Money Management

"You want a Crash Course on Fridges", Isha laughed, "Sure. As with my tips on using stoves, hot water, laptops and energy saver bulbs, watch your power bill."

"It tells you a lot if you are listening."

Rosh recounts his personal experience while narrating a few insurance horror stories shared by Andrew Hooker.

Moral - read the small print.

“If we want to be great, we should learn to have habits of the great. Discussing people and their follies, like we are, is futile. In doing that, we become no more than the three raindrops.”

“Raindrops?” Josh was perplexed.

Bank: When she applied for the card, she agreed to and signed its Terms and Conditions.

Relative: Perhaps you could resend her a copy of those. Would you like her new mailing address?

Hosh laughed. He knew that frogs were raunchy.

“The dumb shit didn't think," continued Josh, "about what would happen to him, or to his family if he fell from the Eiffel Tower and died. He tried climbing Mount Improbable."

He thought about his father’s future work. Creating and publishing stories – inspired by life.

Creating another Upanishad! A contemporary Upanishad! Perhaps an Upanishad retold!

Would he read it? He knew he would, he loved his father’s stories anyway.

“Have a budget. It helps you determine and set your limits. Stay within your limits. तेते पाँव पसारिये जेती लंबी सौर (tete paon pasaariye jeti lambi saur - meaning stretch your feet only so far as your quilt goes).”

“Isn’t it better to stretch the chadar (expand the capacity, income etc.),” asked Isha, “than to restrict our paanv (our dreams, plans, or expenses)?”

"Can't she just email the bank," Hosh asked, "and just cut-up and throw your card away?"

"Some banks allow that," said Rosh, "but cards and card numbers are the property of the bank."

“I won’t forget to smile”, he said, nuzzling her lovingly “as I face my fears. But do you know how to protect yourself against lightning strikes?”

His face was serious again. She didn’t know what she would do when the crash came, but it didn’t matter.

“They can act as judge, jury and executioner. Their heavy handed actions can ruin the lives of the very people that pay their premiums.”

“Ruined because of a slip. Ruined because an allegation was made. Or ruined because someone dared demand that their contract be respected.”

“Unlike many other countries, insurers in New Zealand are almost free to insure or refuse to insure anyone they choose.”

“No Kiwi has a right to insurance, and the insurance industry is free to refuse your application or cancel your policy at its whim. It does not have to provide reasons or justification.”

"I oppose tax cuts," Isha was saying, "because they benefit the rich. The rich get a lot more money back than the ordinary taxpayers like me. That's not fair."

“You’re not the only one who feels that way," Rosh replied, "what you forget is that they’ve paid a lot more in the first place, so it is only fair that they get more of it back."

"God has never forsaken me", he answered, "He provides for the insects, for birds, for animals, for trees. He has always provided for me. And, he will continue to provide."

"God helps those who help themselves", she whispered, "Trust in God, but keep your powder dry."

Funny Story: How Business Is Done?

Isha teaches Rosh the psychology of relationships & how to be smart and tactful in business, but no solutions are perfect.

“Even mathematically, tax cuts are not fair to the rich, just like they don’t benefit the poor much. They are skewed in favor of the middle class – the majority.”

“Perhaps the restaurant owners all over the world are afraid of being beaten up by the five men in the middle. Historically, it has been the working class that has usually caused all the trouble."

“Come back to me quickly. You can have your Kingdom of Heaven,” she impulsively spoke her thoughts aloud to him.

He winced and thought a little. Then answered with great sadness, “But I can’t go on that journey anymore. I have nothing left to pay the fare.”

If you overvalue your work, the world will likely step in to knock down your price.

But if you undercharge yourself, it's unlikely that the world will step in to compensate you appropriately.

You can’t rely on others to value you correctly. It is not in their best interests to do so.

“Will you leave us to beg on the streets?” Isha turned her face away in anguish, “while you illuminate the world. Why must Yashodharā always pay the price of Siddharth’s enlightenment?”

Her world was falling apart, and she with it. Rosh felt pity. He knew how hard it was going to be for her.

“Going without is not failure… it merely opens up a void for the things that you really want.”

“Life is about choices and you just can’t have it all because you will always be tempted by beautiful, useful things.”

Dionysus heard his prayers and decided to save him. He told Midas to wash in the river Pactolus to lose his golden touch.

Midas did that. When he touched the river waters, his power flowed into the river, turning its sands golden.