Self-Giving
A person left behind in his will 19 camels to be distributed among his 3 sons in the ratio 1/2, 1/4, 1/5. The executers of the will wondered how this can be done. This story is a famous folklore of ancient Rajasthan. A saint came along on his camel. He was told about the apparent problem of division. He spontaneously offered his own camel making their count 20. Now, one-half, i.e. 10 camels went to the 1st brother, and likewise the 2nd brother got 1/4, i.e. 5 camels, and the 3rd brother got 1/5, i.e. 4 camels. Thus, 19 camels were distributed among the brothers leaving one camel still. The saint mounted on it and left, as that was his own camel. He solved the problem effortlessly without getting involved personally. No problem remains a problem once we seek the help of a true saint. Besides, the story also subtly conveys that unless a person is willing to contribute his own resource (time, money, patience, compassion, objectivity) he cannot really help in solving or empathizing with ...