17 Camels and 3 Sons:

Long ago, there lived an old man with his three sons in a deserted village, located in the vicinity of a desert. He had 17 camels, and they were the main source of his income. He used to rent out camels as a means of shipping in the desert. One day, he passed away. He had left a will, leaving his assets for his three sons.

After the funeral and the other obligations were over, the three sons read the will. While their father had divided all the property he had into three equal parts, he had divided the 17 camels in a different way. They were not shared equally among the three as 17 is an odd number and a prime number, which cannot be divided.

The old man had stated that the eldest son will own half of the 17 camels, the middle one will get one third of the 17 camels, and the youngest one will get his share of camels as one ninth!

All of them were stunned to read the will and questioned each other how to divide the 17 camels as mentioned in the will. It is not possible to divide 17 camels and give half of the 17 camels to the eldest one. It is not possible also to divide the camels for the other two sons.

They spent several days thinking of ways to divide the camels as mentioned in the will, but none could find the answer.

They finally took the issue to the wise man in their village. The wise man heard the problem and instantly found a solution. He asked them to bring all the 17 camels to him.

The sons brought the camels to the wise man's place. The wise man added a camel owned by him and made the total number of camels 18.

Now, he asked the first son to read the will. As per the will, the eldest son got half the camels, which now counted to 18 / 2 = 9 camels! The eldest one got 9 camels as his share.

The remaining camels were 9.

The wise man asked the second son to read the will. He was assigned 1 / 3 of the total camels.

It came to 18 / 3 = 6 camels. The second son got 6 camels as his share.

Total number of camels shared by the elder sons - 9 + 6 = 15 camels.

The third son read out his share of camels: 1 / 9th of the total number of camels - 18 / 9 = 2 camels.

The youngest one got 2 camels as his share.

Totally there were 9 + 6 + 2 camels shared by the brothers, which counted to 17 camels.

Now, the one camel added by the wise man was taken back.

The wise man solved this problem smartly with his intelligence.

Intelligence is nothing but finding a common ground to solve an issue. In short, every problem has a solution.

cocoa cookies

INGREDIENTS

• 1 ¼ cups softened butter 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 3 ¼ cups flour
• 4 envelopes of hot cocoa
• 1 ¼ teaspoons baking soda 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup mini chocolate chips 1 cup marshmallow bits
• 15 crushed starlight mints(optional for topping)

Method

• 1. Cream butter and sugars together using a stand or hand mixer.
• 2. Mix in eggs and vanilla.
• 3. In a medium size bowl combine flour, hot cocoa mix, baking soda,
• and baking powder.
• 4. Gradually add the dry Ingredients to the butter mixture and mix
• thoroughly.
• 5. Stir in the chocolate chips and marshmallows.
• 6. Cover bowl and chill for 1 hour.
• 7. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit.
• 8. Using a cookie scoop or tablespoon drop cookies 2 inches apart onto
• a baking sheet sprayed with baking spray.
• 9. Bake 9-11 minutes.
• 10. Let cool for about 1-2 minutes and then sprinkle each with some of
• the peppermint chips.
• 11. Let cool another 3 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack or cookie plate.

9 GEMS OF AKBAR.

9 gems of Akbar

1. Abul Fazl (1551–1602) was the chronicler of Akbar’s rule. He authored the biographical Akbarnama. Abul Fazl documented the history meticulously, over seven years, in three volumes, the third volume is known as the Ain-i-Akbari and a Persian translation of the Bible.[1] He was also the brother of Faizi, the poet laureate of emperor Akbar.

2. Faizi (1547–1595) was Abul Fazl’s brother. He was a poet who composed beautiful poetry. His father was Mubarak Nagori, a scholar in the philosophy and literature of  Greece as well as in Islamic theology.

3. Miyan Tansen was a singer for King Akbar, born as Tanna Mishra, a Hindu Brahmin, in 1520, he was a poet himself. He learnt music from Swami Haridasand later from Hazrat Muhammad Ghaus. He was a court musician with the prince of Mewar and later was recruited by Akbar as his court musician. Tansen became a legendary name in India and was the composer of many classical ragas. He was an extraordinarily gifted vocalist, known for a large number of compositions, and also an instrumentalist who popularized and improved the rabab (of Central Asian origin). He was buried in Gwalior, where a tomb has been constructed for him. It is unclear if Tansen converted to Islam.

4. Raja Birbal (1528–1583) was a poor Hindu Brahmin who was appointed to the court of Akbar for his intelligence, and became the court jester. Born by the name Maheshdas, he was conferred the name Raja Birbal by the Emperor. Birbal's duties in Akbar's court were mostly military and administrative but he was also a very close friend of the emperor, who liked Birbal most for his wit and humor. There are many witty stories of exchanges and interactions between the monarch and his minister that are popular today. Birbal was also a poet and his collections under the pen name "Brahma” are preserved inBharatpur Museum. Raja Birbal died in battle, attempting to quell unrest amongst Afghani tribes in Northwest India.

5. Raja Todar Mal  was a Hindu Khatri/Kayastha and was Akbar’s finance minister, who from 1560 onwards overhauled the revenue system in the kingdom. He introduced standard weights and measurements, revenue districts and officers. His systematic approach to revenue collection became a model for the future Mughals as well as the British. Raja Todar Mal was also a warrior who assisted Akbar in controlling the Afghan rebels in Bengal. Todar Mal had developed his expertise in Sher Shah's employment. In 1582, Akbar bestowed on the raja the title Diwan-I-Ashraf.

6. Raja Man Singh was the Kacchwaha Rajah of Amber, a state later known as Jaipur. He was a trusted general in Akbar's army and was the grandson of Akbar’s father-in-law. His family had been inducted into Mughal hierarchy as amirs (nobles). Raja Man Singh was the foremost ablest among Akbar's military commanders and assisted Akbar in many fronts including holding off advancing Hakim (Akbar’s half-brother, a governor of Kabul) in Lahore. He was also the Mughal viceroy of Afghanistan, led campaigns in Bihar, Orissa, Deccan and was also the viceroy of Bengal.

7. Abdul Rahim Khan-I-Khana was a poet was the son of Akbar’s trusted protector and caretaker when he was a teenager, Bairam Khan. After Bairam Khan was murdered treacherously, his wife became the second wife of Akbar. He is most known for his Hindi couplets and his books on Astrology.[2] The village of Khankhana, named after him, is located in the Nawanshahr district of the state of Punjab in northwest India.

8. Fakir Aziao-Din was a mystic and an advisor. Akbar regarded his advice in high esteem.

9. Mullah Do Piaza was a advisor to Akbar.