THE GOODNESS & FAVORMINDEDNESS OF A LIVING GOD: a testimony

Note: Testimonies come out of A Personal Experience.  Posting A Testimony is fraught with danger cause the person sharing the Testimony is often made fun of and mocked at. Be that as it may as a soldier of the Cross I am HIS slave forever and hence this post.

GROWING UP in Bombay, India as a 6-year-old onward, I knew of One American City: NASHVILLE.  It was a city well etched in my mind in my early formative years. 

Awareness about New York, California, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago came much later in life.

Why, you may ask?

Well.....I grew up on Late Jim Reeves & Elvis Presley music as a kid.

My Dad had Vinyl Records and I typically developed a reading habit very early on and I used to read the Notes on the back side of the Jacket of these Vinyl Records of Jim Reeves and Elvis Presley and two sets of words would stand out:

RCA & NASHVILLE

The Music of the above two Artists held its own fascination of course for me and the fact that all this wonderful music was produced in Nashville bore a fascination for America from early childhood.

I Never Dreamed of ever getting to America as in my mind America was for Indians who were Scientists, Doctors or Engineers or Students who were pursuing A Science Education and I was just an accountant.

Little did I know back then as a child that there would come a time in the late 90s’ & a day would come when I would board a flight from Dubai to Chicago to be involved with SAP/R3 ERP Implementation & that would be my ticket to the United States of America on an H-1 Visa in circa 1996-’97.

Well even after coming to the USA and being here for close to two decades, some how the Dreams and Passion about Nashville took a back seat. 

BUT GOD in who I believe & trust and I am always tracking or trying to track as much as I am reminded to, NEVER forgets our Dreams and Aspirations. That is the GOD I have come to know time and time again ever since I embraced HIM as my personal savior as a young teenager back in New Delhi, India.

That does not mean that I had a easy ride through life so far.  There have been plenty of bumps and upsets throughout my Christian Journey.  Christian Life is NOT easy.  Perish that thought.  You follow The MAN wholeheartedly due to what HE has accomplished for you and for me on that wooden cross 2000+ years ago.  Period.

I am just in Awe of how HE has worked it out in HIS Time!

Here I am going to NASHVILLE, TN on a Speaking Engagement speaking to more than 100 Finance Professionals in Nashville and with my Ticket and Stay paid for.

How Wonderful is HE!  HE is An Amazing God!

We live in an Age and Time when RAGE Against the Jewish Carpenter, that Famous Nazarene who caused the Divide of Time between BC and AD is One of the Most Hated Person the World Over.

One just has to be on Social Media or YouTube to know All the Spite and Hate that is directed at The HOLY ONE.

That may continue ad-infinitum and as far as I am concerned its water over a duck’s back whether Richard Dawkins, or Late Christipher Hitchens or any Atheist or Agnostic mocks at HIM.

HE is who HE is to those who are Awakened and Stirred by the CROSS at Calvary.

It has been A RELEVANT FACT well before HE took on human form and continues to nudge at the human mind and tug at the human heart and Knocks at their door even today and will continue to do so till the end of Age.  That is HIM.  HE is unstoppable at that and HE will carry on.

I am just a Soldier of The Cross and Because HE Lives, I can Face Tomorrow.

I know, that My Nashville Trip would Never Have Happened if HE did not wish for it to.

Everything happens IN HIS TIME. This is why I Testify & I am NOT  Ashamed of The Cross & Acknowledging who HE is to me in the face of the Stiffest Opposition. 

HE IS MY SAVIOR.

Note: The Christian is not like the Snake Oil Sales Men who are out there peddling the Gospel & make it out to be to fool gullible masses to help them buy their next supersonic Private Jets for their escapades. As long as Christianity is on the face of earth, there will be Snake Oil Sales men and women on the world platform who have interests like Judas did in MONEY.  For those types Gospel is A Business.

