‘EYES’

 by S. PADMAPRIYA

I was on a flight from Chennai to Bhubaneswar.  I noticed a co-passenger. He had a pair of fantastically large eyes. His red eyes betrayed the fact that the poor man had not slept for many days or nights.

I kept looking at him throughout the trip’s flight time. I looked at what appeared to be the beginning of the disappearing of some dense foliage on the man’s head. There were also many grey hairs, sticking out here and there. I suddenly felt a lot of pity for the man. I struck up a conversation with him out of an intense curiosity to know my fellow traveller better.

 I went straight to the topic of his large, red and bulging eyes. He responded by saying this.

‘My eyes were small, when I was younger. They became larger and larger with life’s experiences. Life threw incomprehensible googlies at me. Life threw many wide balls at me. I was able to duck a few wild balls, too. Finally, I was out after not many runs of successes.

 My life seemed to take a turn for the better after my marriage. My wife was a most beautiful person – magnanimous, gorgeous, loyal and very appreciative of even the little things that I thought, spoke or did. Life was blissful. I felt that life had given me everything. Then, my wonderful wife passed away. I found myself becoming helpless, hopeless and lonely like before.

 I haven’t been able to sleep well for years. My eyes are red, bulging and larger than ever before. I have not been able to overcome the trauma of loss. Whenever I come across a happy family, my mind feels as if it might blow up into a thousand smithereens. My eyes became permanently enlarged after they caught a last glimpse of my beloved.’

 Well, I was so stunned by the story that I had decided to give relief to the pair of tired, large, red and bulging eyes.

  This Diwali, we are completing twenty years of loving companionship!