyond the Body-Mind complex), called Brahman, proceeds further on the path of devotion. The implication is that no one escapes actions as long as he is in the body, even after attaining Brahman consciousness. Hence, what we call Mokṣa is not a state of nothingness, but an active, devotional connection with Bhagavān! This is explained in several verses in the ultimate chapter that deals with Mokṣa. (18) and (19).
- The Carama śloka in the Śrīmad Bhagavadgīta is 18.66 (20). In this, Bhagavān is asking us to surrender to Him as our sole refuge, abandoning all "Dharma." He says He will save us from all sins = The negative effects of Karma, and we should hence not grieve. Here, Dharma means our sense that our own effort based on our "free will" or life choices will lead to Mokṣa, as if we can act independently and forget Bhagavān. All the fancy rituals, practices, "Yogas", meditations, called by various names like Raja Yoga, Kriya Yoga, and so on, may give us the impression that we can attain liberation or Mokṣa without recourse to Īśvara = Bhagavān. Some pundits have even stated that Īśvara is a figment of our own creation = a creature subject to Māyā, and when we are in Brahman, He will promptly disappear! This is sheer nonsense according to the Śrīmad Bhagavadgīta, which emphatically states that Māyā is the device of Bhagavān, under His total control and an instrument of His play or Līla. We can escape Māyā or our wrong perceptions and identifications (=Body-Mind complex) only by surrendering to Īśvara!!!! (21) (22)
- I am the Jīva, caught in the Karma-Body-Mind-Rebirth cycle.
- Īśvara is running this creation as a sport, and IS MY FRIEND AND PROTECTOR.
- Worshipping Him and surrendering all actions to Īśvara confers freedom, which is the ultimate devotion and bliss. This breaks the Karma cycle, and there is then no rebirth.
- The 12th Chapter makes it clear that worship or Bhakti is NOT RITUAL. It is living our life moment to moment connected to the universal presence of Īśvara = many-ness in oneness. I am not quoting verses as the 12th chapter's every verse (there are twenty) is important and clear on this point.
Saturday, May 31, 2025
Ode to the poet
Friday, May 30, 2025
#CarnaticJihadi
- The #CarnaticJihadi comes from a well-to-do background, and has learnt music from the masters.
- The #CarnaticJihadi is an accomplished performer and builds a good fan following.
- The #CarnaticJihadi gladly accepts all medals, honours, titles, speaking opportunities and invitations to write books, as this gives a ready platform to do his work.
- The #CarnaticJihadi is an iconoclast, badmouthing the tradition and the masters from whom he has benefited greatly. He does not hesitate to hit dead people below the belt.
- The catch words are 'Tradition", "Orthodoxy", "Parochialism", "This corruption called Bhakti" and such. They pepper all his communications that ask the people to rise in arms.
- The #CarnaticJihadi is singing the same old songs of the masters, delivering the same tradition, even though he prefaces every song and performance with the preaching he is well known for.
- The key leverage for the #CarnaticJihadi is A. Tradition B. The audience that loves this tradition. It is the height of hypocrisy that he is trying to subvert the same two things as a #CarnaticJihadi!
- If we take away the tradition and the traditional audience that the #CarnaticJihadi is leveraging, he will be nothing. Those wokeist audiences who relish badmouthing tradition have many other avenues for entertainment and would consider the #CarnaticJihadi without his music as worth nothing.
Steady like a lamp
यथा दीपो निवातस्थो नेङ्गते सोपमा स्मृता । |
योगिनो यतचित्तस्य युञ्जतो योगमात्मनः ॥ ६-१९॥ The Yogi in meditation is advised to steady his mind like this lamp... What a great analogy. Every time I see a lamp that burns bright and unflickering, I realise that the mind with no ambition, no craving, no restlessness, no thought of, "What next?!" naturally experiences light and is filled with a calm bliss like nothing else. There is no need for any external stimuli for that experience! This is truly |