One Thing we must Remember what The Nazarene Said: “Look, I am sending you out as sheep among wolves. So be as shrewd as snakes and harmless as doves.’ ◄ Matthew 10:16 ►

BRAHMINAAL MATTAM (Only Brahmins can eat here) & AGRAHARATHIL KAZHUTAI (The Donkey in the Elite Village Agraharam)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agraharathil_Kazhutai

This Blog is still in the works, however I felt the need to put it out, in the light of the Rampant LYNCHINGS going on in India in these Contemporary Times.

[A TRUE STORY about an incident in my Dad's life during the early years of Indian Independence]

My DAD has often told me growing up in his home that ‘he is a self made man’ & that I need to be One too.

TODAY when I reflect over What my Dad means by that statement is that One must get educated & if needed work to earn & get educated, as well as be bold in this World & have Opinions too.

Few Days back when Swami Agnivesh was brutally beaten up by the RSS Gangs, my memory was stroked & I remembered an incident from my Dad’s past that he had told me about & My Dad has told me many stories. That is Him. Always Communicating & meaning well. Today moving towards 92 years of age he is old & more feeble and his memory is not as strong as it used to be. He has also gone Very Quiet. That is Very Unlike the Dad I experienced growing up. He was always full of wisdom, joking enjoying fine food, talking about & describing fine food, good Restaurants, fine attire, fine fountain pens, books & of-course Politics, Movies & Music Too. That’s the Dad I grew up knowing & Dad was STRICT. I know it’s tough to understand how a man given to a Jovial Spirit & Bonhomie could be STRICT!

But he was Strict with me. Ram Rod Strict with me but Immense Palpable Affection & Love towards my Two Sisters.

I do not know how to distribute that kind of Strict Love & Affection, as I have only one:-))) So I Shower it all on that One: Strictness & Love.

Anyways let me Move on to the Main Matter that is the Reason for doing this Piece.

It was the year 1947 & around the time of Indian Independence & my Dad was in Calcutta studying for his Bachelors in Commerce during the evening & during the Day working for A Jewish & Armenian Shipping Company as an accountant. The large shipping company was called Pillman Agencies Private Limited.

Those were scary days to live in Calcutta or any where in West Bengal as Hindu Muslim Riots would break out frequently & lots of Property etc would be damaged & Killings Too.

Dad kept himself fully busy & engaged with Work during the Day & Night College studying for Bachelors & then his Masters.

Well post Indian Independence the Jews determined to leave India & the Management Of The Shipping Business was shifting to An Indian Marwari Family & Tycoon.

The Jewish Management offered Dad a choice of a Golden Handshake or continuing on with The Marwari Company.

Dad opted for the Golden Handshake & got INR 5,000. His plan was to pursue Chartered Accountancy.

Getting admission into Chartered Accountancy with Ford, Rhodes & Parks a top Chartered Accountancy firm those days meant shelling out INR 5,000 in Bombay or Calcutta.

Dad being the Self Made Man that he is preferred to move to Madras (Chennai) where the asking rate was INR 3,000. Which meant he could use the balance towards stay etc.

So he bid Goodbye to his favorite Calcutta & headed for Madras & pursuing Chartered Accountancy. This was in the mid 1950s’.

He was hungry one day afternoon & stepped into a Vegetarian Restaurant to eat.

The Owner Of The Restaurant came up & asked him his name & after hearing Dad’s name went on to ask him if he knew the type of Restaurant he was in?

Dad responded Vegetarian & The Owner said ‘Well Yes, But You are not supposed to enter or eat here’.

Dad had a quizzical look on him. The Owner said come with me & took him outside & showed him a Board that read:

“BRAHMINAAL MATTAM”

Which meant that Only Brahmins could eat there.

The Owner then told Dad that he was never supposed to step in to this restaurant because of who could eat there.

He then went on to point to a different section of the restaurant where people were sitting on the floor & eating.

The Owner said ‘you are expected to sit & eat there’.

The Restaurant Owner went on to say: “Since this is your first mistake we are sparing you. The next time you enter a Brahmin Restaurant you will be dealt with”. Meaning Dad could be physically harmed.

