ZERO

Suresh, a colleague of mine
At the university
Told me some time back
“When it is eight
You can cut it and get
Two perfect circles,
But I am seven
And has no way to go.”

“Oh!” I replied
“When you are at zero,
You roll.”
But the prospect of having
Two zeros
Either side by side
Or connected together
Locked into each other
Did not please me at all
Because
Though Indians wax proud about
Having invented it
I didn’t enjoy it at all
And if you need a wheel
We already have a better one.”

But the zero laughed
When you see me
I am but zero
And not ‘x’ or ‘y’
Among chromosomes
But something without value
And yet every time
You place me beside somebody
My value changes
And I am there
Not to please you
But to tell you
That when you are at zero
The ice forms or breaks
And a copy of ‘x’
Can easily be made.