The eyes have it is a short story by Ruskin Bond. The presentation contains the details about the author, the story, character sketches of the main characters and the ironies in the story.

1. BY:
RUSKIN BOND

2. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ruskin Bond, born in 1934 at Himachal Pradesh is an
Indian writer of British descent. A prolific and
powerful writer, he has added huge stack of short
stories, essays, novels and children books to the
library of contemporary Indian English writers. Dehra
has been the setting of most of his novels. The story
is a first person narrative and keeps the reader
elevated from beginning to the end!
A versatile writer and a man of colorful personality, he
is still active. No surprise that the short stories are
timeless, let his powerful pen run long!

3. The narrator of this story is a blind man on his
way to Mussoorie by train. He is alone in the
train when a girl boards his compartment.
The girl’s parents bid her goodbye at the
station, anxious about her well-being and
advising her regarding where to keep her
belongings, not to lean out of the windows and
to avoid talking to strangers.

4. Once the train leaves the station, the narrator
starts a conversation asking if she too is going
to Dehradun. The voice startles her as she
thinks herself to be the only occupant in the
compartment. She answers in the negative and
tells him that she is en route to Saharanpur to
visit her aunt. He informs her that he is
travelling to Mussoorie.

5. After conversing for quiet some time now,
the narrator appreciates her daringly
saying that she has an interesting face. She
is happy at this and surprised as it was a
welcome deviation from the often repeated
phrase: "You have a pretty face".

6. Soon it’s time for the girl to bid goodbye as
her destination comes into view. After her
departure, a man enters the compartment and
apologizes, for not being as attractive a
travelling companion as his predecessor.
When the narrator asks him if the girl had her
hair long or short, he replies with interest that
he had noticed only her eyes, which were
beautiful but of no use, as she was
completely blind.
It is only then that the narrator realises that
the girl too, was blind.

7. In this story the narrator’s eyes was sensitive only to light and darkness.
While going to Dehradun by train he comes across a girl. He starts
conversation and gradually becomes interested in her. He tactfully hides his
blindness from the girl to impress her. But the conversation does not last
long. The girl bids him good-bye as the train arrives at her destination. After
her departure, a new male passenger comes into the compartment. From
that man the narrator learns that the girl was completely blind. The
revelation shocks the narrator. He feels that he has deceived himself. This
is an ironical twist that makes the end of the story so appealing.
CHARACTER SKETCH

8. The narrator was blind and fond of talking, he wished to hide his blindness from
girl. While the girl was smart and and focused.
The narrator was a romantic fool who was ready to believe a girl by her ringing
laughter and vibrant voice. The narrator represents men in common who love
the company of a woman.
While, the girl represents women in common who love the safety in the
presence of a man and vanish without a goodbye because she has reached
safely.
Ruskin Bond kept the pulse of the reader high with the narrator’s attempts to
escape the chances of his being caught by the girl’s smart questions and
remarks.
At the end, the reader realizes that it was not the girl that the narrator had been
fooling but it was the reader that the author had just fooled.

9. IRONY IN THE STORY
• This story is an excellent example of
situational irony.
• Ironically, the author employs two blind people
as his main characters, yet neither knows that
the other is blind.
• Even 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.

10. • Hoping to keep her from realizing that he is
blind, he describes the scenery from his
memories.
• To continue the ruse, the narrator tells the girl
that she has an interesting face.
• The narrator fooled himself. Apparently, he also
misleads the girl because she did not realize that
her fellow traveller was blind either.

11. PRESENTED BY:
DEEKSHA RAINA (A2305213046)
NAVLEEN KAUR(A2305213036)
MANDVI KACKER(A2305213487)
MARPREET KAUR(A2305213069)