Unit 1 

Prose 

The eyes are not here – Ruskin Bond

Summary 

The short story “The eyes are not here” was written by Ruskin Bond. He is a famous Indian Author of British Descent. He wrote more than hundred novels, short stories and essays. He received an international literary award for writing “The room on the roof” at an early age. He received Sahitya Akademi, padma shri and Padma Bhushan Awards in India for writing stories in an outstanding manner. He explained his Indian identity in one of his essays.

According to the short story, A blind man was travelling to Rohana in a train. He was seated at the dark corner of the compartment when the train stopped at the railway station. A girl got into the compartment. She came there with a couple. The Blind man could understand that the couple who came to see her off were her parents because of their cautious instructions. The blind man inquired of the girl whether she was travelling till Dehra. The girl was startled to listen to voice coming from the dark corner of the compartment. She exclaimed with some kind of fear that there were no one present in the compartment. She gathered courage slowly and said that she would get down at Saharanpur. The Blind man thought that people with good eye sight who take their sight ability for granted. He told to himself that blind men like him could understand the things in a better manner when compared to those who had proper eyesight because they use their senses appropriately. He also made up his mind that he should not allow the girl understand him as a blind person. He pretended as if he could see the things around him clearly. In the meanwhile, He told the girl that he was going to Mussoori.

The blind person understood that the girl was wearing slippers as they were producing strange sound. He explained that Mussoori was a pleasant place because of the presence of Dhalia flowers, projection of sun’s rays on the hills and the warmness of log fire in the October month. The man complimented the girl by mentioning that she had an interesting face. The girl laughed continuously to the complement of him and said why did he put his face in a serious manner, She appreciated him for praising her.

In the course of the Journey, the man moved towards the window and mentioned that the trees appear as if they were moving and the animals were visible less in the Dehra forest. The girl also began to speak with him in a friendly manner. The man felt happy. But, he felt bit disappointed also when he realized that the station of her would come next and she would get down there. The man told to himself that he was prepared to stay there for some more time, if the girl stayed in the compartment with him in a friendly way. But, when the train stopped, the girl said good bye to him and went from him to the place of the entrance of the compartment. The blind man was impressed by the fragrance of her hair. He wondered whether she kept her hair short or long.

After the girl left the train, there came another person into the compartment of the train. He mentioned to the blind man that he was not as pretty as the girl who left the train. The blind man inquired whether she kept her hair short or long. The new person who entered the compartment was confused by that. He revealed the truth that the lady who went out of the train was pretty to look at, she had beautiful eyes but they were of no use to her as she was completely blind. The blind man was totally shocked to listen to that.

The present short story was written in the first person point of view. It first appeared in “contemporary Indian short stories” edited by Shiv. K. Kumar. The writer described the travelling experiences of a blind man in a light hearted and simple manner. The story ended with an unexpected & startling revelation. The writer gave the readers a glimpse of the world as experienced by a visually challenged person in an interesting manner.