J's grandmother had given him a real-life math problem. She had hired help for one of the many family parties she used to host. Help consisted of a family of three maid servants, with the eldest, K as their leader and money handler. The problem was simple. J's grandmother had promised K a remuneration of Rupees 20 per month for each pair of hands she hired. Grandmother's parties were usually revered events and all her daughters along with their husbands and children would visit from out of town. As was the norm, arrangements were made for them to stay for more than a couple of weeks. However, this particular event took only 10 days, at the end of which everybody was instructed for the next planned visit and then bid a fond farewell.
Grandmother then asked J to calculate the amount she owed to K. It was not as if she couldn't perform this simpleton task on her own, for she was known to grapple with tougher puzzles with a mathematician's finesse. Only J had recently learned how to divide and multiply with integers, and it would appear that she wanted him to use the knowledge. Needless to say, she pretended that she couldn't do it and it was J's newly acquired skills that would rescue her grandmother from a colossal predicament, such as it was. Even more superfluous would be to mention that J was delighted to oblige. Grandmother was not as gullible and unenlightened as she had led people to believe. When necessary, she would demonstrate an acumen not shy of an engineer and then would successfully return to a life of pretension - a skill J later realized that he was not devoid of.
So began J on his adventure to find the answer. As determined as he was to not let her dear grandmother down, it was not easy for him to give her an answer that could not be verified in the list of answers at the end of a book. He told her that K deserves a sum of Rupees 19.99, but to be kind she should make it twenty. And without a glitch, she did so. Only she could not let the act of kindness go unnoticed by a supposedly illiterate maid. The maid was told in no subtle tones that she was getting more than she earned and the magnanimity of the household should better be remembered during the next family party. The knowledge, that whether K was indeed aware of the fact that she had earned the full sum of Rupees twenty or not, lies in God's territory; but she did take the condescension in a bad taste. The result was an uproar from the family of three maids. Such uproars were not uncommon and grandmother was perfectly proficient in sorting those out.
But luck has its own god who wanted it differently. K's appeals of injustice were heard by J's mother; whether this was deliberate on K's part or plain old-fashioned fortuity has yet to be determined. J's mother, unlike his grandmother, was a celebrated wizard at mathematics, both at home and at her office. And until the children of the family reached their teens, she was the fastest number cruncher in the family - a prized position and she prided herself on it. Quite obviously, when she came to learn of such a mathematical gaucherie at the hands of her son, she was outraged. Thus began a continuous heated debate among J's mother, father, grandfather and numerous uncles and aunts on a sequence of topics ranging from quality of education in schools to J's aptitude for mathematics to a suitable career choice for J given his handicap with numbers.
To add to the imbroglio, it was found that J's brother L, who was evidently a year younger, had solved the problem flawlessly and in considerably less time. J was annoyed that no one had even bothered to ascertain whether L was indeed capable of solving the unfortunate problem or L had only demonstrated his skills in reverse engineering. Of course, J was never bothered to provide an explanation nor was he apprised of his mistake. And J would have liked nothing better - he desperately wanted the storm to abate. And, it did abate. Those who were in it for gossip found greener grounds to prattle. Family members occupied their minds with work. Eventually all that was left was an anecdote which J hoped no one would remember.
But J was still thinking about it. His small age and stature belied his ego and tenacity. He could deduce the one-paise-error in his work, but did not know why. Too proud to ask any breathing life form, he pored over his books in solitude. His school books on mathematics seemed far too easy to present an exposition on the wretched conundrum. It was only after a week did he find an example which relieved him of his pursuit. And from then on, he remembered to not divide by 3.
Grandmother then asked J to calculate the amount she owed to K. It was not as if she couldn't perform this simpleton task on her own, for she was known to grapple with tougher puzzles with a mathematician's finesse. Only J had recently learned how to divide and multiply with integers, and it would appear that she wanted him to use the knowledge. Needless to say, she pretended that she couldn't do it and it was J's newly acquired skills that would rescue her grandmother from a colossal predicament, such as it was. Even more superfluous would be to mention that J was delighted to oblige. Grandmother was not as gullible and unenlightened as she had led people to believe. When necessary, she would demonstrate an acumen not shy of an engineer and then would successfully return to a life of pretension - a skill J later realized that he was not devoid of.
So began J on his adventure to find the answer. As determined as he was to not let her dear grandmother down, it was not easy for him to give her an answer that could not be verified in the list of answers at the end of a book. He told her that K deserves a sum of Rupees 19.99, but to be kind she should make it twenty. And without a glitch, she did so. Only she could not let the act of kindness go unnoticed by a supposedly illiterate maid. The maid was told in no subtle tones that she was getting more than she earned and the magnanimity of the household should better be remembered during the next family party. The knowledge, that whether K was indeed aware of the fact that she had earned the full sum of Rupees twenty or not, lies in God's territory; but she did take the condescension in a bad taste. The result was an uproar from the family of three maids. Such uproars were not uncommon and grandmother was perfectly proficient in sorting those out.
But luck has its own god who wanted it differently. K's appeals of injustice were heard by J's mother; whether this was deliberate on K's part or plain old-fashioned fortuity has yet to be determined. J's mother, unlike his grandmother, was a celebrated wizard at mathematics, both at home and at her office. And until the children of the family reached their teens, she was the fastest number cruncher in the family - a prized position and she prided herself on it. Quite obviously, when she came to learn of such a mathematical gaucherie at the hands of her son, she was outraged. Thus began a continuous heated debate among J's mother, father, grandfather and numerous uncles and aunts on a sequence of topics ranging from quality of education in schools to J's aptitude for mathematics to a suitable career choice for J given his handicap with numbers.
To add to the imbroglio, it was found that J's brother L, who was evidently a year younger, had solved the problem flawlessly and in considerably less time. J was annoyed that no one had even bothered to ascertain whether L was indeed capable of solving the unfortunate problem or L had only demonstrated his skills in reverse engineering. Of course, J was never bothered to provide an explanation nor was he apprised of his mistake. And J would have liked nothing better - he desperately wanted the storm to abate. And, it did abate. Those who were in it for gossip found greener grounds to prattle. Family members occupied their minds with work. Eventually all that was left was an anecdote which J hoped no one would remember.
But J was still thinking about it. His small age and stature belied his ego and tenacity. He could deduce the one-paise-error in his work, but did not know why. Too proud to ask any breathing life form, he pored over his books in solitude. His school books on mathematics seemed far too easy to present an exposition on the wretched conundrum. It was only after a week did he find an example which relieved him of his pursuit. And from then on, he remembered to not divide by 3.
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