GREY DAYS

I  got the news of the pandemic before the holidays.  I  was just waiting for the letter to arrive. I was in Mr Bennie’s class when a teacher delivered a letter. I ignored it thinking it was for sir. At the end of the class each of us got a letter as we got out. It said that we had holidays till Monday. Thankfully, it was only Monday. But no, my nightmare continued. On Monday we got the news that because of the worsening of the covid-19 situation the lockdown was extended until further notice. A part of me felt safe only at home but another part of me was in alarm that I would have to stay home for several weeks… or months, who knows? Physically attending classes in school was an interesting part of my life with regard to both my academic and social life. My academic life has been affected in the sense that I am unable to understand the academic concepts the same way I would have understood in the classroom environment. But it would take much more time and effort for me understanding the topics rather than a teacher explaining it to us.  Attending classes through online resources is not a good experience as compared to direct interaction with the teacher and sharing of ideas  on particular concepts with my friends. As students, we have been presented with several options regarding how to progress with our academics. We have the option of attending online classes, but the pandemic has made access to the necessary resources a challenge for most students. Many students are not able to reach the online school because of network problems. Similarly, many pupils have access to the online classroom but don’t necessarily understand the work set by the teacher. I for now don’t have such problems but I want to be the voice of many individuals. However, there is some benefit from this lockdown. I got to spend time on my hobbies like drawings and cooking. During the regular school days, I used to spend very less time on actually revising what we had learnt in school. I used to spend maybe an hour or two. But now I have a specific timetable which includes a mandatory 3-hour study time and a 3-hour homework time. The rest of my time goes on playing, eating, mental maths, Sanskrit (an olden Indian language), art and cooking. Overall, it has been a traumatising experience and I am literally praying for school and everything to open up but as each day goes by my state of mind worsens. I slowly feel more bored… more like a robot. Thankfully, I have my family and friend to support me through these rough time. Only hope to for everything to be normal soon. All the people wait for this boon…

Sahana

7M10