Dogs and Other Plays

For Lavanya

"Fetch me a fruit of the Banyan tree."

"Here is one, sir."

"Break it."

"I have broken it, sir."

"What do you see?"

"Very tiny seeds, sir."

"Break one."

"I have broken it, sir."

"What do you see now?"

"Nothing, sir. "

"My child, " the father said,

"what you do not perceive is the essence,

and in that essence the mighty Banyan tree exists.

Believe me, my child, in that essence is the self of all that is.

That is the True."

Chandogya Upanishad, vi, 13, 800- 400 BC

(Source: Dogs and Other Plays Dedication)