A Poem Written By My Friend Bakhtaur Dhaliwal Poem by Kanwaljit Bhullar

Eklavya

Not only on
Teacher's Day,
Eklavya
walks with me
every day,
in every classroom.
In place of a pen,
with a severed thumb,
he carves the letters of words.
Filled with respect,
he asks questions, looking eye to eye,
without engaging in debate for debate's sake.
To learn, he grasps a point,
unravels it with his severed thumb,
and delves deep
into its essence.
I ponder,
the stain on my forehead,
the blemish of guru dakshina,
whose curse is this?
If only
today were Student's Day,
I would not offer Eklavya my thumb,
but my head in reverence.

- Bakhtaur Dhaliwal