The Yellow Knight and Gulzamans Son

'Did you know that Bart is a published Poet?' Sachin confided in me. 'Ask him about it'.

'Oh yes', Bart said, happy to talk about it. 'One book of Hindu Poems, and one of English. Business, you know, its not everything. I have an artistic side too. I also write plays, and act and do street theatre.

'The plays? They are political. Not satire, no. I have one about the Bhopal incident. You know the Chemical factory. I didn't mean to, but it got into my head. I went down there and did research, and sat up late night after night writing. It takes over you.

'I have in mind one about the atrocities that the military do. Oh yes, the Indian military. They have martial law in some areas, near the Burmese border. There is a woman there who has been on hunger strike for 10 years. Every day they force feed her through her nose. But not many people know about it, especially outside India. They keep that very quiet.

'And acting too. Just with friends and colleagues. For the past 2 years'.

We were walking through the village in the desert, the sunset bot far away. His baritone voice was rich and melodious and he had an easy manner of speaking. I could have listened to him for hours.

Just then we saw a she goat nursing a very young kid. Bart stopped to speak to the village elder who was talking with Sachin.

'Two hours old', he said, coming back to me. 'Gulzaman's Son. Do you know the poem?'

I had to confess my ignorance.

'Oh, its very beautiful. I cant repeat it word for word, but its about a shepherd in Afghanistan, Gulzaman. His village is high in the hills, but all the villagers taunt him. He is, how do you say, sterile? They keep asking him where are his sons. They mock him so badly, that he leaves and goes to live with his sheep.

'But a sickness comes to all the sheep. None of them give birth, all the lambs die. This will mean death to the village.

'But Gulzaman has one sheep that is pregnant. He tends to her, and she gives birth and the lamb lives.

'He carries the lamb outside, holds it up, and says 'This is my Son'.'

The story really spoke to me.

Sachin's quests takes him travelling all around India, with his Camera and his Motorbike, but Bart is a very different kind of Knight. His grail is inside, his quest takes him inwards to give his soul expression.

There is more than one kind of valour, more than one kind of bravery, and more than one kind of Knight. It takes all sorts to make a Table and find the Grail.