THE bomb did not go off, but it shattered the religious harmony in the city. In this city and time, lived three men, each of whom had a fear of losing. Their names were Amar, Akbar and Anthony and they were great friends, even in such a situation. Perhaps they had lost something in their childhood that they had found in each other.

The thing that brought them together was their interest in mathematics and, on any day, the three friends could be seen playing with theorems and equations. They had a jealous rival called Robert ‘the evil mathematician’ and it was he who had planted the bomb. The way these men of different religions lived like friends made an attractive newspaper story, which helped citizens realise their mistake and the life returned to normal.

When Robert learnt that his plan had failed, he decided that he would break their friendship. The devil planned to kill Anthony and put the blame on the other two to create distrust between three communities. However, Anthony’s beautiful wife, whom Anthony loved immensely, saved her husband, but lost her life in the attack. Anthony’s fear of losing had become real; his wife had died; who would take care of him now.

This was a testing time for the friendship and Robert decided to wait and watch before he made his next move. After Anthony’s wife died, his niece kept house for him. Amar was also a widower, and lived with his daughter. When Akbar got married, he and his wife suggested that they all lived together.

It wasn’t a suggestion that was made out of sympathy for Anthony. They realised that they were indeed a family, but then came another problem. Each person of the group (male and female) was to contribute Rs 25 on the first of the month for household expenses, and what remained at the end of the month was to be equally divided.

They spent Rs 92 in their first month of living together. When Robert’s agent, an amateur mathematician, reported this to him, Robert asked him how much money had each received. "When the remainder was distributed, each received an even number of rupees without fractions," said the agent. How much money did each receive, and why? The messenger could not tell. Also, how were the members of the group related to each other? The city rediscovered communal harmony and Anthony found his family, but Robert ‘the evil mathematician’ lost his sanity in trying to find answers to these questions. If you think that you can find the lost answer, write at adityarishi99@yahoo.co.in or Mind Games, Windows, The Tribune, Chandigarh.