For Dad it was A SHOCK!!!

He had Never Experienced something like this in Kerala growing up or in Calcutta.

Madras was different back then & he experienced DISCRIMINATION for the First Time in Independent India.

I wrote it as my Dad had told it to me long back & I was reminded about it when I read about the ill treatment meted out to Swami Agnivesh]

With RSS & BJP in Power in these Contemporary Times in a Sense “BRAHAMINAL MATTAM” is Back. You could say APARTHEID is Back. Modi has left many trails in these last 4+ years through incidents through out India & ripple effects abroad among Indians. So much so that it is Scary. This is The Primary Reason I am Opposed to Modi & The RSS. They leave very little to imagination not to feel Despair in the years to come.

John Abraham made a film to expose many such similar matters through A Movie titled “AGRAHARATHIL KAZHUTAI” (The Donkey in the Village Agraharam)

The piece I wrote & published here last night is NOT meant to stir up hate. Far be that & perish that Thought.

I was Stirred to write 
it ‘Cause I come from The Land Of Swami Vivekananda, Raja Rammohan Roy, Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore & Mahatma Gandhi.

All these People extolled the Virtues Of India. 

It’s JUST cannot be that They are Wrong & The Present Ruling Dispensation in India who Spread Hate & Market Hate Too are Right.

Is INDIA Dying?

That is The Question that came to mind when I saw an 80 year old Swami (who btw is A Global Citizen from India: Swami Agnivesh) being beaten up & disfigured by A Mob Of RSS Urchins.

'Oh! Please Bring Back the 'Bahi Khata' & lets be rid of the Western Debit/Credit System'..I hear RSS & BJP Crying Out!

I was just musing: Modern Day DOUBLE ENTRY SYSTEM OF BOOK KEEPING, which has been around for close to 600+ years now, courtesy An Italian Monk: Louis Pacioli who pioneered it.

The art went on to establish The Science of Accounting & led to A Body of Knowledge:

TRANSACTIONAL, ASSURANCE, AUDITING, TAXATION, MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING & REPORTING & COMPLIANCE & so on....

Industry of All Types relies on the bed rock fulcrum of DOUBLE ENTRY SYSTEM i.e. DEBIT & CREDIT.

The System helps to catch Fraud.

LALIT MODI is an International Wheeler Dealer of Indian Origins currently in the UK. He is a Weasel, slippery as an eel.

He is The Benefactor of The RSS & BJP for Money Laundering. In other words you could also refer to him as India's own type of a  'Julian Assange / Edward Snowden & a Scum Bag' rolled into one.

The Indian Congress Party is known to be a Corrupt Party.

However, The RSS & BJP have managed to redefine Corruption enabling one to ask the Question: 'Well which Political Party is Not Corrupt in India? BJP managed to Patent Corruption with its Own Gold Standard of sorts these recent days, courtesy their Avatar: LALIT MODI.

I am sure once the Storms get quieter the INCORRIGIBLE HRD MINISTER: SMRITI IRANI will call the President of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (a Revered Autonomous Body) & tell him to revise the entire Syllabus of Accountancy to scrap teaching of DOUBLE ENTRY SYSTEM OF ACCOUNTING due to its Christian Origins & teach the 'bahi khata' Indian Traditional Single Entry System instead. Likewise the Principal of Sri Ram College of Commerce may also be told.

Smriti Reasons: it's easier to disguise corruption unlike the western influences of Double Entry System. Additionally who wants Double Entry when we have our own Single Entry system?

[Note: I wrote the above satire in jest wondering at the appalling twists & turns of Ache Din under MODI JI, The Yogi Bachelor Prime Minister. Not his namesake slippery as an eel former]

AAKHIR CPA BHIE INSAAN KA AULADH HEI! KOIE FARISHTHA NAHIN!!!

[Note: This Article is written with the intent to share my Angst, as well as in Sympathy with fellow Professionals like me who experience Life & its Perpetratons annually from the third week of January thru April 15 of any Given Gregorian Calender Year.]

