Chi

Part I

There was once a philosopher and preacher in Hechi, China. He was called Master He-Ping by all. Throughout his life, he enjoyed the company of two of his school friends - Jing and Liang. But this was only till he was in Hechi. At the age of 47, he left his home after only informing his wife. He chose to travel and learn and started towards the Green Dragon Mountains.

As soon as Jing and Liang heard that their dear friend had departed, they somehow did not feel right about it. They loved his company. His very presence was calming in nature. A word or two from him relieved people of life's miseries or at least got much confidence in them to face them. Some people thought that he was a phony. Some people didn't. Whatever it was, whatever people said, everyone did visit him and listened to what he had to say.

Now Jing and Liang decided that their sons - Kun and Kang respectively will follow He-Ping and serve him for a few years. Both their sons were teenagers. There were a couple of reasons for doing this. Firstly, they knew that by serving the Master, their sons would come home as completely different men. For they knew him the longest and knew his worth well. Secondly, and most importantly, for someone who was so dear to them all, how could they let him be all alone without any helpers? Now since Jing and Liang were the bread-winning members of the family, sending their sons was the only feasible option.

So Kun and Kang packed their bags and headed towards the Green Dragon Mountains. It took them four and a half months of quick paced, fast and intelligent tracking to meet the most renowned philosopher in the state, Master He-Ping. He-Ping was touched by the gesture of his friends but he asked the two teenagers to return home. The two insisted that they serve him on the grounds that the mountains are filled with wildlife and local ethnic groups that might disturb him and disrupt his objectives. He-Ping accepted their proposition only on a condition that he would then like to impart his learning to the two of them.

He-Ping had trained and learned under many great teachers. He had learned Kung Fu, Accupuncture, Feng Shui, Taoism from great masters and Confucianism from Menicus himself. One of the agenda that He-Ping had was to look for students. This was because he believed that whatever he had got, he should give it back before he completed the journey of his life. And here there were two students who came searching for him. They were honored to be offered so and more than gladly bowed down to him that very instant.

"You do not have to protect me. You have to help me spread harmony. Harmony with the Universe, always", were the first few Tao preachings of the Master about to his pupils.

This began a long and rigorous training schedule day by day. It was not easy for the two of them. After eight months of training in Kung Fu, Kun and Kang were asked to climb to the top of a tree. As soon as the master completed the instruction, they charged to the tree. In a youthful competitive spirit, they glanced towards each other to see their respective position. Their invigorated run was backed by an intention to win. Well both of them nearly reached at the same time,Kang reached earlier only by a couple of seconds.

Kang had a huge grin and Kun felt left out. While climbing down, both were filled with emotion. The Master asked them to count the number of branches and leaves which had broken because of their activity. They were appalled to see the number of branches broken and fresh green leaves which had come off the tree.

The Master said, "You are doing what you are doing but you are not respecting Chi. Chi runs through you and also through this tree. Climb the tree not to see who wins Kang, but to see can find the Chi in the tree and combine his own with it. Yes, Kun?"

They smiled and nodded. The Master shouted, "Yuan Zhu Bao You" (God bless you). They both ran towards the tree. Looking at the climb with their different perspective, one could make out how calm and steady they were. Not a branch, not a leaf fell down in the second climb.

When they both came down, the Master asked them, "So my dear ones, what did you observe?" Kun said, "It was much more peaceful. We noticed many things like what kind of a bark the tree has and which branch is weak and which is not." Kang said, "Yes, I felt the same way and also it took us a bit longer, but was more enjoyable."

The Master smiled and enlightened,"It did not take you longer Kang. It took you the same amount of time. I was counting. Time also, is how you perceive it to be."

He-Ping went from village to village and preached people which toughened them mentally and physically. Kun and Kang together served as four limbs to the head. He-Ping was invited to the King's court and was offered the position of the chief advisor. He turned down the offer by saying that the King was already very wise. He did not need anyone to advise him. He urged the King to give up impulse. The King understood what the Master had told him and bowed down to him. He-Ping continued travelling with his two students and harmony slowly started spreading all over Central China. Many more wanted to become his students. He-Ping said that he will call them when the time is right.

One day, on He-Ping's 58th birthday, He-Ping called his two students and told them, "I must move to Tibet. You two have to carry on with this. I cannot give anything more to the two of you. Now you have to learn on your own and spread harmony."

The Master walked while the two students had their heads bowed down with their hands joined, with a fist and a palm. He turned around and shouted, "Yuan Zhu Bao You" (God bless you)".

