THE BEAUTIFUL EYES

I was enjoying my first summer vacations. Monsoon had just arrived and like any child I ran to my balcony to dance in the rains. Next morning, I was down with fever. I had cold and was sleeping the whole day under the influence of medicine. My mother woke me up. She served the lunch and asked me to eat it. She went inside the kitchen and I somehow managed to reach till the table. I was half asleep. I asked her to open the door as I couldn’t see anything. Since the door was already opened, she thought I am making excuses to avoid lunch. She took me in her hand and made me sit on the chair. I again asked her to open the door. This time she scolded me and asked to eat and went inside the kitchen to get some jaggery as I loved eating it with food. When she returned back, she saw me moving my hands haywire in search for my plate. She thought I am still sleepy and weak so she fed me food with her hand. Then she took me out in the veranda which was bright and sunny. She offered me the glass of water and I was struggling to locate her hand. To her horror, I couldn’t see anything.

It was the most shocking day of her life. Her only daughter had turned blind. And within few minutes of her panic, she imagined the painful life her daughter would go through. There were too many things running in her mind and she got unconscious. There was no one else in the house and I was too young and weak to understand that something is wrong with me. After almost an hour my mother regained her consciousness. We didn’t have a telephone connection. She ran to the neighbours to seek help. One of them called my father in his office and briefed him about the incidence. He rushed back home.

By now all my relatives had arrived. I was taken to top eye specialists in Delhi but nobody could detect the reason for my blindness. After a month of tests, check ups and medicines, I was referred to All India Institute of medical Science. My parents were told that due to high fever one of the nerves in my brain got tweaked. After one month of medication, I could see again but through thick glasses. Without them I was again blind. Doctors said now I will have to see world through these glasses.

Now I was a toy for my cousins and classmates to play with. I was nick named as Chashmish. If I would go out to play with my building friends, someone would take away my glasses and enjoy my blind moves. So I stopped playing. I would sit at home and see kids playing from the balcony. My mother would play with me, help me with eye exercises. She would take me to the doctors every Saturday for check ups. Finally she found one doctor who assured her that I can get my vision back after a year of exercises, medications and diet. That was the beginning of my healthy diet regime. After year of spinach soups, carrot juice, exercises and medication, I did get my eye sight back.

So now when someone asks me what I like most in me, I tell them it’s my eyes because I know how precious and priceless they are.