Eyes are Not Here-Ruskin Bond Sample questions and answers for practise

Q. How are blind people different from people with eyesight? Why does the narrator feel that people with
good eye sight fail to see what is right in front of them?

Ans:- The narrator remarks that while people with good eyesight often fail to see what is right in front of them
because they have too much to take in i.e. they have so many things and people in front of them. Sometimes
they become absent minded and fail to see what is right in front of them. They see only that benefit them
materially but fail to see things that can give them endless happiness. Blind people take in only the essentials,
whatever registers most telling on their remaining senses. Blind people are depended upon their hearing & touch
senses to see things and people. So most of the time they notice what is right in front of them. This speech of the
narrator is very ironical and realistic.

Q. “She had beautiful eyes. But they were of no use to her” – Whose eyes are referred to here? Why were
the eyes ‘of no use’ to her? Explain the irony of situation.

Ans:- In the story ‘The Eyes Are Not Here’ the eyes of the narrator’s co-passenger is referred to here. The eyes
were not useful to her because she was completely blind at that time. From the start of the journey the narrator
pretended to the girl that he was not blind. But when he asked the second co-passenger if the girl had kept her
hair short or long, the man replied that that he did not notice the girl’s hair. He only noticed the beautiful eyes of
the girl which were of no use to her as she was completely blind. The irony of the situation is that the narrator
was trying to hide his blindness from a girl who was also blind. Truly it is too pathetic to think about the two
blind persons both of whom tries to hide their blindness from the world.

Q. Is the narrator somewhat cautious about not revealing too much about himself? Support your point with
instances from your text.

Ans:- Ruskin Bond's ‘The Eyes Are Not Here’ is a very beautiful story on human perception. However, the narrator
who was totally blind at that time narrated the entire story tactfully without revealing much about himself. The two
major characters the narrator himself and the young girl met each other during their journey by train towards Dehra.
The narrator was very eager to know about the girl and to appreciate her beauty as well. But the narrator disclosed
very little about himself. Except for his destination to Dehra and then to Mussoorie. He did not disclose his
blindness to the young girl. He provided no information about himself. Again, when the girl asked the narrator
about his being too serious the narrator changed the topic. The narrator expressed some of his inner thoughts
without revealing much about himself for keeping the readers in the shadow of mystery.

Q. Justify the title of the story ‘The Eyes Are Not Here’.

Ans:-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 only to light and darkness, was
going to Dehradun by train when he met a girl and had a chit-chat with her. Both the narrator and the girl try to
hide their blindness. The girl asks some questions while talking with the narrator and the narrator very skillfully
answered as if he could see. The girl also succeeded to hide her blindness. It was only after she left and another
passenger came into the compartment that the narrator realizes the girl was blind. Here lies the irony in the story.
So, the title is well chosen.

Q. Give a brief description of the conversation between the girl and the narrator in the story ‘The Eyes Are
Not Here’.

Ans:-The narrator was travelling in a train to go to Dehra. He was alone up to Rohana. At Rohana, a girl got into
the compartment. When the train started, the narrator asked her where she was going. The narrator’s voice startled
the girl. However, the girl told him that she was getting off at Saharanpur where her aunt would receive her. She
then asked the narrator where he was going. The narrator told her that he was going to Dehra, and then to
Mussoorie. The girl then said that she wished to go to Mussoorie. The narrator agreed to her and described
Mussorrie in the month of October. After that the narrator thought that he made a mistake by asking her what it
was like outside. But the girl asked him to look out of the window. The narrator pretended to look out of the
window and described the outside scene. After that the narrator told the girl that she had an interesting face. The
girl laughed and replied that she was tired of people telling her she had a pretty face. Then the narrator remarked
that an interesting face can also be pretty. The girl called the narrator a gallant young man and asked the reason
behind his seriousness. Changing the topic, the narrator told the girl that they would soon be at Saharanpur. After
that the train reached Saharanpur and the girl got off. Ruskin Bond has presented the conversation of two blind
persons in a very interesting manner.

Explain how Ruskin Bond uses irony in the story ''The Eyes Are Not Here."

“The Eyes Are Not Here is a short story by Ruskin Bond, an Indian writer. The story shows irony. The story uses
first person point of view. Not far into the story, the reader discovers that the narrator is blind but apparently has
not always been. Travelling on a train and sitting in a compartment provides the setting of the story.

This story is an excellent example of situational irony which employs a plot device in which events turn out
contrary to expectation yet are contrarily appropriate. Further use of irony involves verbal irony when a
character says one thing but means another.

The narrator listens as a couple sends their daughter off on the train to visit an aunt. Initiating the conversation,
the narrator becomes intrigued by the girl’s voice. She is quite surprised to find someone else in the compartment.
Hoping to keep her from realizing that he is blind, he describes the scenery from his memories. He asks the girl a
question, and she tells him to look out the window for himself. To continue the conversation, the narrator tells the
girl that she has an interesting face. She remarks that people normally tell her that she has a pretty face. Her trip
is short, so soon she gathers her things and bids good-bye to the blind man. One thing that he remembered after
she left was her perfume.

A man coming into the berth runs into the girl. The blind man decides to play a game with this new train companion.
Pretending to be observing the scenery, the blind man stays silent. Finally, the other man comments that the
narrator must be disappointed that the new fellow traveler is not as nice looking as the girl. Remarking that she
was interesting, the narrator ask about the girl’s hair.

The reader receives an extra jolt at the end of the story when he learns as does the narrator that the girl was
blind. The blind man was not only able to fool the young girl but himself as well. Both blind-- neither realizes
that the other one is as well. Ironically, the narrator makes a statement that had he not been trying to fool the girl,
it might have clued him into her blindness:

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

The new travel mate does not grasp that the man is blind either until he admits that he did not know how long the
girl’s hair was.

The truth here is that everyone was duped. Ironically, Bond employs two blind people as his main characters, yet
neither knows that the other is blind. After listening to the parent’s conversation with the daughter, the narrator
could not distinguish any unusual advice or information that led him to believe the girl had any handicap
herself. The narrator fooled himself. Apparently, he also misleads the girl because she did not realize that her
fellow traveler was blind either.