Dawn or Dusk

Sanjana was a bright young girl. But, born blind, she was forced to literally lead her life in darkness. When children her age were experiencing the beauty and wonders that life revealed to them each day, her thoughts were confined to what she felt through her mind. She had heard so much from her parents and peers about how beautiful the world outside was.

There were days when she longed to be able to see and experience all that she had heard. But the doctors had told that they could not give her sight before she was an adult. But Sanjana wasn't too much bothered about it. She had a wonderful family. She did not need sight to know the amount of love that her parents and elder sister Ranjani showered on her.

She was going to be 18 today, and in a week her eyes would be operated on. She was delighted. All day she was talking about all the things she would see and was asking a lot of questions to Ranjani. She was making a mental list on all the things that she wanted to see. The first would be, of course, her loving family. Then all the colourful trees, plants, and flowers. The list was quite a long one.

One of the things in that list was the Television. Ranjani had told her about all the wonderful things one could see and learn from it. So far Sanjana had only heard the noises of people talking on television. So she was curious about how the pictures in it would be.

The day finally arrived. A kind soul who had wanted his eyes to be donated had passed away a few days ago. Sanjana was going to be the recipient of the eyes. The operation started at 9am and took hardly a couple of hours.

She would have loved to see the very day. But the doctors had advised that she must not open her eyes for the next three days. She passed the two out of the three days with curious thoughts flooding her mind.

Then, on the evening of the third day, the doctor came to see her. He told her she would now be able to see. Sanjana's heart was beating fast with excitement. The bandage wrapped around her eyes were removed with care.

The doctor said "Sanjana, open your eyes slowly."

Sanjana tried. For a second, the bright light coming into the room made her eyes pain a little. But in a few seconds, the pain went away. Then, slowly, she opened her eyes completely. Her family was right by the bedside.

"Oh! Sanjana!" her mother hugged her and wept.

She was delighted to be able to see the people she loved so much. Then her eyes searched for the doctor who had cured her. She recognized him instantly as she had heard from Ranjani about the white coats that doctors usually wear.

"Thank you!" her newly opened eyes spoke for her.

The doctor smiled.

When Sanjana was being taken home their family car, she could hardly turn her face away from the window. A large number of images crowded her mind.

"Those big things are trees. There are plants! That is a dog." She kept guessing about everything she saw. For those she couldn't recognize, she clarified from Ranjani seated next to her. When they reached home, it was almost night time.

"Can I see the television, ma?" Sanjana asked.

"No, dear, you will harm your eyes if you see it today. Wait for another day." her mother replied

What her mother said bothered her the least. Her eyes were so overwhelmed by so many images that now they were very tired. She happily went to sleep. All that night, she dreamt about what she had seen from the moment she had opened her eyes.

The next day she woke up very late. For her, every second seemed beautiful. She went out onto the street.

"Ma, why are there so many colorful lights?" she enquired

"It's a festival, dear! Don't you remember what it is?" her mother asked her, looking amused at her puzzled expression.

Suddenly, the cooker in the kitchen called mother by letting out a big whistle.

Sanjana had been so excited about being able to see, that she could hardly remember anything else! She then went into her home and forgot all about the lights. She opened some books that she found and tried to see the pictures that she found. The rest of the day went by with Sanjana trying to learn more things.

The next day, she woke up with a lot of excitement. She would be able to see the television today! It was a Sunday.
She called out to Ranjani "Can I see the television now?".

"Uh... Ok" Ranjani sounded very hesitant. But Sanjana did not care. Her curiosity got the better of her. She went to the living room. The television was already on. She hurried and seated herself next to her mother who was intently watching with a lot of concern. Sanjana saw the television to know what was so interesting about it.

What she saw shocked her. This was not the television as she had wanted to see. It showed a huge gush of water washing away people like ants. Every second, a large number of dead bodies were flashed across the screen. Bodies of little children were also shown, their mothers weeping over them. Many huts were lying flat on the ground. People were crying and shouting for help. Dead people were just strewn around like garbage, some without hands and legs.

The fresh new pair of eyes let out it's first tear. For the rest of that day, Sanjana hoped and prayed she was blind again.