THE
METAPHORIC EYES
Preface:
Shakespeare's Sonnet 132
Thine eyes I love, and they, as pitying me,
Knowing thy heart torments me with disdain,
Have put on black and loving mourners be,
Looking with pretty ruth upon my pain.
And truly not the morning sun of heaven
Better becomes the grey cheeks of the east,
Nor that full star that ushers in the even
Doth half that glory to the sober west
As those two mourning eyes become thy face.
O, let it then as well beseem thy heart
To mourn for me, since mourning doth thee grace,
And suit thy pity like in every part.
Then will I swear beauty herself is black
And all they foul that thy complexion lack.
Knowing thy heart torments me with disdain,
Have put on black and loving mourners be,
Looking with pretty ruth upon my pain.
And truly not the morning sun of heaven
Better becomes the grey cheeks of the east,
Nor that full star that ushers in the even
Doth half that glory to the sober west
As those two mourning eyes become thy face.
O, let it then as well beseem thy heart
To mourn for me, since mourning doth thee grace,
And suit thy pity like in every part.
Then will I swear beauty herself is black
And all they foul that thy complexion lack.
Today
was one of those days when I open up my diary to write something, turn a few
pages … find something interesting from my past and start reading and reliving
those experiences again…
...
It
was the time when I cleared my 10th boards and I was at my cousin’s
place for my vacations. This is what my diary read that day...
…
27th
March 2010
….
During
the first phase of my adolescence, I came across hundreds of songs portraying the
hero dedicating songs and metaphorising the eyes of his lady love.
In
the first few months, I was least interested in knowing the reason as to why
the eyes of the hero’s love had been personified by the lyricist. But as the
circumstances around me matured, I found my thoughts deepening.
There
are two ways by which a writer can present his perception about an incident.
One is by grasping the series of actual events from someone who faced it or was
present in the vicinity. And the other is by self-experiencing the situation
himself. The aim of the latter trail is not just recognition or appreciation,
but to gain a feeling of self-fulfillment so that he can subside the growing
restlessness within.
Coming
back to my previous words; i.e. why only eyes, I thought perhaps it is
considered to be the most vital organ among others; and what starts from the
heart might be brought up by the eyes.
But
none of my self-made theories regarding the metaphorising of the eye convinced
me to an extent when I feel to write about it and thus I was still in a
desperate search for the answer.
Then
for years, this thought got buried under the layers of ignorance and a few more
non convincing theories.
But
one day, after years of search, I got both the explanation an also an
opportunity to realize it myself.
….
It
was a day whose date shouldn't bother me much, what would matter was the chance
granted to be in that moment.
As
I sit back now to retrace what I went through in that period, I remember a
room, a bed, and a girl- a family friend she was.
She
was sitting next to me, and with a sudden move we turned towards each other
simultaneously, our eyes met and she asked me to play a game. The game was to
look into each other’s eyes, the one who takes his eyes off the other’s, loses.
Unlike the actual game, blinking was allowed, but not for a moment we could see
anywhere except the other’s eye.
What
I’d been desperately searching for years was now unknowingly being enforced
upon me by the circumstances and in a flashing second, I muttered-“Yes I agree
for the game.”
The
game wasn't difficult but it was something new thus there wasn't any denial for
the same from my side.
Going
by my prejudices that eyes were just eyes, I, in the first few minutes found myself
admiring the physicality of her eyes.
The
eyelid was thinner than the lower skin folds; the cornea was marble white,
aqueous humor normally transparent, brown pupil, dark iris and my image at the center.
…..
The
time was growing and so was the zeal in me to look beyond the visible aspect…
to look for something abstract. I found something deep... the depth of which
was more than a million fathoms.
Two
big eyes, which were brimming and overflowing because of the continuous staring…,
were flooding my heart at regular intervals.
It
is believed that the heart being the most important organ symbolizes the most valuable
abstract feeling- LOVE and the eyes suffice its actions.
My
eyes went deeper.
With
each passing moment, the millions of glass walls which I never noticed between
my eyes and the other person’s eyes were now breaking apart into pieces and my
vision getting clear.
There
was silence surrounding us both but still the eye-to-eye interaction was
underway and developing.
……
It
was already some 30 minutes complete I guess.
But
what I was witnessing was the most beautiful thing I ever came across. I
recapitulated that none of my previous success brought this level of
satisfaction to me.
I
was totally embraced by hypnotism, captivated and any alternative provided to
me now reduced itself to a naive attempt to deter me from looking into her
eyes.
The other inmates of the room did commit some physical atrocities upon me
but my patience and zeal fought all odds and none was successful in stopping me
from looking into those beautiful eyes. My patience won and all gave up… my
eyes did not.
Her
eyes seemed to carry something divine. As per our initial positioning, the eye
that I focused into was primarily her left and even after my hearty efforts of
looking into the right one, I always resumed my attention back to her left eye.
And
my heart made a demarcation that her left eye was more interactive than the
right one. It was DEEP and DARK and REFLECTIVE.
……
The
most beautiful moment that used to be for me was when her heart perhaps felt
something and that sparked some signal which was then just in a millisecond transferred
to her eyes; her pupil grew wider and before her lips conveyed, I knew she’d
smile.
And
what used to follow next was exactly what I saw in her eyes.
It
was an awesome feeling and I had not seen such a brilliant smile in my life
before this.
What
were more magnificent were the moments that followed each smile of hers. The
moment she smiled, within a fraction of second, calmness blinked, and the
manner in which her lips retraced their path over her teeth, joining the two
halves was even more beautiful.
I
could not number her smiles but that confirmed me that even she found something
interesting in my eyes and her level of participation was no less than mine.
I
found this to closely resemble the constructive interference of frequencies
that I studied in 11th std physics. Each word I've studied then was
turning true.
Our
feelings were not time bound, thus we never cared what duration it has been.
After
a long period of years, I found myself devoid of all tensions and my heart felt
free again. It was pumping rejoice and rejuvenation and triumph throughout my
soul. It was beating self-satisfaction.
...
Hypnotized we were when the inner quest started slowing down. I didn't wish to discontinue
but perhaps my opportunity was now subsiding. And I found her taking the
initiative to end it here. I prayed her to continue for five more minutes and
as they ended… all I said was just not enough to hold her back.
Eyes
lost their captivating power and the magic was over.
It
took me sometime to resume to my real life. And the image of her left eye
looking in to mine slowly transformed itself into the most cherished memory of
mine. This incident locked itself safely in my memory cells. And now as I
reflect back on the magical incident that occurred to me; I feel heaven.
I
fear that next time I won’t be so keen to look into a girls eye as I have got
my answer regarding the personification of eyes and its beauty had been realized.
But
I have a hope…
“This
time the question came to my mind and found its answer in this beautiful
manner…so perhaps next time I get a question from my heart... and I would again
have an opportunity to experience something more divine than this…”
And
yes I did realize that eyes really lend a voice to the heart that pumps love
throughout our soul…
