Chapter - 06 Short Story - 01

Short Story - 1 - The Eyes are not Here

About the Author & the Story

Ruskin Bond (born 19 May 1934) is an Indian author of British decent. In 1992, he received the Sahitya Akademi Award for his short story collection, Our Trees still Grow in Dehra, given by the Sahitya Akademi, Indian National Academi of Literature. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1999 for contributions to children’s literature. He now lives with his adopted family in Landour, near Mussoorie.

The Eyes are not Here (also known as The Girl on the Train & The Eyes Have It) is a short story by Ruskin Bond, that was originally published in Contemporary Indian English Stories. The narrator of this story, a blind man whose eyes were sensitive to light and darkness, was going to Dehradun by train when he met a girl and had a chit chat with her. It was only after she left and another passenger came into the compartment that the narrator realizes the girl was blind.

Story

I had the compartment to myself up to Rohana, and then a girl got in. The couple who saw her off were probably her parents; they seemed very anxious about her comfort, and the women gave the girl detailed instructions as to where to keep her things, when not to lean out of the windows, and how to avoid speaking to strangers. They said their good-byes; the train pulled out of the station.

As I was totally blind at the time, my eyes sensitive only to light and darkness, I was unable to tell what the girl looked like; but I knew she wore slippers from the way they slapped against her heels. It would take me some time to discover something about her looks and perhaps I never would. But I liked the sound of her voice, and even the sound of her slippers.

‘Are you going all the way to Dehra?’ I asked. I must have been sitting in a dark corner because my voice started her. She gave a little exclamation and said,’ I didn’t know anyone else was here.’

            Well, it often happens that people with good eyesight fail to see what is right in front of them. They have too much to take in, I suppose. Whereas people who cannot see (or see very little) have to take in only the essentials, whatever registers most tellingly on their remaining senses

            ‘I didn’t if I would be able to prevent her from discovering that I was blind, I thought. ‘Provided I keep to my seat, It shouldn’t be too difficult.’

            The girl said, ‘I’m getting down at Saharanpur. My aunt is meeting me threre.’

Then I Had better no be too familiar,’ I said. ‘Aunts are usually formidable creatures.’

‘When are you going?’ she asked.

‘To dehra, and then to Mussoorie.’

‘Oh, how lucky you are, I wish I were going to Mussoorie. I love the hills. Especially in October.’

‘Yes this is the best time, ‘I said calling on my memories. The hills are covered with wild dahlias, the sun is delicious, and at night you can sit in front of a log-fire and drink a little brandy. Most of the tourists have gone, and the roads are quite and almost deserted. Yes October is the best time.’

            She was silent, and I wondered if my words had touched her, or whether she thought me a romantic fool. Then I made a mistake.

‘What is it like?’ I asked.

She    seemed to find nothing strange in the question. Had she noticed already that I could not see? But her next question removed my doubts.

‘Why don’t you look out the window?’ she asked.

I moved easily along the berth and felt for the window-ledge. The window was open, and I faced it, making pretence, of studying the landscape. I heard the panting of the engine, the rumble of the wheels, and in my mind’s eye, I could see the telegraph-posts flashing by.

‘Have you noticed,’ I ventured, that the trees seem to be moving while we seem to be standing still?

 ‘That always happens,’ she said. ‘Do you see any animals?

Hardly any animals left in the forests near Dehra.’

I turned from the window and faced the girl, and for a while we sat in silence.

‘you have an interesting face,’ I remarked. I was becoming quit daring, but it was a safe remark. Few girls can resist flattery.

She laughed pleasantly, a clear ringing laugh.

‘It’s nice to be told I have an Interesting face. I am tired of people telling me I have a pretty face.’

‘Oh, so you do have a pretty face.’ Thought I, and aloud I said:

‘You are very gallant young man,’ she said. ‘But why are you so serious?

I thought then, that I would try to laugh for her,’ but the thought of laughter only made me feel troubled and lonely.

We’ll soon be at your station,’ I said.

‘Thank goodness it’s a short journey. I can bear to sit in a train for more than two or three hours.’

Yet I was prepared to sit there for almost any length of time, Just to listen to her talking. Her voice had the sparkle of a mountain stream. As soon as she left the train, she would forget our brief encounter; but it would stay with me for the rest of the journey and for some time after.

            The engine’s whistle shrieked, the carriage wheels changed their sound and rhythm.

            The girl got up and began to collect her things. I wondered if she wore her hair in a burn, or if it was plaited, or if it hung loose over her shoulders, or if it was cut very short.

            The train drew slowly into the station. Outside, there was the shouting of porters and vendors and a high-pitched female voice near the carriage door which must have belonged to the girl’s aunt.

            ‘Good-bye,’ said the girl.

She was standing very close to me, so close that the perfume from her hair was tantalizing. I wanted to raise my hand and touch her hair,’ but she moved away, and only the perfume still lingered where she had stood.

‘You may break, you may shatter the vase if you will, but the scent of the roses will linger there still…..

There was some confusion in the doorway. A man, getting into the compartment, stammered an apology. Then the door banged shut, and the world was shut out again. I returned to my berth. The guard blew his whistle and we off. Once again, I had a game to play with a new fellow- traveler.

The train gathered speed, the wheels took up their song, the carriage groaned and shook. I found the window and sat in front of it, staring into the daylight that was darkness form me. So many things were happening outside the window. It could be a fascinating game, guessing what went on out there.

