The Dining Table

THE DINING TABLE

To designate this piece of furniture as just a dining table will tantamount to calumny and insulting. Multi-Specialty Furniture? Multi- faceted furniture? For want of a better word, let me call this dining table only.

We purchased this sea-green colored table in early 1975 at Hyderabad. For a paltry Rs. 400.00, I guess. Then Vijaya and I ran around Hyderabad to get the chairs, made to match the color of the table. We had to try hard but we did manage to get the same color. Six chairs were got made at Rs. 100.00 per chair. At last, we too had a dining table and we could sit around it for eating.

But, it wasn’t a simple plain dining table. When Ashok was months old, he would lie on the table and play with us. Then, 2 years later, in 1978 it would be Arvind to replace Ashok on the table! This legacy stopped as Arvind grew up. After nearly 28 years, in 2006, Arun’s daughter SOWMYA and then Arvind’s daughter ADITI resumed this habit. When they were about four – five months’ old, they would lie on the table and play and smile at us. That was an experience and a sweet memory I would ever cherish. Recently Arun’s son SRIRAM has started this.
Should I call this table as Infants’ Cradle?

When Arun, Ashok, and Arvind grew up to about 10-years old, I used to play Table-tennis with them on this table. Put two Bournvita dabbas at the centre of the table, place a hockey stick across the two dabbas, and then spread a towel over the hockey-stick – the net is ready !! How many months have we played with this arrangements ! Later, Santosh, Satish, and our neighbor-child JITIN joined the table-tennis club. The boys, even Santosh and Satish would remember these happiest moments in their life. Should I call this table our Indoor-Games Arena?

Many of you are aware of my Diary-writing habit. I am writing Diary every single morning for the past 46 years or so. The day the table & chairs arrived in our house in 1975, I would sit in one of the chairs and write my Diary. Thus, for the past 33 years, the dining table became my writing table every single morning. So many thoughts of mine, so much of my personal feelings – both happy and sad - have surely been ingrained in this table all these 33 years. How can I call this a plain Dining Table? It is a part and parcel of my mind, dare I say?

Multitudes of application forms, from Arun’s LKG admission in 1975 to college admissions, job applications, to last week’s Passport application form, would have been filled up on this table. From the year 2000 when Arun got married, to the year 2007 when the Ayush Homams of Sowmya and Aditi were celebrated, each single Invitation Card of every Celebration has been written (address etc) on this table. If it were not a wooden piece but a living person, we would have decorated her / him with the finest silk, many times over. It has been a mute participant, modest and unassuming, in all our family functions. Should I call this table our Great Grand Ma?

A large majority of GRS and GNY family-members have, over the years, sat around this table to dine. I do not remember if our father has ever dined on this table, but amma, Chandru Anna, Manni and Vijaya’s father, brothers, sisters, the whole lot of other members of both GRS & GNY families have graced the table. Nowadays it is ADITI’s domain to “serve” food to all of us daily. Should I call this table the Annadhata?

I may call this by whatever name but that won’t fully describe or translate my feelings over this piece of plain wooden furniture, NEVER.

Well, to repeat a silly cliché that “Changes are Inevitable”, we have now decided to dispose of this wonderful, wonderful table, my faithful companion for over 33 years. Adieu my friend, good bye.

Rajappa
8 Sep 2008 at 5-30PM

This Dining Table was taken away at 2 PM today (8 Sept 2008). Aditi was crying so much while the furnitures were being taken away. Read my blog on this here.