The eyes
Written and Illustrated by Karan Mummigatti | Original photo by: Varun Mummigatti
It was fabled that there was a king.
Who built a kingdom out of sand.
He had many wives, many subjects and many children.
Yet he remained alone.
Loved by his people.
But haunted.
For in dream he was constantly visited by glowing eyes.
Staring down at him and uttering nothing.
No matter how many palaces he built or how many chieftains bent their knee,
Those eyes always bore down on him in the depths of dream.
Striping his armor, his crown, his robe.
Reminding him of who he was.
One morning, after much thought, the King gathered his closest friend and chief architect, and told him of this dream.
Describing with as much detail as he could recall of the eyes that haunted him every night.
His friend listened patiently unsure of a response.
When he was finished, the king ordered the architect to craft the eyes into marble and sand. To become the roof of the holiest of structures.
So those seeking a higher power would look up and see what he did.
Perturbed, the architect asked why the king would subject reverent people to such a sight.
To remind them, the king said, that no matter how high they climb, who they conquer or who they become.
They will always be fragile.
They will always be human.
That this humanity for which they do not spare a thought,
will be the only part of them the universe will be unable to replicate exactly the way it has.
Which is why it watches with such fervor.
For through them it must understand itself.
Troubled but obligated, the architect followed the wishes of his king.
Building from quartz, jewels, and sand a structure where the people could offer prayers.
The king, unfortunately, passed before the roof was completed.
And the architect, decided he would spare the people from the king's wishes.
The eyes would be subtle so only those looking for it would know it was there.
A year after his death, a service for the king was held in this hallowed structure which was his final commission.
And while all looked down and wept.
The architect looked up at the eyes he had subtly crafted into the building.
Shot by Varun Mummigatti
None but him knew of their existence. The thought brought him comfort. He had spared the pious and devout people from what would have undoubtedly been an unpleasant sight.
Yet as he was leaving the vast hall, he found in the distance a little girl staring up at the ceiling.
He walked back to the middle of the hall.
When he was next to the girl, he stared up at the roof.
And for a moment,
he was sure,
All of creation stared down at him.
