It was Vidwans who wrote to me
When I was Joint Secretary Planning Department
Referring to Kahlil Gibran’s
Being nonplussed on somebody
In the marketplace
Asking him, “Who are you? ”
That was 26 years ago.

It took me a few more years
To wander along to Tiruvannamalai
With Babu my brother-in-law
And start reading Ramana Maharshi
And his japa, “Who am I? ”

An onion peeled to nothing,
Says the rationalist:
Reach Nothing which is Everything,
Says Osho.
Reading Cordelia’s Nothing
Overwhelmed by the play
I agree blossoming tragically
Into everything.

Man is not the final measure
Though physically his mind is -
Break through mind-atmosphere
Leads into infinite space
And peace.

D T Joseph