As I opened my drawer yesterday, I found something that evoked nostalgia. It was my first pair of glasses. Within no time I was transported into earlier days when I had just started wearing them. My friends said that I needed them badly as I used to spend most of my precious time in front of the telly. But my parents were quick to site my dislike for green vegetables as the main cause of my weak eyesight. However, my biology teacher pinned the blame on a series of complex hereditary transitions. Whatever the reason, my glasses have become an inseparable part of my personality. Without it, I cannot recognise people from a distance nor can I read the blackboard.

I remember it was 1999 and I was in grade five. “Excuse me madam, is that five or three, is that t or i,” my questions would always lighten up the class. My classmates would burst into peals of laughter as I used to sit right in front of the blackboard.

I was the laughing stock. One day my teacher suggested me to visit an eye specialist. I told my parents and they took me to a doctor. “A, G, H, K... I can see no more,” I told the doctor who was testing my vision. Finally, I was diagnosed with myopia. I was asked to do something which I had hated the most. There was no option than to wear glasses.

“You break your glasses frequently. Wear these plastic ones as you wrestle with your metal frames,” ordered my mother one fine day. Poor me! What could I do? But wear those horrible ones. Nothing changed at school either. I continued to be the butt of ridicule - courtesy my big glasses this time. I felt uneasy as it made me look peculiar, out of place and more confused.

After a year, I convinced my parents that I could wear metal frames. Eventually, I landed up with a brand new pair which lasted for a few months only. The saga continued to bug me and my mom for five years. I had broken it on different occasions - while sleeping, playing and so on...

Nowadays, my glasses are safer because I have stopped playing outdoor games. Of late, I have come to terms with them. In fact, I have realised they are an intrinsic part of my personality. I have, therefore, decided not to part with my spectacular specs!