A college student’s room and desk is often synonymous with the word ‘messy’ on any given day. However, since college students in Delhi-NCR have been attending classes online, things have taken an aesthetically pleasing turn. “I’m conscious about how my desk looks to others whenever the need to turn on the camera arises, and that’s why I’ve been making efforts to keep my desk tidy,” says Amrutha Devan, a second year student of Miranda House, adding, “The thought of ‘log kya kahenge’ echoes in my head, and makes me do something that I hadn’t done in ages!”Tidy desks, and even beds, although almirahs overflow due to excessively stuffed clothes, is what’s characterizing college students #lifestat of late. “My clothes are no more lying all over the bed, and the bed is made. My parents have been rejoicing over the fact that I’ve finally made an effort to maintain my room; since everything’s visible on camera. This has happened for the first time in my life! It feels like I’ve suddenly become super organised and a so-called ‘good girl’. Chalo, at least something good out of online classes. But I won’t lie, it’s another feeling to not have my mom nag me all the time to clean my room (laughs),” says Divya Gupta, a third year student at a Noida-based university.
Adding some foliage to the desk has become pocket friendly way to deck up students’ desks. “I love plants so I’ve started putting some on my desk, especially during the online classes. They give a nice coolness to the eyes when I get tired of staring at the screen,” says Darsana R, a second year student of Lady Shri Ram College for Women.
“Sprucing up the background for the online class scene has also become important. I can’t have a background that looks blah when I’m looking sharp. So I put up posters and messages like it’s time to quarantine and chill, on my cupboards that are prominent in the background as the class roles,” says Shajeer Ali C, a third year student of Hindu College. Some students have even re-cycled old boho bedsheets and spread them out in the background. Agnes Mary Joseph, a third year student of Jesus and Mary College, DU, says, “I asked my father to hang a beautiful indigo coloured bedsheet spread in my background, so that whenever I come online, the frame in which I’m visible to everyone rocks!”