The World of Six: 2023 Division Contest
By Saai Syvendra ·
This Cube can be jumbled into 43 quintillion different states. If you were to count one state per second, you would take a staggering 1.4 billion years to count them all. Most of those states are incomplete, just like this one. But let me tell you about a different kind of incompleteness. A question that made my life feel incomplete. Contest master and fellow toastmasters, “Who’s the most important person in your family?” Nine-year-old me, busy calculating how many mangoes John had remaining, knew that every question should have an answer. Unfortunately, amidst all the commotion, I couldn’t find a solution to my confusion. Ten years later, I discovered “The World of Six,” A concept that revolves around the game of chess and imaginary numbers. The six unique pieces in chess - the Pawn, the Knight, the Bishop, the Rook, the Queen, and the King represent my family. Let me explain why I say this.
Number one; “Pappu” - my younger brother, the Bishop. The Bishop moves diagonally in either the light or dark squares. You can never convince it to move to the opposite colored square. When Pappu sets his mind to something, he is like a bulldog with a bone; he will never give up. Although, if it’s something he doesn’t want to do, like brushing his teeth every morning, you are better off convincing IMF to give us a loan.
Number two; “Anna” - my elder brother, the Rook. The Rook isn't active during the game's opening, but as the game progresses it becomes one of the strongest in the endgame. Anna’s school life followed a similar trajectory. Starting as an average student in grade 1, up until O/Level Anna was relatively unnoticed. As he stepped into A/Level, the endgame of his education, he was the chess vice-captain, boxing captain, and a Prefect. To top it all, he was first in class.
Number three; the King. The objective of the game is to capture the opponent's king. Thus it’s the most valuable piece, not essentially the important one. In my family, it is crystal clear that the King is similar to myself. Not because I’m invaluable but due to another trait of the King. Although the King is the most valuable piece on the board, he has the least involvement in the game, just like me, until I discovered “The World of Six.” Why isn’t “Appa” - my dad, the King? It is because another piece suits him the best, number four; the Knight. How many of you use a credit card, a show of hands, please? I believe you do know how challenging it is to manage one. Imagine managing not one, not three, not seven, but ten cards in parallel, with none going overdue. That is how Appa makes the impossible look possible, just like the knight.
Number five; “Amma” - my mom. Not the Queen but the Pawn. Don’t get me wrong. Unlike other pieces, the Pawn has a unique characteristic. When it reaches the last row of the board, it can promote itself to any other, excluding the king. Amma takes multiple roles to help us with anything, just like the Pawn. The chef who makes the best chicken curry while being a vegetarian, the poor soul who constantly reminds Pappu to brush his teeth, and even at times, my very own enemy.
Who is the most important person in my family? Is it Pappu - the tenacious Bishop, Anna - the steadfast Rook, yours truly - the invaluable King, Appa - the strategic Knight, or Amma - the selfless Pawn? Nine-year-old me thought the answer should be one of the five. While the nineteen-year-old me came across an Earth-shattering concept. Do you know that mathematical equations do not always have real solutions? Yes, they may have imaginary ones. That's when I realized that the most important person in my family is none of the five real people. It is an imaginary person, number six, the Queen. Like the Queen is a combination of the other five pieces, this imaginary person is simply a combination of the Pappu, Anna, Appa, Amma, and myself. Making this person the most important in my family, not either of us alone, but all of us together.
Rather than degrading four and crowning one, discovering the 6th and embracing her together was more rewarding. That’s why, within our private world, among the 05 of us, we created the sixth; the Queen, who became the World of Six; my world, of six, and our world of six. As Wayne Dyer once said, "When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change." Similar to how this incomplete cube becomes a complete one from a new perspective. Ladies and gentlemen, I am sure most of you have that one question that might make your life incomplete. Join hands with me and approach that question from a new perspective.
#International
#2023
#Division