Form # 4868.  Two More Days including Today until 11:59 PM PST & HAST

This Morning I was just musing over the above IRS Form (be it via Electronic Media, Papyrus & more Contemporary Transmission options),  & in Its Goodness.

I Determined in My Heart, I am Not Going to Loose My Peace over Irreverence perpetrated over me by other fellow Homosapien mortals, who do not get it & perhaps never will.


YET Many A Gentle Ordinary Folks of the USA DO NOT Understand the Blessing and Goodness of that Form.

They believe in Exercising Immense Pressure, Arm Twisting Tactics, Threats, Angry Phone Calls, Txt, Twitter Expressions, leaving Nasty Voice Mail messages to their Tax Professional, who is actually on their Side all along as an Honest Broker, connecting the Tax Payer with their Favorite Uncle.

The Tax Professional Tries to Explain in every which way he/she humanly can to see the Goodness of The Extension form Sighted Above.

In short, every which way to Treat The Tax Professional: A fellow Human Being as a VESTIGE Organ and in the most demeaning & inhuman way possible is depicted.

[Oh Reader I wrote this piece for Humor's Sake,  Mixed with Reality & Hyperbole i.e.; Exaggeration/Overstatement/Magnification/Embroidery/Embellishment/Excess/Overkill/Rhetoric.

However there is a Message in it.  Take it and Read it with Laughter, Chai and Biscuits]

Why Oh Why, I Wonder, Every Year around this Time????

CHANAKYA is Applauded the World Over and Down the Ages as an Ace Diplomat in India as Are Aristotle and other Greek Sages, HOWEVER, Every Year it is the INDIAN who Never Gets the Wisdom of the Form # 4868, I should Genuinely Like to Think.

You can Attempt:  “Saam, Daam, Dand & Bhed” The Four Keys of Wisdom taught by The ACE CHANAKYA,  But The Indian American Cannot Get It!.  Mera Pahle...he/she rants....not knowing, that the Professional means well, All along.

Long Back There Only Used to Be Paper Forms of Tax Filing.

Even in that Age, I used to see the Immense Pressure exercised at the Firm where I worked as an Apprentice or CA (I am referring to my times Back In India)

Then came Software, Then e-filing, The SaaS Environment, which is here to Stay be it in the US or elsewhere in the Sane World too such as Canada, Australia, Western Europe (EU) and England.

Please Note with Every Advancement of Sophistication, there is Yet One Common Thread and Vital Thread that Keeps it All together and that is The Very Human: Tax Professional.

He, She has a Life.  Be Gentle, Kind and Considerate to that Mortal, Won't You, Dear Reader ?

He, She Too Has A Life, despite all the Tools, Wherewithal, Extraneous Circumstances, that He or She has to Deal With to Ensure the Proper Preparation and E-filing of Your Annual Tryst with The IRS via Tax Returns.  Be they: 1040/1065/1120-S/990/709....etc.

Do not Brow Beat that Individual into a twisted mangled submitted Slave (its A Hyperbole, not in the physical sense I am saying it)  But the feelings and emanations are like that of a Slave.

April 15, is A Tarique (Date).  There is Life Beyond it and its through a Simple Mechanism Known as Form 4868.  Use it, Avail it.

THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE UGLY: How its self evident in every Profession.

IN EVERY PROFESSION there is: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly.


A Small Case in point: over inducement of Drugs to Michael Jackson (perhaps & depending on how it is viewed) by Dr. Murray Conrad could be categorized as The Bad or The Ugly and abuse in the Noble Medical Profession.

Now Let's see how that Premise pans out in the Context of Annual US Tax Prep & The Industry around it.

The GOOD: Those CPAs', EAs', Tax Attorneys & other Tax Preparers, who Absolutely Believe that US Tax Returns Must & Should be done on US Soil, Period!

