Ben is 12 years older than ishaan. ben and ishaan first met two years ago. three years ago, ben was 4 times as old as ishaan.
how old is ishaan now?

Let x be the age of ishaan so the age of ben will be 12+x. the equation will become x=x+12
Going 3 years back, the age of ishaan was x-3 so that of ben would be x+12-3 before 3 years. at that time the age of ben was 4 times the age of ishaan. it means x+12-3(the age of ben)=4(x-3(the age of ishaan))
solving this equation, we get the answer x=7. this is the age of ishaan in the present.