Do you know why God created Man? It is said that Adam and Eve were created so that the newly created race can see and praise the greatness of God's creation. Our first parents were enthralled by the beauty of paradise into which they were born and fascinated by their own appearances when they first opened their eyes. A much more ancient Greek myth says that King Oedipus blinded himself out of a sense of guilt, because he had children with his mother. He refused to see the world anymore. That is how important our eyes are, they are the windows of our soul; connecting our inner being to the outer world. They give us a sense of belonging to this beautiful world.

It is needless to say that our eyes are priceless. Nature has given inherent protective shields to our eyes in the form of eyebrows and eyelashes but in today's world of computers, electronic gadgets, dust and pollution we need to take extra care of this invaluable gift of God. Primarily, the health of our eyes depends on the nutrition they get, especially Vitamin A. A steady intake of minerals is also essential to maintain good eyesight. In this age when we spend hours looking at the computer screen or constantly expose our eyes to harmful pollutants of the air; it is necessary that we resort to exercises to reduce risks of the effects of excessive strain.

Our eyesight directly reaps the benefits of the nourishment they get through intake of vitamins and minerals. It is also important to remember that children have to do a lot more with their eyes than the adults as they have to pay extra attention to words and letters to recognize and understand them. Hence they are more prone to strain. The next time you see a toddler with a huge school bag and high powered spectacles, don't be surprised! Some basic steps to maintain healthy eyesight are to ensure that there is sufficient light while reading and that the color scheme is correct. Colors that are too much of a contrast have been found to be harmful for the eyes, especially of children.

In later years, some preventive measures can be extremely helpful in maintaining healthy eyes. A main crucial step is to regularly moisten the eyes with eye drops and solutions recommended by doctors. This would remove dust particles and also make-up like liners and mascara from the eyes. It will be good to follow up the cleaning with a compression of a chamomile infusion on the eyes for at least 10 minutes. Proper hydration for the eyes and application of cold creams to surrounding eye skin areas can be helpful in giving back glow to the eyes and regaining elasticity of the skin around them.

If there are persistent problems it is wise to resort to some old tricks. One is to refrigerate a teaspoon for a few minutes and then putting them on the eyes and another is to take two bags of black tea and dab them onto the eyes for 15-20 minutes before going to bed. The saying goes “The oldest is the wisest”, you'll start believing in it all the more!