Part II

Kun and Kang had in no way expected this. The were taken aback. They did not speak after their master left. They were mellow and felt lost. Just like how one feels after a close one passes away.

They completed their chores and went off to sleep. The silence was heavy and deafening. Kang fell sick and stayed ill for a few days. Kun asked him to let go and not be affected by the event to that extent. Kang did not take it well that Kun provided to him unasked advice. He quite got offended at that. "So well Kun is all ready to be a Master, eh? I don't think he really loved Master He-Ping at all. Who stays calm after someone so dear decides to just leave like that?", he thought.

Thus started a conflict in the two heads, which for eleven years had a unidirectional and clear thought process. They anyway stayed together and took ahead He-Ping's work. One night, Kun saw the silhouette of a human figure through the cottage window. The person was trying to peep in. Kang was fast asleep. Kun ran to the door and went towards the window from the outside. No one was there. There was a person in a full coat running in the distance. There was no way in which Kun could have reached him, however fast he ran. He returned to the cottage and locked the door. He put an extra lock on and turned towards his bed. Kang was gone.


Part III

Everything was happening a little too quick after eleven years of stability and discipline for Kun. First his master went away and now his friend. It was like listening to classical music all day and then towards the evening, after an entire day of calm, the record player produces a screeching noise; the kind that you've heard from a chalk on you school's old blackboard.

Kun realised that for sometime he had lost his cool and was in a state of mental hyperactivity. He gathered himself together and started thinking about what his next step is going to be. He realised that Kang could have just headed searching for him and might come back in a few hours. So Kun decided to sleep.

He woke up, as usual, just at sunrise. He went and stood by the window. The same window where he had seen the mysterious man last night. Unlike a few hours earlier, it was warm and vibrant. He could hear the birds chirping and there were so many of them. The rays of the rising sun as if blessed Kun's shiny bald head. There was a slight haze in the morning air and vision was restricted only upto a few hundred meters. He heard the door shut behind him and turned around.

It was Kang. Kun was confused. He didn't know how exactly to respond. He walked towards Kang with a confused look.


Part IV

Arti lay her head on Sohan's chest and was listening to the story very intently. She was completely in love with the guy, since college. She was so into him that she could also picture how He-Ping, Kun and Kang looked and also how they dressed and the way they spoke. That is to say, an instantly cooked up story by Sohan was also taken very seriously by her. On the other hand, Sohan was the best storyteller anyone could have met. The way he narrated incidents, his expressive eyes taking the people to a far away planet away from reality.

They were about to get engaged in a few months. Their parents were okay with it.

Suddenly Sohan's phone rang.

Arti said, "First complete the story!"

Sohan said, "No wait!"

Arti slapped Sohan's hand which was approaching the phone. Sohan stared at her angrily. She withdrew.

Sohan looked at the phone and said, "It is your dad! Now tell me, I shouldn't pick up?"

He looked at Arti and said, "Do you have any missed calls?"

Why else would her dad call him directly. Obviously for some work then.

Arti said," No!"

Sohan picked up the call, "Hello uncle!"

"Oh ya! Sorry I will take time to get into the habit dad, have been calling you uncle since college."

"You want me to see you now?"

"Okay, I'll be there in ten minutes."

"Bye uncle, I mean, dad"

Sohan told Arti about it and Arti insisted that she comes along. Sohan disallowed her to come along on the grounds that if her dad wanted her to come along, he would have called her.

Sohan returned after a couple of hours and Arti waited for him there. Arti was happy to see him. She smiled. And the curve of her smile slowly straightened when she saw gloom and upset on Sohan's face.

Sohan looked at Arti and said, "I am sorry."

Arti asked, "What? For what?"

Sohan said, "Your dad will not let us marry if I don't take dowry. And I had spoken to you about this earlier"

Arti said, "I will talk to him"

Sohan said, "Try. I doubt you will succeed. It will have to become a choice between him and me. And for all that he has done for you, I'd say choose him."

Arti rushed to the bathroom.

She leaned with her hands on the mirror and then reached out for the tap and washed her face. She looked up into the mirror. She did not see herself. She saw a man. She saw Kun.

She reached out for the towel. She now knew the end of the story. As she walked towards the door, she clicked on her mind's VLC media player. She maximized it.

Kang : You have no respect for me, and you did not have any respect for Master He-Ping either. You are a mean, selfish guy who just looks at his benefit.

Kun : But that's not true my brother.

Kang : Don't call me that.

Kang approached his bed. Kun noticed that Kang's clothes were packed into a bag.

Kang picked up his bag and stomped off.

Arti opened the door. Kang was gone. And so was Sohan.