It was long after everything got blurred that I reported my eye-sight problem. That was when I was in my 9th standard. I went to a an eye-doctor with my Dad. The doctor asked me to read some alphabets of various sizes arranged in a tapering pattern on the sides of a rotating white box with a tubelight lit inside. When he first said "Read those", I was like "Read what?" I literally couldn't see anything to read in front of me. The doc was surprised that I hadn't reported my problem till it got so bad. He tried lenses of -1.5D straightaway into that frame that all eye-doctors have. Those frames have placeholders for lenses. After some attempts to read letters of all sizes with various lenses, we settled for -1.75D. It hasn't risen much since then. It's -2.25D now.
Initially I used to get embarrassed because of my spects. I had had a muggu image anyway, but at least I used to look somewhat cool without spects...or, so I thought. In fact that was the reason why I didn't want spects in the first place and so didn't tell anyone of my eye-sight problem for a long time. I used to manage somehow. Finally when even narrowing my eyes didn't help me figure out characters on the black-board even from the first bench, and when I was not able to get enough glimpse of the cricket-ball to be able to get the bat on it, I decided that I needed spects. And when I got those, suddenly the world seemed very colorful. It felt as if I had been kept away from colors for 2-3 years and now I had rediscovered the world and its richness. I had missed a couple of years of whole-hearted bird-watching :-( I regret that.
My desire to wear goggles when I would be big was almost killed instantly. I tried to find out if goggles with powered glasses could be made. Some of my friends at that time said yes. That gave me some hope. I didn't know about contact lenses at that time. Now I know that I can put on contact lenses and then wear goggles. However, I've never tried that. Somehow, and I don't know why, I buried the desire to wear goggles.
Soon after I got my spects, quite a few of my classmates also did. It was like a chain reaction. May be all those were waiting for someone to start the trend. So, soon I had company. I was teased as 'kandil', 'chashmish' etc. for a few days, but very soon, spects became a part of my appearance. Everyone got used to seeing me with those. And sometimes, if I removed them, I looked weird to everybody. I realized that I had a monkey kind of face. But the spects made the upper part of the face appear more in level with the lower part and gave me a more human profile. So I started liking my spects. I started feeling as if those spects gave me a 'spectacular' appearance :D
It's been many years since I started wearing those. My first frame was a big black one made of carbon. I broke its sides very soon. But I somehow fixed it with parts from an old frame of my Dad's which he no longer used. It also used to get loose very easily. I used to insert bits of paper, wetted by saliva, to tighten it and keep it held on to my ears. It's a little complicated. But I somehow used that frame for 3 years. Then I got another carbon one, and then lots metal ones after that.
Spects need a little bit of maintenance and care. I have often slept on those and broken them. And they need to be cleaned very often. Though, with time, you get used to ignoring the dirt, but beyond a certain point, you cannot stay a moment without cleaning them. It is very irritating when you go to watch a movie and just when the lights are turned off and the movie starts, you discover that your spects are dirty and you also discover that you don't have a hanky. Not many would happily lend you their hankies to clean your spects. And when I don't get one, I try using my shirt to clean them. And if that's dirty or if that's not made of cotton, the glasses get strange marks and lack of clarity. Then I try using my baniyaan, but that's usually clean only on one day per week, and even then, using it needs lot of kalakaari. And if there's a lady sitting by your side, you cannot do any of that. If you try, the lady will swap places with her hubby or boy-friend. And if you yourself are with a lady, I'd suggest, it's good to keep a hanky...for this and other obvious reasons.
My suggestion to kids and adults without spects is to eat a lot of grean leafy vegetables and have a healthy diet. Take good care of your eyes so that you don't have to see the world through glasses. It's not all that fun wearing spects. Prevention is better than cure.
Initially I used to get embarrassed because of my spects. I had had a muggu image anyway, but at least I used to look somewhat cool without spects...or, so I thought. In fact that was the reason why I didn't want spects in the first place and so didn't tell anyone of my eye-sight problem for a long time. I used to manage somehow. Finally when even narrowing my eyes didn't help me figure out characters on the black-board even from the first bench, and when I was not able to get enough glimpse of the cricket-ball to be able to get the bat on it, I decided that I needed spects. And when I got those, suddenly the world seemed very colorful. It felt as if I had been kept away from colors for 2-3 years and now I had rediscovered the world and its richness. I had missed a couple of years of whole-hearted bird-watching :-( I regret that.
My desire to wear goggles when I would be big was almost killed instantly. I tried to find out if goggles with powered glasses could be made. Some of my friends at that time said yes. That gave me some hope. I didn't know about contact lenses at that time. Now I know that I can put on contact lenses and then wear goggles. However, I've never tried that. Somehow, and I don't know why, I buried the desire to wear goggles.
Soon after I got my spects, quite a few of my classmates also did. It was like a chain reaction. May be all those were waiting for someone to start the trend. So, soon I had company. I was teased as 'kandil', 'chashmish' etc. for a few days, but very soon, spects became a part of my appearance. Everyone got used to seeing me with those. And sometimes, if I removed them, I looked weird to everybody. I realized that I had a monkey kind of face. But the spects made the upper part of the face appear more in level with the lower part and gave me a more human profile. So I started liking my spects. I started feeling as if those spects gave me a 'spectacular' appearance :D
It's been many years since I started wearing those. My first frame was a big black one made of carbon. I broke its sides very soon. But I somehow fixed it with parts from an old frame of my Dad's which he no longer used. It also used to get loose very easily. I used to insert bits of paper, wetted by saliva, to tighten it and keep it held on to my ears. It's a little complicated. But I somehow used that frame for 3 years. Then I got another carbon one, and then lots metal ones after that.
Spects need a little bit of maintenance and care. I have often slept on those and broken them. And they need to be cleaned very often. Though, with time, you get used to ignoring the dirt, but beyond a certain point, you cannot stay a moment without cleaning them. It is very irritating when you go to watch a movie and just when the lights are turned off and the movie starts, you discover that your spects are dirty and you also discover that you don't have a hanky. Not many would happily lend you their hankies to clean your spects. And when I don't get one, I try using my shirt to clean them. And if that's dirty or if that's not made of cotton, the glasses get strange marks and lack of clarity. Then I try using my baniyaan, but that's usually clean only on one day per week, and even then, using it needs lot of kalakaari. And if there's a lady sitting by your side, you cannot do any of that. If you try, the lady will swap places with her hubby or boy-friend. And if you yourself are with a lady, I'd suggest, it's good to keep a hanky...for this and other obvious reasons.
My suggestion to kids and adults without spects is to eat a lot of grean leafy vegetables and have a healthy diet. Take good care of your eyes so that you don't have to see the world through glasses. It's not all that fun wearing spects. Prevention is better than cure.
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