Monday, September 10, 2007

Dinner and Dining Tables

Since whenever I can remember back from , dinners for me at home have always been at the dining table.. The one meal that the whole family will sit together and eat.. and unknown to me the dining table probably became the most important piece of furniture at my house..

Only when I ponder do I realize the many houses where dinner time is not exactly family time.. where members of the family eat alone or couple of them eat together with a loud TV screeching in the background .Am happy that what was forced on me as a rule when I was little ,has grown on me such such that I can appreciate how many things that half an hour of dinner time at the table has taught me.

Some very basic things being
To neatly lay a table... Its so important to lay the table nice and proper. And where we learn presentation of reports, assignments and even exam papers.. presentation on a dining table... hmmmm.. seems more an "English" concept ;)

Basic table manners.. not to leave when people are eating. Not to talk with the mouth full..To ask when something needs to be passed across the table..these things grow on one only when one is used to doing it daily..And in some of my official tours I noticed that such simple things lacked in many.

Sense of appreciating and valuing time..until recently it never struck me that all through my training I was prompt at reaching home not because my parents had put some curfew time for me but because as a practice we eat together and I know that there is someone waiting for me for dinner.

The dining table at my house has not only seen dinner times.. its also like our little collection point when we want to have general conversations, little games we play like word building when there is a power cut... evening tea time on Sundays.. and many more activities..

The table is not just a piece of furniture , its like an important link in my life ;)

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