Model essay for pupils

[The following essay is supposed to serve only as a guide: do not copy out bits and pieces from it blindly while writing your own]

How I spent the days under lockdown

March 22, the day of the ‘janata curfew’, was incredible: never in my life, not even during the Bangladesh war or the Emergency had the whole town been emptied out as it happened that day. Two days later the countrywide lockdown began.

The night before there had been a scramble as panic-stricken people went out to shop for essentials. But from Wednesday the 24^th, there descended an eerie silence. All day the streets were deserted, save for the occasional bike or car cruising by, and the odd pedestrian or bicyclist. People were seized by a strange, quiet panic. You had to look hard to find someone not wearing a mask of some kind. Whole families were stuck from morning to night within four walls, and TV- and internet usage zoomed. People were binge-watching movies, or obsessively following the latest updates on the spreading infection.

A lot of us found out how hard it is to stay locked up for days on end, and to do all household chores, from cooking to washing to sweeping the floors and doing the dishes all by ourselves. Tempers flared, and unnecessary quarrels erupted. Many of us sought refuge in sleeping for far longer hours than usual, until insomnia took hold, and we tossed and turned in bed for hours. Boredom quickly became so acute that many of us started yearning to get back to work, and swore over and over that we were never going to ask for holidays again. People stayed glued to their phones for hours together, that being the only way to keep in touch with friends and relatives.

I tried all sorts of hobbies that I had forgotten to while away the time, from drawing to playing the harmonica to trying to write stories. I read books in a frenzy. I got used to people looking askance at me every time I went out for a walk, and wished I had been living in one of those countries where doctors were actually asking people to do it, in order to stay fit. I welcomed with open arms any visitor who dropped in, hoping for a hearty chat that could while away an hour or two. But still time hung heavy on my hands, and I kept praying for April 15 to come quickly. May God grant that we may never have to go through another such experience in this lifetime.

(400 words)