My Journey from Glasses to no Glasses

When I was in school, every person with glasses fascinated me. I believed that the glasses had the power to make the personality charming. I developed a strong desire to make myself equally graceful. I must say, now after spending many years with glasses, it was just a pompous bubble that burst soon after.

I was done with my matric exam, spending days and nights in future planning. During those holidays, my parents visited the hospital for their eye check-up, and unfortunately, I was accompanying them. At that age, I desperately wanted glasses and I had no realization of its aftereffects. I announced that I needed an eye check-up as well. My mother looked at me but she did not utter a word in my praise, thankfully. My father agreed and I was given a chance to sit on that ‘lucky’ stool. It started like this:

'Can you read those alphabets?' the doctor asked.

'Umm, which one?' I tried to be smart.

'Those in the right corner in descending order', the doctor instructed.

I started reading slowly. My tone of voice was also descending as was the order of alphabets. I started acting like I was having great difficulty in the hope of graceful glasses.

It took another two minutes, I guess.

Finally, the doctor declared, ‘It is 0.5'

My heart started dancing. But his next sentence hurt me, ‘Do not worry. It is not that weak. She will be fine without glasses’

I felt like the destination is out of my approach. Anyway, I convinced my parents, how important it is to wear the glasses. They were convinced. Good communication matters!

The journey started finally. I got glasses of my choice and I was over clouds. I felt all that grace in myself which used to fascinate me. I walked like a professor and my glance behind the glasses was full of excitement. It was fun to get glasses of new designs and my new looks used to make me happy for days. When I was doing Fsc, the Harry Potter series was talk of the town. His glasses quickly came into fashion. How could I stay behind!

Over time, the eyesight was weakening and my reading list was increasing. I stayed up late at night to read books.

I was not able to have full fun in rain due to glasses. If I ever removed the glasses then the blurry vision would irritate me. We, a group of friends, used to ride our bicycles on the way to college. If the rain ever started during that ride, I would feel weird. Just imagine, a moving bicycle, raining and someone wiping off glasses. Those days a movie was released, in which a professor used to spray spit while talking. One smart student managed to get glasses with little wipers on. That took my heart and I wished to get one.

Gradually, I started to realize the drawbacks of wearing glasses. At weddings, girls applied eyeliner and mascara on their eyes and I was deprived of that amazing experience. I started to feel aloof from the crowd. During the function, I used to visit washrooms to see my look in the mirror. I was stuck in a situation that you can imagine very well. If I had ever applied eye makeup with glasses, I would have just looked like a clown. It was my thought. Now I think about that time and laugh at my so-called problems.

Later on, I started to use the colored lens and enjoyed the privilege of being blue-eyed, green-eyed, hazel, and many more. That was another story to mess up with lens sometimes when by chance, I touched my finger with a tint of Fair & Lovely cream. I had to bear red eyes and itching due to my little negligence.

Cutting long story short, last year, it came into my mind that I should go for a procedure to remove my glasses permanently. The major reason was that I felt too uncomfortable to carry on with it. It took me months to implement the idea. I collected some information from the people who had experienced it and I got very positive feedback. In March 2020, I mustered up the courage and told myself, now or never!

I called two hospitals and came to know that there are two types of procedures and both have different price plans. I opted for UltraLasik treatment. It was the beginning of the pandemic and lockdown did not start at that time. Deep inside, I had fears of Corona but I was not in the mood of changing my decision. Finally, the day of the appointment came and I felt as if I am going on an adventure. While waiting for my turn, I noticed a lady whose eyes were red and I swallowed my saliva. I reminded myself of the positive outcome of this disturbing procedure. Thanks to the doctor’s assistant that she approached me in no time and I did not look back.

After the formalities were done, I lied on the bed in the theatre or you can call it the procedure room. Eye anesthesia was given and my heart started to drown. I had a flashback of my whole life and I thought about my will that I could not make. I asked the doctor about any possibility of danger and he just smiled. He told me to relax as the whole procedure would take hardly ten minutes. I felt numb and cold but tried my best to show courage. I was not able to blink my eyes because the doctor inserted something to keep it open. The nurse started counting 5,4,3,2,1 boom! The laser worked. Wide-open eyes, cold hands and feet, racing heart, I felt horrible. Frankly speaking, it was not at all. It was I who was scared. After the successful procedure, I was told to sit in a room and given water. I felt dizzy but I was instructed not to make any movement that could affect the surgery.

With black sunglasses on my eyes and a prescription in my hand, I left for home. When I looked around, it was such a lovely feeling that I can not explain in words. My number was -1.75 but it was too blurry to see the exact time on the clock. Therefore, it seemed as if I got my eyes back or if I saw the world first time!

For two days I had to sleep with the glasses on my eyes and avoid the stove. I followed all instructions carefully because it would be unwise to take a risk at all.

After going through this whole journey, I must say, nothing can be more precious than a clear view of your own eyes. It is superficial to consider people graceful for wearing glasses as only they can understand how irritating it is! Another important lesson I learned is that one should be confident in one's own skin.

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