ltheme As far as the theme of the poem goes, there is clearly a coming together of the old and the

new. The style with which Ezekiel describes this, however, leaves a far greater impact on the reader's mind than the content itself. The choice of the rhyming names 'Sarala and Tarala', of the respectable, well-paying managerial positions... As simple an addition as 'Both have cars' goes a long way towards expressing the mentality of the professor, quite a typically Indian mentality for his age and position in society. Also note how the only questions he asks are how many children his student has and how his health is keeping! And I just love the way he cracks the joke about being thin vs. weight :), then adding "That is good joke." :) :)

language
About the language and the terms used, Ezekiel is been excessively generous with his use of the present continuous, but that is his style of using Indian English in his poetry. As is the complete omission of articles... also mentioned in the commentary to 'The Patriot' [1]. But Thomas wrote in such detail about his style, I guess I can omit that bit here.