261 they make possible," Ezekiel*s poetry projects his beliefs meaningfully in relation to the posture of the believer and his practiceSo Belief is not presented in isolation, in a mere theoretical or theological context but expressed poetically and also related to life^ impulseSo The believer has his flaws the way he holds them which creates a tension in his life; other times his beliefs are fake and his hypocrisies, as in "Guru," are satirically exposedo Not beliefs alone but the tensions which are created by them become the objects of Ezekiel's poetry. Beliefs operate in Ezekiel's poetry in relation to his questioning, self-critical, self-mocking stance also and this process gives his poetry its individualistic tone of voiceo Beliefs and practices sometimes differ widely and this gap provides Ezekiel much substance for ironyo This satirical strain is a kind of negative evidence of his essential beliefs, Finally, it must be stated that Ezekiel's religious-philosophical poetry arises out of a tension within his own personality. In a letter to me he commented upon his position: "I am not a religious or even a moral person in any conventional sense. Yet, I've always felt myself to be religious and moral in some sense. The gap between these two statements is the existential sphere of my poetryo" Ezekiel is eminent among present day Indo-Anglian poets primarily because his poetry explores this existential realm of his beliefSo FOOTNOTES L Linda Hess, "Indo-EngIish Poetry," Quest^ 49 (Spring 1966), po 30o 2c Rajeev Taranath, "Nissim Ezekiel," Quest, 74 Special Issue on Contemporary Indian Poetry in English (edc Saleem Peeradina) (February 1972), p, 1o 3. K. R. Srinivasa lyengar, Indian Writing in English (Bombay, 1973), po 657. 4o Adil Jussawala, "The New Poetry," The Journal of Commonwealth Literature 5 (July 1968), po 66. 5o I. Ao Richards, Principles of Literary Criticism (London, 1926), p. 278