Speechless Eloquence...

There is something haunting about the eyes – it’s always the eyes. It’s said that ‘Eyes are the Mirror to the Soul’ and on reflecting upon the statement, I cannot agree more.

See the eyes of small children, lost in their fantasy world of dolls, toys and imaginary friends – the shine is almost unbelievable. The feeling that one experiences, when seeing such illuminant eyes, can easily be killed by glancing at the eyes of, say, a construction worker, returning home after a tiring day of thankless and low-paying work, in the later part of an otherwise beautiful evening. The exhaustion and disillusionment is almost contagious. You might have had a relatively easy time at work, but one look at those tired eyes – and you’re almost as tired as that person. And this, I say from experience.

I’ve often wondered about the relation between an individual and his work. What is work to a person generally?

Is it just a means to a living?

Or is it a way of giving meaning to one’s life?

Many people spend their whole lives doing something they do not like because they never tried doing anything else. Maybe they took a job (which they did not like) as a temporary relief from economic problem, but later they didn’t make the effort to try to do something they actually like doing.

Many people spend their whole lives looking for the perfect job – they switch from one field to another, trying to become a success but never having the perseverance to confidence to last somewhere.

Some are fortunate enough to find their destination pretty early in their life and they strive and struggle until they achieve their goal. After they do that, they set new goals.

Some know what they want to do, but do not find the courage or strength to follow their dreams; they live their entire lives thinking ‘what if?’.

Its sad that ‘work’ – the thing we do for the major part of our life, we don’t put much thought into the substance of it ; whether we enjoy what we are doing, whether it is path towards fulfilling our dreams… we just go on doing it.. every day; until we get used to it.

Anyway returning back to what I was saying - about the eyes;

How is it that eyes can be so expressive? Leave out tears, or the blinking, or winking or the furrowing of eyebrows; just an eyeball (usually Black), moving in a fluid-like mass of white – that’s enough to exhibit your present mood, and sometimes even the past.

Why is it that besides the eyes, none of the other facial features are endowed with such expressive capacity? Although maybe the eyes are sufficient to do that job. Any other facial feature also expressing your emotions - and your soul will be shown on your face.

It’s pretty easy to mask one’s facial expressions – smile when you are unhappy, be straight-faced when you’re furious, but if the other person looks closely, the eyes always give you away – the eyes are one’s conscience.

Perhaps it’s a blessing in disguise that, not everyone can glance at another’s eyes and gauge the true sentiments; otherwise, all our emotions would be public property with nothing personal or private to call your own. And it’s not that those who can glimpse into the souls of others are very fortunately privileged – they experience the hurt, torment and sadness within each one of us, which we are permanently trying to hide. They are a burdened lot, for they always know the harsh reality.

The most precious gift we have, in the context of experiencing the world, is our eyes. The power of vision is indeed amazing. To feel the cool breeze on your face, while you are seeing the most heavenly beautiful sunset you have ever seen; red and golden rays turning the sky into a glorious spectacle of colours – that is the magic of vision. However, those who have it do not appreciate it, neither do they utilize it. Sometimes we look but never actually see. It is only the fortunate few who have regained vision after blindness who fully appreciate this precious gift.

Maybe it is time we started looking at the beauty around us, be it just a tiny flower, a puddle of water, a lone palm tree swaying with the breeze, or even the eyes of another—one can find beauty in almost everything around us. All we have to do is try and see…