WHO ATE THE KABABS ?

A hectic day. 

No time for blogging. 

So here is one of my favourite Mulla Nasrudin Stories to end the day with a smile (and “food” for thought)

WHO ATE THE KABABS

One day the gourmet Mulla Nasrudin bought five kilos of the tastiest kababs  from the best restaurant in town to enjoy with his friends in the evening party he had organized for his closest friends.

He gave them to his wife with explicit instructions in how to serve them in the evening party and went out for a walk.

Mulla Nasrudin’s wife garnished the kababs and kept them in serving plates on the dining table.

Suddenly, her sister and her kids arrived unexpectedly.

Mulla Nasrudin’s wife’s noticed that her sister and her kids were staring at the mouth-watering kababs in hungry anticipation, so the wife asked her sister and her kids if they would like to taste a kabab.

“Yes,” they all said and so the wife, her sister and her kids tasted a kabab each.

The melt-in-the-mouth kababs were so delicious and tasty that they could not resist the temptation to eat a few more.

They loved the kababs so much that, while gossiping, they unconsciously kept popping the kababs into their mouths, till suddenly all the kababs were finished.

Then the wife’s sister and her kids said goodbye and left.

Mulla Nasrudin’s wife realized that the kababs were finished.

To salvage the situation Mulla Nasrudin’s wife quickly prepared pakoras to be served in lie of the kababs.

When Mulla Nasrudin’s friends arrived they were served pakoras instead of kababs.

After his friends had left, a furious Nasrudin demanded an explanation from his wife about why kababs were not served.

His wife meekly said that the pet cat ate up all the kababs.

“There were 5 kilos of kababs.  Don’t tell me the cat ate up the full 5 kilos of kababs,” Nasrudin shouted.

“Yes. Your cat ate all the kababs - the full 5 kilos. Why don’t you ask your darling cat instead of scolding me?” his wife said.

Mulla Nasrudin caught hold of his cat and put the cat on the weighing scale.

The cat weighed exactly 5 kilos.

Nasrudin looked at his wife and said, “The cat weighs 5 kilos and the kababs were 5 kilos.”

Nasrudin’s wife said, “So?”

Nasrudin asked, pointing to the cat sitting on the weighing scale and said to his wife:

“Now, tell me my dear wife:

If this is the cat then where are the kababs? 

On the contrary if these are the kababs then where is the cat?”

Cat (5 Kg) + Kabab (5 Kg) = Cat (5 Kg)

Please balance the equation!

MATHEMATICAL PUZZLE FOR MONDAY MORNING - 17 Camels and 3 Sons

17 Camels and 3 Sons

An Apocryphal Story of a Miracle of Mathematics

By

VIKRAM KARVE 

I read this apocryphal story of a miracle of mathematical wisdom long back:

A man owned seventeen camels. 

This was his total property. 

Yes, his total property was 17 Camels.

When the man died he left behind three sons.

In his will he bequeathed that his property should be divided as follows:

Half (1/2) his property to his eldest son

One-third (1/3) his property to his second son

One-ninth (1/9) his property to his youngest son.

The sons were in a quandary wondering how to divide 17 camels into respective shares of half (1/2), one-third (1/3) and one-ninth (1/9) parts. 

Strictly calculating in accordance with the specified ratio ( 1/2 : 1/3 : 1/9 ) the shares worked out to be:

8.5 camels for the eldest son

5.67 camels for the second son

1.89 camels to the youngest son

Now how was it possible to divide camels in this manner?

So they took their 17 camels and went to the Wise Man for advice. 

The wise man was sitting beside his camel near the oasis.

The wise man heard their predicament and said:

“No problem. It can be done.  Add my camel to your 17 camels and now you tell me how many camels do you have?”

“17 + 1 = 18. We now have 18 camels,” they sons said.

“Good,” the Wise Man remarked.

The wise man looked at the eldest son and said:

“Your share is half of the total camels – half of 18 works out to be 9 – so take your nine camels and go away.”

Out of the 18 camels standing there, the eldest son took 9 camels and went away.

18 – 9 = 9

Now only 9 camels remained. 

Then the wise man looked at the second son and said:

“Your share is one third of the total camels – one third of 18 works out to be 6 – so take your six camels and leave.”

Out of the 9 camels standing there, the second son took 6 camels and walked away.

9 – 6 = 3

Now only 3 camels remained. 

The wise man looked at the youngest son and said:

“Your share is one ninth of the total camels – one ninth of 18 works out to be 2 – so take your two camels and leave.”

Of the 3 camels standing there, the youngest son took 2 camels and went away.

Now only one camel remained.

This was the Wise Man’s camel. 

The Wise Man took his camel and walked home, having successfully divided the 17 camels amongst the 3 sons as decreed in their father’s will.

Dear Reader: Is this not a miracle of mathematics?

Think about it and have a Happy Monday.

VIKRAM KARVE
Copyright © Vikram Karve 2013
Vikram Karve has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work. 
© vikram karve., all rights reserved. 

NB:

No part of this Blog may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the Blog Author Vikram Karve who holds the copyright.