The man who had entered the compartment broke into my reverie. ‘You must be disappointed,’ he said,’ I’m not as attractive a travelling companion as the one who just left.’

            ‘She was an interesting girl,’ I said.’ Can you tell me –did she keep her hair long or short?’

            ‘I don’t remember,’ he said, sounding puzzled.’ it was her eyes I noticed, not her hair. She had beautiful eyes but they were of no use to her, she was completely blind. Didn’t you notice?’

Summary

            Up to Rohana, the narrator was alone in the compartment. A girl boarded towards the compartment. Her parents bid her good bye at the station and were anxious about her well being and advised her lot regarding where to keep her belongings, not to lean out of the windows and to avoid talking to strangers.

            Once the train left the station, the narrator started a conversation asking if she too was going to Dehra. The voice startled her as she thought her to be alone in the compartment. The girl told him that she was going to Saharanpur where her aunt would come to take her home. She also desired the narrator as the hills of Mussoorie, where he was headed to, presented a lovely sight in October.

            After some more chit-chats, the narrator told her; quite daringly (as he was blind and couldn’t have known her face for sure) that she had interesting face. She was happy at this and replied that it was indeed a welcome deviation from the often repeated phrase: “You have a pretty face”

            Soon it was time for the girl to offer goodbye as the train arrived at her destination. After her departure, a man entered the compartment and apologized, as a matter of fact, for not being as attractive a travelling companion as his predecessor. When the narrator asked him if the girl had her long or short, he replied with interest that he had noticed only her eyes, which were beautiful but no use, as she was completely blind.

Summary

Up to Rohana, the narrator was alone in the compartment. A girl boarded towards the compartment. Her parents bid her goodbye at the station and were anxious about her well-being and advised her lot regarding where to keep her belongings, not to lean out of the windows and to avoid talking to strangers.

Once the train left the station, the narrator started a conversation asking if she too was going to Dehra. The voice startled her as she thought her to be alone in the compartment. The girl told him that she was going to Saharanpur where her aunt would come to take her home. She also desired the narrator as the hills of Mussoorie, where he was headed to, presented a lovely sight in October.

After some more chit-chats, the narrator told her; quite daringly (as he was blind and couldn't have known her face for sure) that she had an interesting face. She was happy at this and replied that it was indeed a welcome deviation from the often repeated phrase: "You have a pretty face".

Soon it was time for the girl to bid goodbye as the train arrived at her destination. After her departure, a man entered the compartment and apologized, as a matter of fact, for not being as attractive a travelling companion as his predecessor. When the narrator asked him if the girl had her hair long or short, he replied with interest that he had noticed only her eyes, which were beautiful but of no use, as she was completely blind.

·      What is the theme of the story "The Eyes Are Not Here" by Ruskin Bond?

Ruskin Bond’s short story “The Eyes Are Not Here” is very brief but is also intriguingly complex. Although most worthwhile stories cannot be easily paraphrased or reduced to a single theme, this story definitely seems to deal with issues of human perception. In this tale, three people, at least, prove to be imperceptive in various ways: the unnamed man on the train, the unnamed woman on the train, the story’s reader, and, perhaps, also the new male passenger. Bond’s story is the kind of tale that makes readers want to read it immediately a second time as soon as they have finished reading it once. Only on re-reading, in fact, does the story reveal its full richness and complexity as a meditation on human perceptions and perceptiveness and how both are influenced by the assumptions we make.

Plot Construction

A man (presumably a young man) is sitting in a compartment in a train when a woman (apparently a young woman) also enters the compartment. The woman doesn’t notice that the man is blind, and he does not tell her. Instead, he asks her a series of questions that allow him to infer certain facts about her. She also converses pleasantly with him. After she gets off the train at her stop, another male enters the compartment and mentions in passing that the young woman who just left the compartment was blind.  Thus, the young man on the train failed to perceive that the young woman was blind, as did the reader of the story. The young woman apparently also failed to perceive that the young man was blind, and this may also be true of the male who enters the compartment near the end of the story.  In a very brief tale, then, Bond has managed to create a remarkably complex story about the limits of human perception and perceptiveness and about how people tend to make assumptions and then take those assumptions for granted in ways that influence what they perceive or fail to perceive.

Once the story is re-read, the reader notices various intriguing details and clues, including the following:

• The girl’s parents are very concerned about her when she gets on the train, but both we and the young man assume that there is nothing special about their concern. It doesn’t occur to us that the girl may be blind.
• The young woman is startled when the young man speaks, but both we and he assume that she is startled simply because he is sitting in the dark. Once again, it doesn’t occur to us that the girl may be blind.
• The young male, commenting on the fact that the young woman was startled, thinks to himself,

Well, it often happens that people with good eyesight fail to see what is right in front of them.

• Later, of course, we realize that this statement is a sly comment, by the author, on the imperceptiveness of readers. After all, it doesn’t occur to us that the girl may be startled because she is blind. We make an assumption, and then we perceive all the rest of the events in light of that assumption. So, too, does the narrator, and so the narrator’s joke at the expense of sighted people is also a joke by the author at the expense of the narrator.  Rather than being offended by the author’s sly trick, we ultimately appreciate all the ways in which he tricks both us the narrator, because we (both readers and narrator) ultimately learn a very valuable lesson about the influence of initial assumptions on the ways we perceive (or fail to perceive) the world and other persons.