Hope some of you had a chance to solve the first puzzle (the firelog puzzle). If you have not seen it, please go to https://alokgoyal1971.com/2013/01/29/why-puzzle/

Here is the solution to the puzzle:

Mahesh gets Rs. 7 and Ramesh gets Rs. 1

Explanation:

Since Suresh has given Rs. 8 as his “equal” share, that means that the fair share for each of the three needs to be Rs. 8. Therefore a total of 8×3=Rs.24 has been spent on the firelogs (or the forelogs are worth this much money). Cost of each log therefore is Rs. 3.

Mahesh has spent Rs. 15 (5 firelogs x 3) and Ramesh has spent Rs. 9 (3 firelogs x 3). Therefore Mahesh has spent Rs. 7 (Rs. 15 – Rs. 8 which is his fair share) extra and Ramesh has spent Rs. 1 extra, which are the amounts they keep from the money given by Suresh.

A video version of the solution is available at: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcv6rxC4KErcxEtUX5NUslTMa__DuA4Rh

I was very happy to see many right responses, and also very happy to see many children writing to me. In particular, I thought that Shray solved the puzzle in a very unique way. I am including his answer verbatim:

Mahesh used 2 2/3 of his fire wood, so he gave Suresh 2 1/3 fire wood. Ramesh used 2 2/3 of his fire wood so he gave 1/3 fire wood. The ratio is 2 1/3 to 1/3 which is also 7:1 if you do 2 1/3 and 1/3 times 3. So Mahesh gets 7 rupees and Ramesh gets 1 rupee.