Aankhon ki gustakiyan

At the Fatehpur-Sikri at Agra, the local guide related a shayari (local hindi/urdu verse).
" Sehar karo tho Chaman ki karo,
Baazaar mein kya rakkha hai.
Kathl karo tho nigahon se karo,
Talwar mein kya rakkha hai."

The references to the "eyes" and its subtle means of communication and expression, especially in the arena of romance is remarkable. Most poetry seem incomplete without this analogy.
I have made a small collection of such references to read and cherish.

From Breathless ... by Shanker Mahadevan
"kaisii miiTHii baate.n thii.n vo
kaisii mulaaqaate.n thii.n vo
jab mai.n ne na jaana tha nazaro.n se kaise pigaRte hai.n dil
aur aarzuu paathe hai kaisii man.zil"
Jab maine jaana tha, nazaro se kaise pigalthe hai dil ..... how hearts are melted by the gaze. Does this run you into nostalgia.
The most common incident that comes to my mind when i read this is "lovefilled glances" and "winks". Have you been winked at ? If so, how did it actually feel ... annoying or special !!!

From the song "Seekho naa ... " by Shubha Mudgal (Album : Ab ke saawan)
"Seekho naa ... naino khi bhasha piya .......
Kehthi hai, tumse yeh khamoshiyan ......
Seekho naa .....
Lab tho na kholunge main, samjho dil khi boli ... Seekho naa ....

Padna seekho,
salvato ko ...
Maathe pe yeh, balkhaa ke, Likhti yeh kya

Kehne ko baaki hai kya ....
Aankhon ne sab keh to diya. "

This further strongly reminds me of the song "Sound of silence" by Simon and Grafunkel. Quite amusing to imagine how the sound of Silence would be. Does Silence have a sound ....
We see two new languages here, the "Sound of Silence" and "Aankhon ki bhasha".
The punch line here seems "Aankhon ne sab keh tho diya". A whole conversation happened between gazes and expressions of the eye.

As expressive as the eye can be, the eye is also an attribute to one's beauty. That explains the existance of the words, "Visalakshi" and "Meenakshi" used as names for Hindu women. Here "akShi" means eye in sanskrit.

The latest addition to the "Language of gazes" is from the movie Parineeta, in the most cherished song of the movie "Piyu Bole ..."
" lab to na kholuu.n mai.n kholuu.n na lab to par
aa.nkho.n se sab kah diya "
Once again, one speaks to her beloved with the language of the eyes. And of course, it was well understood. Perhaps love is the tool to decipher the language of the eyes.