The BAD: These are among those who dangle carrots at you to bait you into permitting them to do your Tax Return, by throwing in A Holiday to Hawaii, Free Air Ticket, Free IPad etc & then send your returns to The EU or elsewhere in Asia (no prizes for guessing) to get processed and done & all that the Bailee in US is doing is Mail Order Services & Grinning from Ear to Ear.

The UGLY: In this Category are those 'Professionals' without Any Ethics. It does not matter whether the Return is done in the US or in Timbakthu, they are bent on doing mischief alongside you. Such are those that aide & abet Tax Evasion. Stay Away from such!

Stay with The GOOD. They Mean well Always. They Do Not Cost An Arm & A Leg AND Above All Are Well Intentioned & Sincere. Avoid Bargaining with them. You are Not Shopping for Vegetables, Potatoes & Onions, Please!

With The BAD, You are taking definite & calculated Risks by sending your Tax Returns to 'La La Lands' through them, that know Ethics Only As A Subject in Theory & Do Not Practice it. They are the Ones who Grin from Ear To Ear, to your Own Potential Detriment.

Choose Wisely, who Does Your Taxes.  Your tax return work is like  a Contract of Bailment & You must Ask the Bailee, if your Return is being serviced abroad?  You have a Right To Know.  Unless you ask, the Bailee is not bound to tell, even if its prudent to do so that they tell you of their own Volition.

My Message to TurboTaxers, as long as it's Crystal Clear Vanilla, by All Means Stay Turbo Charged, if u will. Just know that it's an inanimate tool & is not to be construed to mean its the be all, to everything about Tax Returns.

The Above is just a 'Thinking Aloud View' expressed based off surveying the Landscape and in my considered view. It is not written with any Malice or Spite at those Professionals who send US Returns Abroad for processing.

I am of the firm view, that sending US Tax Returns abroad for servicing should not be Entertained due to multifarious risks and reasons that are not unfounded.

Issued in Conscious Public Interest by me. Yours Truly, Koshy P.George, CPA

DEBT Ceiling Rasied! So to Counter that, is Next Stop: Raising Federal & (where there is) State Taxes, Inevitable???

WHEN The former Soviet Union's Yuri Gagarin became the first human to journey into outer space & his spacecraft VOSTOK completed an orbit of the Earth on 12 April 1961, The United States of America had To Raise the bar & We Did in July, 1969 with Neil Armstrong & Company landing on The Moon.

The US since then Raised The Bar of pioneering Spirit through NASA & then many a private enterprise into Space....most recently Elon Musk splendid experiments too!

With The Federal Debt Bar finally having been Raised & Ted Cruz rendered insignificant at least for now, we need America to get Re-Established as a Pioneering Nation and certainly NOT by Raising Taxes or pushing out Social Security checks.

Raising The Bar is always a Good Thing, but Raising even more Debt and no clear methods on reigning in the spending actually means the Government will conveniently reduce Debt by getting it from The People via Taxes. So for Sure Taxes will have to Naturally Go Up! That SHOULD be avoided if we can.

I am going back to what the President recently said: 'We will Bounce Back, despite the 16 Day Shutdown'.

As a Professional CPA, I clearly know Taxes will go up, that is the only convenient easy way for any government to hold the reigns as the spending goes ballistic.

I also need to share with Socialistic Minded Democrats that Taxes DO NOT just go up for the Perceived Haves at lets say for example a bar North of US$ 160k (AGI).

When they go up, TAXES go up for ALL! Period! That is how it works.

Let us Americans hope that the Pioneering Spirit with which The US landed Man on the Moon in 1969, there will be More Innovation, More Manufacturing, More Jobs here in the US & indeed we do Bounce Back with ENTERPRISE & TRADE as opposed to Taxes, being the route to reign in or balance or reduce the Deficit Gap.

Its important that we all think this way instead of sitting on the fence & criticizing and listening to Radio Hosts keep on criticizing President Obama.

Of course its embarrassing when Obamacare web site does not work well. That is actually alarming! Is that because that is a Government Program?

Its funny. EBay, PayPal, Amazon are all Pioneering American Companies in the Market Place and Worldwide too! These entities are primarily successful 'cause of the backbone of a Web Based Super Structure that is Strong!

