“Grandpa, every time you give the problems and we find the solutions. Today it’s my turn, I will give you a problem and you find the solution.” Said, Rani.
Somehow I felt that I am in trouble, because Rani is a sharpshooter. I am trapped. And there is no way to get out of the situation. I concealed my thoughts with a grand smile and said cheerfully,
“Go ahead, I will try.”
“You can easily do it Grandpa. Everyone says that you are a wise man. The problem is like this:
Prince is a healthy young man in the village. Suddenly he developed some health problems. He gets pain whenever he touches any part of the body. He visited several doctors including many specialists in their chosen fields. Various tests were also conducted. All were normal. No one could detect the problem. The village elders suggested him to meet the wise old man of the village.
The wise old man detected the problem in two minutes. Later he was completely cured.
Now tell me, what did he do?”
This is a real trap. I am at my wits end. I cannot think of any solution which is anywhere near. To gain time, I said,
“He might have used his magical powers to heal the young man.”
“No Grandpa, you must find the real solution. I think you are trying to gain time. I will give you three minutes to find a solution, the wise old man solved in two minutes. I am giving you one extra minute.”
It’s time to surrender, I am not getting anywhere near. So, I said,
“Ok I surrender. Please explain the whole episode.”
Rani continued,
“The young man went to the wise old man. He was asked to explain his problem. Prince said, ‘whenever I touch any part of my body I get the pain.’
The wise old man stretched his hands and told the young man to hold his hands tightly. Then he asked,
‘Is it paining now?’
‘Yes, it is.’
‘Show me your palm, I want to examine your palm.’
On detailed examination of the palm, he could find that two of his fingers were injured, and he gets the pain when the fingers contact anything. He was directed to take some minor treatment for his fingers and was ultimately cured.”
“Fantastic, Rani. So, what’s the moral of the story?”
“When nothing works out, Think out of the box.”
