Saturday, May 12, 2012

Please give me my PROFITS!

After insisting that she be paid her true share of profits, the old woman followed the Secretary to collect her profits.  (Click here to read the earlier part)  Mota Seth's secretary took a handful of coins and told the woman, "Here is your money.  You are lucky to make so much money.  Now be on your way".  "I am not here for any gratis.  Show me the calculations and pay the exact amount.  Not a rupee more and not a rupee less" said the old woman firmly.  The secretary tried to convince her but she was a hard nut to crack.  He started calculating the actual amount payable to her.

His began with a 8 digit calculator and moved on to a 12 digit calculator when he found it insufficient.  The bigger calculator was also of no use after reaching one month's computation of profits.  He took his laptop and calculated on it.  This is what he found out:
 
     Day
Amount Payable
1
2
2
4
3
8
4
16
5
32
6
64
7
128
8
256
9
512
10
1024
11
2048
12
4096
13
8192
14
16384
15
32768
16
65536
17
131072
18
                       262144
19
524288
20
1048576
21
2097152
22
4194304
23
8388608
24
16777216
25
33554432
26
67108864
27
134217728
28
268435456
29
536870912
30
1073741824
60
2305843009213690000

The calculations went on and on like this and  at the end of 360 days the amount payable was:

75153362648762700000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000   or 751533626487627 followed by 95 Zeros!!!

The Secretary rushed to Mota Seth with his laptop and showed him the calculations.  Mota Seth could not believe his own eyes and stared at the figures on the laptop screen.  The figures on the screen appeared to  mock at him.  It took some time for him to collect his thoughts.  He fell at the feet of the old woman and told her "I do not have that much of money to pay you.  I did not even understand what I meant when I said that my money doubles on each day.  You have opened my eyes.  Please accept all my business and wealth and release me from the debt that I have to pay you.  I have nothing more to say".

The old woman smiled and lifted him.  She told the Seth, "I am not a person to en-cash something you said in an unguarded moment.  I have known you since you were a helper in this very place.  I have seen you grow and struggle to reach this level.  I always remain your well wisher.  I want neither my capital nor profit.  But I want you to remember three things.  Firstly, no customer is too small for any business.  Secondly, weigh your words when you talk to customers and never insult them.  Thirdly, time has come for you to give away part of your wealth to the needy.  God bless you and may you live long to share your success with the society".

After uttering these words the old woman calmly walked away as Mota Seth and his Secretary watched in open-mouthed bewilderment.
                                   

16 comments:

  1. similer way to see how many ancestors are there for each child for thrity generation it would be1073740912 souls were the cause.That is just maximum of 900 years back.So we are not fit to count the people and uknow their names.when we talk of ramayan or mahabharat we strat arguig whther ram was there or not what a shame.Even three generations before we cant know the people s name who were ancestors.Human should know his limitations. we dont have to have scintific proof for everything and have historical evidences.What is requiresd is to understand the virtues incvolved and how good we can dwell upon them.

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  2. Very interesting. Now I remember this airthematic which I did in my college days.

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  3. A wonderful story and meaningful too. Thanx for sharing.

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  4. Brilliant stuff...I thought of attempting a calculation but then remembering your penchant for kahaani mien twist just clicked on....Sunada

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  5. A wonderful story very interestingly told.
    I think please tel all our Faculty to share this tsory with our students and tell them how important each customer is !!
    Thanks it made quite an interesting reading.
    Rahul Aradhya

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  6. excellent story. everyone should learn from this story how to treat others...

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  7. Thank You very much sir to share this type of inspired stories.

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  8. ITS GREAT STORY SIR, WHEN I WAS GOING THROUGH THIS I ALSO THOUGHT IT WOULD BE AROUND 1 OR 2 LACS, BUT I GOT SUPURIZED TO KNOW EXACT AMOUNT.

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  9. A very interesting reading! Thanks a lot for the collection.

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  10. Santosh B RaghunathJuly 15, 2013 at 9:04 PM

    Simplicity in the writing, well etched characters and a strong message at the end made it for a very interesting read!Look forward to read more!


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  11. Wonderful style of story telling.Thougtht provoking and relevant.

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  12. Once again a masterpiece. Please keep rocking.

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  13. Great sir, Keshava murthy. Good and thought provoking story.

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