First up in the morning, I wake up to the alarm off my mobile and alarm clock on the table. A few mins and a bath later, I leave my bath soap on one solitary corner of the table, which I relocated later in the day. Then comes the newspaper, and before it gets flicked by someone else, I bring it in, browse through the headlines, smile over a picture or two, swear at a thing or two in the sports column and then place it on the table. Lift the lock-n-key off the table, lock the cupboard, think, stare at the cupboard again, and then open it again and take a thing or two that I forgot to take from it, and put back a thing or two that was supposed to get in there off my table/bed. The hair-gel, comb, mirror and deo spray lie on the table. A few funny noises later, they find themselves back on the shelf (only to be magnetically attracted to the table in due course throughout the day).
Right... So, time for college. I pick the precious books off the table, put them into my bag lying on some side of the bed, tuck them in, bid my sleeping roommate a good bye and leave. Then return back within two mins to pick my hand kerchief from the table. Bid him another goodbye and flee to the 'Academic Zone'.
A few flexible number of hours later, I re-enter my room, somehow making my way through the strenous blanket of air-pollution that the region is covered with. Empty my pockets on the table and sit down on my bed to go through the newspaper, which my roommate doesn't touch at all, in detail. Then bring out the pseudo-idiot-box cum portable-cinema cum loyal-friend cum never (ok, almost never) complaining friend sweetly named 'Laptop' from the cupboard and place it on the table. But, got to make room for it on the table! So, off you go, newspaper (the baseball pitch swings lands the paper on top of my cupboard... a few spiders complain, but I don't listen to those gypsies). The water bottles get thrown away and my laptop sits like queen on the table and Start Music. Countable mins later, the great phenomenon of power cut falls upon us and the queen is robbed of her energy within half an hour. Nevertheless she rests on the table, the shining majestic black finish glittering the hot room bright. Somehow I fall asleep amidst the killing heat. I'll be dead meat by the time the real 'killing heat' arrives, dumping whatever was on the bed onto the table.
The evening falls signalled by of resumption of power, a few irritatingly timed sms, making my mobile phone vibrate on the table, sounding like that terrible noise during a rock concert's intrument testing. A toss about whether or not to go and play. If I do, then I'm off for some time. If not, then would be rummaging for something online or play on the laptop. Dinner time next, find a reason to not go to mess, go out, eat well and return to find myself coughing. Too much pollution! So, look for that one little vicks cough drop that is supposed to be on the table... Momentary soothing throat, later to be treated by various cough syrups lined like toys in my shelf.
A few hours of movie or game or discussion or studies or assignment scribbling later...the residues of any of these activities will lie on the table till the dawn of next day. A reem of paper, some books, the laptop, a couple of random wires... some folded clothes, few wrappers, a little this and that... and that my friends, is my table! 90% of its surface area perennially occupied by something or the other!
