One fine day

“Control plus S and done!” I exclaimed. It was late in the night I had just completed the report of the Annual General Meeting. Four hours before the sun rises again I need some sleep, I thought. It has been a long day and I have been at the screen for too long. I turned off the laptop, switched off the headlamp, kept my laptop aside and dozed off. My bed was a much-needed comfort for my aching back.

The alarm went off at five fifty in the morning and I snoozed it for another ten minutes and rolled over to the other side of the bed. It was six and I had to wake up now. I opened my eyes but the room was too dark for six am. I turned on the table lamp but the darkness prevailed. I started rubbing my eyes anxiously, I jumped off the bed and turned on the room’s light and my worst fear had come true. I had lost my eyesight. I thought why me? Why it had to happen today? How can I go blind out of nowhere? Myriad thoughts ran through my mind. I can’t keep sitting here in the middle of the room helpless, I will call Rahul. I thought.

I struggled with my study and picked up the landline. But how am I going to dial the numbers? I thought. I remembered that one, two three made the bottom row, followed by four, five and six and so on. I pressed one key at a time and called up Rahul. "Pick up the phone for god’s sake," I told myself. The phone kept ringing but Rahul didn’t pick up the phone. I redialled and luckily he picked up this time. “Raghav I have lost my eyesight.” Rahul blurted out. “What you too?, I can’t see either,” I said hardly believing his words. “But what happened how did you go blind?” He asked. “I don’t have a clue I woke up in the morning and there was darkness all over,” I said feeling aghast. “Dude I was working at my laptop early in the morning and suddenly everything went blank,” Raghav said sobbing. “Hold yourself together Rahul we will find a way out of this, I will call Neha and you call Keshav,” I said.

I was shocked to hear that Neha and Keshav had turned blind too. I went up to my door and rang my neighbor’s bell. “John I have lost my eyesight I can’t see please take me to the doctor. My friends are waiting there for me.” I said. “Raghav I can’t see either all of this happened suddenly while I was watching TV,” John said. “What! I can’t believe this, everyone is turning blind and electronic media seems to be the common thread behind it.” I said trying to figure out the pattern behind the loss.

I got back to my apartment took my wallet and went out to meet my friends. It was a long struggle to get to the clinic. I came out of the building and asked the watchman to help me find a rickshaw but even he had turned blind. It was scary now and it seemed the entire world had turned blind. I tried to visualize the road up to the clinic and knew it was going to be a long walk. I started walking by the sides of the footpath slowly but steadily. I stumbled twice and nearly fell on the ground. I grabbed a stick of wood to navigate further. Suddenly all my other senses were working at their optimum I was paying attention to every noise especially the horns and revving engines. But it seemed the roads were empty. A few people were coming down the road and I thought I can ask them for directions. “Hi I am Raghav I have turned blind this morning, can you tell is this ST road,” I asked. “We can’t see as well I don’t know what catastrophe has struck!” He said and they all walked away.

I had to meet my friends and the doctor. I kept walking counting the lefts and the rights. But couldn’t find the clinic. I bumped into a bench and sat there in the middle of nowhere. I closed my eyes even though it didn’t matter, my life played itself on autoplay in my mind. How will I live without my eyes? How lucky I was? How difficult it will be? I would have to start from scratch. I learned all the important life lessons in that moment and being grateful for what you have; topped the list. Suddenly there was a continuous noise getting louder in the background; I turned aside opened my eyes and saw my alarm clock blaring and I found myself in my bed wrapped in the sheets. “Thank god that was just a dream.” I thought as I heaved a sigh of relief.