Parenting Tips

Tax Planning Story: Taxing Questions

How much tax is too much tax?

Josh ponders on Mahesh Das's tax burden.

Learn to easily cook tempered coriander coconut chutney.

Isha teaches Hosh how to simply modify quantity & recipe of this side dish to suit different palates.

"Rome ruled that land at the time of Jesus," answered Rosh, "so the Jews lived under Roman law. The Jewish crowd wanted the adulterous woman to be stoned to death according to their law at the time."

"But if they stoned the woman, they would be prosecuted for murder by the Romans. If they didn't stone her to death, they wouldn't be following their own ancient law."

"No," said Kabir, "but please give my regards to the Allah of Mecca."

The friend was puzzled.

"Is there a different Allah in Mecca?" he asked.

"Then half he shall have," growled Akbar, "immediately!"

At the snap of his fingers, soldiers rushed out to the gate and hastily hauled the fearful guard back with them.

Buddhist Story: The Burden

Most burdens we carry, like anger, are burdens of the mind.

Leave them behind to move on...

“Involuntarily, she returned his smile but kept her peace. She decided to ignore the cookie hustler, hesitatingly munching away at the bikkie.”

“But troubles don’t generally go away when we ignore them. They persist or become bolder, until we can ignore them no more.”

"Year after year, the fern flourished, and the bamboo just lay hidden beneath the soil, wanting simply to be forgotten. But I did not forget it, and I would not quit on it.”

"Then one fine morning, a tiny bamboo sprout peeked shyly out of the earth. Compared to the fern, it was so small and insignificant, so unsure of itself.”

For a fraction of a second it lay still on the dark patch that oozed round it.

Then the front legs waved, took hold, and, pulling its small, sodden body up, it began the immense task of cleaning the ink from its wings.

As they milled about on le Champ de Mars, loud discussions raged about the chances of the frogs.

"No way anyone will get to the top!” said one.

"Yeah, it's just too far for the poor buggers," agreed another.

Funny Story: The Jester Returns

Rosh responds with classical elephant jokes when Hosh grills his tired father on elephants.

“Midas was stupid”, Josh voiced his opinion, “why didn’t he just wear gloves? That would have been much safer."

"He could have had the gold and touched things without turning them into gold.”

There was pin drop silence for a moment. Then Hosh spoke up.

“Everything he touched turned instantly into gold. It was miraculous!"

"He touched a tree. Gold! He touched a stone. Gold! He touched a piece of shit. Gold!”

“Wow!” said Josh, “I really want that golden touch. Can Dionysus make me rich too? ”

“Beer – helping people enjoy sex since about 5,000 BC - is also made of grains. All healthy stuff. Drink more, be healthier. Have sex, be even more healthier."

"Beer also helps a man show his emotions. Spill one and he'll cry.”

"What a life mate!" our friend crowed, "Zed security. Such fame. And such beauty."

"People dying to see you. When they see me, they just shoo me away."

"You must be the happiest bird on the planet."

Roti Magar, meaning the quest for Roti, is a beautiful Punjabi poem written & sung by Gurdas Maan on the ethos of sustenance.

Rosh translates & explains lyrics

"Interpreting the right-to-die within the right-to-life is contentious," said Rosh, "While one can choose not to exercise one's right-to-life (a right explicitly protected in NZ) or choose to commit suicide (which is legal in NZ) etc., one's right-to-life does not extend to allowing someone else to take one's life."

"Voluntary consent is therefore not a universally valid defence for murder."

"This is also the reason why people drink more in noisy pubs and discoes and then make stupid decisions there. Because their brain gets too overloaded. It simply can't think properly in all that din."

"And when you drink there, it gets even worse. The dumbest chick starts looking like Aphrodite."

"But I don't understand, Pa," Josh concluded. "Looks to me like the hermit justified everything that happened, as being the right thing, after it had already happened."

"But hindsight is not really wisdom."

A King once thought that he would never fail in anything he undertook, if he knew three things:

1. When was the right time to do it?
2. Who were the right people to work with?
3. What was the most important thing to do?