Birbal was jester, counsellor, and fool to the great Moghul emperor, Akbar.
The villagers loved to talk of Birbal's wisdom and cleverness,
and the emperor loved to try to outsmart him.
One day Akbar (emperor) drew a line across the floor.
"Birbal," he ordered, "you must make this line shorter, but you cannot erase any bit of it."
Everyone present thought the emperor had finally outsmarted Birbal.
It was clearly an impossible task.
Yet within moments the emperor and everyone else present had to agree that Birbal had made the line shorter without erasing any of it.
How could this be?

I left my campsite and hiked south for 3 miles. Then I turned east and hiked for 3 miles. I then turned north and hiked for 3 miles, at which time I came upon a bear inside my tent eating my food! What colour was the bear?

Four children having five rocks each were playing a game in which they had to throw the rock at a particular solid area in the water. Child 1- Succeeded in throwing three rocks at a solid area but one of the rocks sunk. Child 3 - His aim was so bad that all rocks got sunk. Child 4- He was awesome and none of the rocks got sunk. Child 2 - Was the winner but was struck by a rock in the head and died. Who killed Child 2?

How could a baby fall out of a twenty-story building onto the ground and live?

I am the beginning of everything, the end of everywhere. I'm the beginning of eternity, the end of time and space. What am I?

In the following series, a set of numbers is progressing with a particular pattern. Can you deduce that pattern and find the missing set?

(2 + 6), (21 + 6), (58 + 6), (119 + 6), ___

There is a river to cross using a river raft and there are eight people (father, mother, policeman, thief, 2 daughters and 2 sons). No one knows to operate the raft except the adults and also excluding the thief. Only two people can go in the raft at a time. The raft should keep coming back and forth in order to pick and drop the people.
Rules to be followed:
Father: the father cannot stay in the raft or outside the raft without the presence of the mother.
Mother: the mother cannot stay in the raft or outside the rat without the presence of the father.
Thief: the thief is not allowed to stay with any of the family members unless there is a policeman.
Policeman: the policeman can travel with anyone.
2 sons and 2 daughters: they are not allowed to travel in the raft without the presence of an adult. They cannot either travel in the presence of only thieves without the policeman. The sons cannot be with their mothers without their father's supervision. The daughters are not allowed to be there with their fathers without the supervision of their mothers. But the daughters and the sons can be left unsupervised (as long as the other rules are applied).
What is the sequence that the people should follow in order to cross the river through the raft keeping in mind all the rules?
The rules are applicable not only in the raft but also outside the raft.

What came first, the chicken or the egg?

Today, I celebrated my 32nd birthday but I was born in 1972.
How is this possible?

You have a thousand Re. 1 coins with you. You have ten bags with you and you can put any number of coins in each of the bags. The condition is that if someone asks you for any amount between 1 and 1000, you must be able to give that amount by just giving the bag (you are not allowed to open the bag and give coins).

How will you do it?