Copyright © Vikram Karve 2013. All Rights Reserved

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About Vikram Karve

A creative person with a zest for life, Vikram Karve is a retired Naval Officer turned full time writer and blogger. Educated at IIT Delhi, IIT (BHU) Varanasi, The Lawrence School Lovedale and Bishops School Pune, Vikram has published two books: COCKTAIL a collection of fiction short stories about relationships (2011) and APPETITE FOR A STROLL a book of Foodie Adventures (2008) and is currently working on his novel and a book of vignettes and an anthology of short fiction. An avid blogger, he has written a number of fiction short stories and creative non-fiction articles on a variety of topics including food, travel, philosophy, academics, technology, management, health, pet parenting, teaching stories and self help in magazines and published a large number of professional  and academic research papers in journals and edited in-house journals and magazines for many years, before the advent of blogging. Vikram has taught at a University as a Professor for 15 years and now teaches as a visiting faculty and devotes most of his time to creative writing and blogging. Vikram Karve lives in Pune India with his family and muse - his pet dog Sherry with whom he takes long walks thinking creative thoughts.

Vikram Karve Academic and Creative Writing Journal: http://karvediat.blogspot.com
Professional Profile Vikram Karve: http://www.linkedin.com/in/karve
Vikram Karve Facebook Page:  https://www.facebook.com/vikramkarve
Vikram Karve Creative Writing Blog: http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com/blog/posts.htm
Email: vikramwamankarve@gmail.com

Twitter: @vikramkarve

      

© vikram karve., all rights reserved.

MIRACLE OF MATHEMATICS - The Story of 17 Camels and 3 Sons

17 Camels and 3 Sons

An Apocryphal Story of a Miracle of Mathematics

By

VIKRAM KARVE 

I read apocryphal story of this miracle of mathematical wisdom long back:

A man owned seventeen camels. This was his total property.

When he died he left behind three sons.

In his will he wrote that his property should be divided as follows:

He bequeathed Half [1/2] his property to his eldest son, One-third [1/3] his property to his second son and One-ninth [1/9] his property to his youngest son.

The sons were in a quandary wondering how to divide 17 camels into half, one-third and one-ninth parts. [Strictly as per the specified ration it worked out to be 8.5 camels for the eldest son, 5.67 camels for the second son and 1.89 camels to the youngest son]

They went to the Wise Man for advice.

“No problem!” said the Wise Man. “Add my camel to yours and now how many camels do you have?”

“Eighteen camels,” they all said.

“Good,” the Wise Man said.

He looked at the eldest son and said, “Your share is half the total camels – half of eighteen works out to be nine – so take your nine camels and go away.”

Nine camels remained. [18 – 9 = 9]

Then he looked at the second son, “Your share is one third the total camels – one third of eighteen works out to be six – so take your six camels and leave.”

Three camels remained. [9 – 6 = 3]

Finally he looked at the youngest son, “Your share is one ninth the total camels – one ninth of eighteen works out to be two – so take your two camels and leave.”

When the youngest son took his share of two camels and went away, only one camel remained, the Wise Man’s camel. [3 – 2 = 1]

The Wise Man took his camel and walked home, having successfully divided the seventeen camels amongst the three sons as decreed in their father’s will.

VIKRAM KARVE
Copyright © Vikram Karve 2011
Vikram Karve has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.
© vikram karve., all rights reserved.

Did you like this article?
I am sure you will like the stories in my recently published book COCKTAIL comprising twenty seven short stories about relationships. To order the book please click the links below:
http://www.flipkart.com/cocktail-vikram-karve-short-stories-book-8191091844?affid=nme
http://www.indiaplaza.in/cocktail-vikram-karve/books/9788191091847.htm
http://www.apkpublishers.com/books/short-stories/cocktail-by-vikram-karve.html

COCKTAIL ebook
If you prefer reading ebooks on Kindle or your ebook reader, please order Cocktail E-book by clicking the link below:
AMAZON
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005MGERZ6
SMASHWORDS
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/87925

About Vikram Karve

A creative person with a zest for life, Vikram Karve is a retired Naval Officer turned full time writer. Educated at IIT Delhi, ITBHU Varanasi, The Lawrence School Lovedale and Bishops School Pune, Vikram has published two books: COCKTAIL a collection of fiction short stories about relationships (2011) and APPETITE FOR A STROLL a book of Foodie Adventures (2008) and he is currently working on his novel. An avid blogger, he has written a number of fiction short stories and creative non-fiction articles in magazines and journals for many years before the advent of blogging. Vikram has taught at a University as a Professor for almost 14 years and now teaches as a visiting faculty and devotes most of his time to creative writing. Vikram lives in Pune India with his family and muse - his pet dog Sherry with whom he takes long walks thinking creative thoughts.

Vikram Karve Academic and Creative Writing Journal: http://karvediat.blogspot.com
Professional Profile Vikram Karve: http://www.linkedin.com/in/karve
Vikram Karve Facebook Page:  https://www.facebook.com/vikramkarve
Vikram Karve Creative Writing Blog: http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com/blog/posts.htm
Email: vikramkarve@sify.com    

© vikram karve., all rights reserved.