I would like to take you on a journey to a time long gone, when I was in Class 9. At school, besides other nefarious activities I used to, hide classmates’ glasses kept on desks while they away, then enjoy their blind searches. I was also one of those who were active name–callers. Classmates with glasses were called Chashm-e-buddoor, Double-Battery and some unmentionable ones.(If you already didn’t, I know you all hate me now)
What happens to such a guy when he complains about dizzying headaches, an inability to read the blackboard from the last bench? His mom lugs him to an ophthalmologist. What happens to him when he is told he has to wear prescription glasses every waking hour especially whilst reading the blackboard? His world comes to a standstill, he feels like he has been slapped very hard, like a resonating clap of thunder that pierced through his very….(Ok, I’ll cut the drama, if you say so)
My glasses did help me realize a clarity in vision and how hitherto the world was but a turbid haze. Yet, I won’t wear them, before reaching school I’d push them far away in my bag, and if any co-obnoxious teaser would discover them in there, I’d simply say they are my grand-pop’s. As the dizzying headaches got dizzier, my parents began to realize I just wouldn’t wear glasses. After six months of threatening and bawling(them threatening, me bawling and at times vice versa) I was taken to a contact lens clinic.
The moment I saw the world for the first time through my new contact lenses in the optician’s office, I had an urge to yell, “Main dekh sakta hoon” like Nirupa Roy. But my no-nonsense, big bro was standing behind me and that’s what made me shut up and instead just say a simpler, matter-of-fact, “Wow”. And the more I wear my soft contact lenses, the more I thank whoever invented them(Sorry, I’ve been too lazy to get that info)
The advantages of soft contact lenses over spectacles are too many to enumerate
# Ever gone jogging with glasses? Your glasses also jog, albeit with a differing pace. Sweat a lot and your glasses fall. Contacts add enjoyment and improved performance to a number of sports.
# Ever been in the ordeal of trying to board a crowded local train in Bombay with glasses on and hordes of people pushing you in? As you get inside, you realize, the glasses got left behind on the platform. A reversed situation exists when you try to alight with a crowd to a more crowded platform. You alight, but your glasses prefer the compartment.
# Contact lenses improve the vision scope. With glasses your world is divided into two distinct halves, a clear one from within your frame and a hazy one from immediately outside it.
# Have you been in a fight with glasses? You have to place them carefully someplace and then swing your fists, what a waste of time. Before that you could end up getting a few punches on your face.
# Glasses and sex… no no. what a hindrance
# Men do not make passes at girls who wear glasses(How original can I get The vice versa is true too. I have noticed, the only girls who like guys in glasses are the ones whose daddies have been wearing glasses too. All right, I understand glasses give character to the face, and blah blah. But God made us without glasses, thus we look better without them. More natural.
At the risk of sounding like your parents I’m going to say all this
# Clean your lenses E-V-E-R-Y-D-A-Y before and after wearing them. After is especially important. Lazy duffers like me just throw them in the case as soon as the day is done. But it is at this time the lenses need the most cleaning. Wash the lens-case twice a week.
# Use good cleaning solution. He best bet these days are those multi purpose solutions from Ciba, Baucsh & Lomb, Allergan etc, that do away with keeping a set of solutions and deprotinizing tablets etc.
# Don’t scrimp on cleaning solution, use it liberally.
# Do not towel dry your hands before picking up your lenses prior to wear. Unseen fibres of towels that travel into the eyes with lenses can really pinch. Make sure your palms and fingertips are moist with clean water before you pick your lenses
# Carefully learn from your ophthalmologist the wearing and removal procedure.
# Should you feel an pinch while your lenses are on, they have probably not been cleaned well.
# Should you feel an irritating dryness while wearing lenses simply splash some water on open eyes, not to hard though. If the dry feeling persists consult your ophthalmologist for the use of artificial tears.
# NEVER sleep with your lenses on. Yours truly had done that twice after particularly merry parties. Besides the hangovers, the other painful part is peeling lenses stuck to your eyes all night long.
# Do not wear lenses for very prolonged periods. At times let your eyes breathe, leave them naked without lenses or glasses
# Women with long nails need to be extra cautious while handling lenses.
# Don’t ride bikes without adequately protecting your lenses
# No swimming with lenses in direct contact with pool water. Pool water is highly chlorinated hence, not compatible with contact lenses. Wear adequate eye cover when swimming with contacts. Similarly contact lenses cannot be worn in a sauna.
ATTENTION: There is a real risk to not following proper hygiene with contact lens wearing. Corneal ulcers and lacerations. But that will happen only when you are not careful and do not maintain proper hygiene. Careless people lacking even that wee bit of discipline required should not go in for lenses.
A wide range of contact lenses available in India now
Don’t even bother with the hard or semi soft contact lenses as they are absolutely outdated. The best lenses are from Cibavision, Johnson and Johnson, and Bausch & Lomb. I have used all brands now and all are equally good, without much differences in rates.
Colored contact lenses are more for cosmetic appeal, ladies favor them and an increasing number of men do so too. But personally I do not go for them as I believe that the colors that are available do not suit our Indian skin colors. I tried blue, gray and green lenses in my opticians office and yelled louder each time I saw myself in the mirror, I simply don’t have the confidence to color my eyes.
Disposable lenses, save you the bother of washing, just throw the lenses away. The typically kanjoos guy that I am, I make my monthly disposables last for almost 4-5 months, instead of one. Kindly do not follow my idiocies.
Now we even have weekly disposables and also daily disposables. The fuss associated with these is lesser and lesser, but the costs are more. You don’t need any cleaning regimens with daily disposables. Now there are also available extended wear lenses, these contacts may be worn when you are asleep, either overnight or for up to one week. Contact lenses are for specific eye conditions also like Astigmatism, Presbyopia, bifocal vision etc.
Those who haven’t tried them yet, I strongly ask you to try them out. There is really no need for unfounded fears of adding a foreign body in your eye, it is after all 90% water.
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Go ahead and Make Eye-Contact
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PS: As the years passed, Ive gotten over my intense dislike for glasses and wear them pretty often too. Just adding some more usless lines here.