To The Calendar

This is a poem by the best friend and teacher I ever had, the late Harish Johari, or "Dadaji", how he was called by friends and students, alike. It shows Dadaji's great ability to see everyone and everything as a present form of the Divine teacher. The calendar on the wall (this is 1964!) perfectly fulfills their specific dharma thus letting us understand the perspective of Karma.

This poem only recently surfaced on Facebook, thanks to Sachin Johari and was beautifully translated by Akhlesh Lakhtakia.
Thank you, all for sharing this!

To the Calendar
by Harish Johari (1964)

On your translucent body thin like paper, O worker!
How much burden have you borne.
Not the load of one, two, four, eight, or ten months;
All twelve months have you balanced on your body.

Who will know the Gita better than you?
You perform selfless actions, continuously, 24 hours.

Who does follow the Dharma better than you?
You fast everyday, quietly accept all that happens.

Who in the world can be more tolerant than you?
On your head is inserted a nail, and
Your back confronts the harshness of a concrete wall.
Every part of you is torn off.
Still, you tolerate every indignity and continue to act.
Even so, you have just a year to live.

This is the way of this world:
The one who is the most honest,
The one who loves the Dharma a lot,
The one who knows his Duty,
The one who remains the same in sorrow and happiness,
The one who is beautiful, and
Is the follower of the beautiful Shiva and the lover of Truth.
He is the recipient of all sorrows,
and his lifetime is similarly brief.