*THE EYES ARE NOT THERE*

The narrator was a totally blind person, He was sensitive only to light and darkness. But he is clever enough to guess the situation by the sounds of the movements of others. Once he was travelling in a train. He was the only one in the compartment. At the Rohana station, a girl got in and her parents gave her elaborate instructions, as she was going alone. The narrator, though he was not able to see her, he imagined the situation. After sometime he started talking to her. The girl was at first startled but she spoke to the narrator nicely. The narrator did not want to reveal that he was blind. He spoke to him as if he was a man with normal eye-sight. The narrator and the girl started discussing about the beauty of the mountains in Mussoorie. The narrator from his memory described the beauty of mountains. The girl asked the narrator to look outside the window to see the beauty of nature and the narrator pretended to see the beauty. Thus, the narrator made every attempt to appear like a man with normal eye-sight. The girl could not recognize his blindness, but the conversation was going on so smoothly.

As they were continuing their journey, the narrator took some more courage and praised the face of the girl. The girl took it positively and thanked the narrator for commenting that she had an interesting face. And she also appreciated the boldness of the narrator for making such a comment. The narrator felt for her and wished to travel with her hearing her sweet voice. The narrator thoroughly enjoyed her company and wished that it can continue for some more time. He thought that she would forget about him as soon as she left the train And then the station where the girl has to get down was nearing. The girl was getting ready to get down. The narrator imagined about her appearance and could not make it clear. And then the girl bid him good-bye and he could only smell the perfume of the girl. Then the girl got down. And there was some confusion in the doorway. The narrator heard a man making an apology, who was about to get into the compartment The train again started moving. The narrator was eager to know about the girl. So he started talking to the fellow traveler and asked whether the girl kept her hair long or short. For which he replied that he did not see the hair, but he noticed her eyes, which were very beautiful. Further he told that the eyes were no use to her, because she was completely blind.

In this story the author has beautifully narrated very interestingly and emotionally the meeting and conversation of a blind man and blind girl without revealing their blindness.