Nissim Ezekiel (1924-2005), made a significant contribution to Indian poetry with his conscious craftsmanship, his introspective mode and a conversational, unpretentious (natural) style. Born of Jewish parents, Ezekiel studied in Wilson College, Bombay. He lived in England from 1948 to 1952 and this confluence of experiences left an indelible mark on his poetry. His early writings bear a close affinity with the poetry of T. S. Eliot, Auden and Rilke. Later on, he decided to soak in the rich Indian experience and focussed on the themes of alienation, spiritual emptiness and isolation. The daily business of living, day to day mundane irritations, moral conflicts remain the oft-recurring themes in his poems. Humor, compassion and irony weave the core of his poetic versatility as he draws his images from the cities of Bombay and London which he knew intimately. "A Time to Change" (1952), was followed by another volume of poems, "The Unfinished Man" (1960) which marked an early phase of the poet's self-exploratory oeuvre. "The Exact Name" (1965) shows that he throws himself into what is around him: India, more specifically, Bombay, the here and now. "Hymns in Darkness" (1976) showed that Nissim Ezekiel believed in craftsmanship as well as the subject-matter of the poem. "His Latter- Day Psalms" (1982) was selected for the Sahitya Akademi award. Mallikarjun Patil rightly states: "What Thomas Hardy was to England in the early twentieth century, Ezekiel is to India in the post-Independence era. In fact he is a great spirit to Indian poets in English for several decades."  This poem has been taken from the collection The Unfinished Man (1960). It marks an early phase in the poet's literary odyssey. It is reminiscent of Ezekiel's experiences during his stay in London. Strangely, as we read the poem, it brings to mind Eliot's "Journey of the Magi" in which three wise men embark on the arduous journey to Bethlehem, the place where Christ was b