Why is it after spending Several Million Tax Dollars, the US Government is unable to render a decent Web Based Obamacare System?

How can we 'Bounce Back', if there is squandering & No Accountability?

That should change, Heads should Roll and Competent People should steer ObamaCare IT Systems and front end through the Thicket it finds itself in.

I CANNOT believe, there are No Competent IT Leaders such as able CIO, CTOs' in this Great Nation of ours who cannot provide a Vision & Plan to construct a Robust Web Based Federal Health Care System front end & Rear too, basic Client/Server Architecture Environment, without squandering Tax Dollars. We need to Bounce Back!

Note: for those who are worried about Taxes Going up in the US, your fear is justified.  Any person of ordinary Prudence is living with that valid fear.  Feel welcome to meet with me. There are many valid options that can be explored & discussed and Solutions are offered by the US Tax Code to help minimize and even avoid Heavy, Immediate and Absolutely Avoidable Taxes on your Retirement Funds, be they 401(k) or IRA or other Tax Deferred Repositories.  You owe it to yourself to see a Good Quality CPA to help you circumnavigate the Provisions of the Tax Code to help you fortify and help keep more of your nest egg for yourself.

INDIA: A Real Jewel in the Crown!

INDIA on the Occasion of its 66 years of Independence from British Rule & Going Strong!

INDIA: Well known to the British Raj as ‘THE JEWEL IN THE CROWN’ & so it was.

Great Britain had many colonies around the world; however, among all the colonies it ruled, no other Colony embraced its Language: ENGLISH so whole-heartedly and put it to great use to accomplish and achieve as great heights as INDIANS have done. INDIA’s immense ongoing success is in no small measure due to its embracing of education in the English Language.

INDIA truly is a land of Astronomy, Spirituality, Mathematics, Philosophies and Great Men of Letters & Great Accommodating Spirit, since times immemorial.

Cutting down to more recent yester year & contemporary times as a tribute to the Great Nation of India let me list a few Great Men & Women of India who used the English Language very well and astounded the Western World towards Accomplishments in their endeavors and callings:

1. Swami Vivekananda http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swami_Vivekananda
2. Rabindranath Tagore http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabindranath_Tagore
3. Mahatma Gandhi http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahatma_Gandhi
4. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jawaharlal_Nehru
5. Dr. V K Krishnamenon http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V._K._Krishna_Menon
6. Dr. S Radhakrishnan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarvepalli_Radhakrishnan
7. Maulana Azad http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abul_Kalam_Azad
8. Pandita Rama Bai http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandita_Ramabai
9. Dr. Vijay Lakshmi Pandithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vijaya_Lakshmi_Pandit
10. Dr. Abdul Kalam http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._P._J._Abdul_Kalam
11. Atal Behari Vajpayee http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atal_Bihari_Vajpayee
12. P.V. Narasimha Rao http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._V._Narasimha_Rao
13. Jidu Krishnamurthy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiddu_Krishnamurti
14. Verghese Kurien http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verghese_Kurien
15. Dr. Sashi Tharoor http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shashi_Tharoor
16. Prof. Amartya Sen http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amartya_Sen

The above is a sampling of a list of Men of Letters, Courage, Conviction and Visionaries from India (past & contemporary) apart from many distinguishing others too.

MEN OF LETTERS, is who should make up the Parliament of India. It’s the Vision & contributions of such & many other men & women of letters that have led India thus far. It also speaks of the Strength & Continuous Might of India.

Can we find as many in today’s Polity….is a poignant and rhetorical question I ask today, as I continue to celebrate INDIA in my own way too. I LOVE & am Passionate about INDIA. Jai Hind!

(note: the above are all men & women i.e. mortals with flaws just like us as is known to mankind. However what distinguishes them is their Vision, Mission, Passion and Commitment to The Great Nation of INDIA AND it Indeed Reflected in their Thought, Word & Actions….Jai Hind!)