Kung fu connections

Photo by Katherine Rodriguez / for China Daily

He ignored his mother's plea ("What should I do if my only son leaves?"), disregarded a friend's warning ("Only Chinese can do kung fu well") and put aside his own sketchy understanding about China ("I thought it would be like the movies").

He saved for the journey and set foot onto the country to teach English in 2002. He wanted to go home almost immediately.

"It was so cold. There was only meat to eat. And no one spoke English," recalls the vegetarian.

Nevertheless, he managed to stay two and a half years before he went back to India for his first home visit, thanks to "very good" colleagues, teachers who taught him martial arts and students who in turn asked to learn kung fu from him.

He also made it to the Shaolin Temple in Henan province, and happily learned various styles and studied weapons for a week.

Chaudhari then practiced the second creed of Jeet Kune Do, "Take whatever that's useful for you and develop from there".

The "No prejudice" doctrine was the solution to other problems.

"It's the same as my religion, Bahaism," he says. "You shouldn't look down on other religious sects or people of other ethnicity. You should be a good man for others and try to achieve harmony."