The poem is actually about the spiri­tual journey of the city-bred man to the temple at Jejuri and each of the thirty-one sections is a poem in itself and together they make for a pattern of pilgrimage, namely the arrival, the round of visits and the return. The irony of the entire work lies in the fact that it is a pilgrimage without any religious or spiritual purpose or vision and that the “pilgrim” shows little interest in or sensitivity to the presence of so many gods in the place.

“The Bus” is the first poem in the series and describes the arrival of the pilgrim at Jejuri on a rainy dawn.