After "The Only Original Essay in the Class", I have to be honest about the rest. Most of my school essays had large borrowings from the model guide books. I do have a good memory, so a lot of it I must have learnt by heart — not every word, though. Unlike that one, these were homework, not written on the spot in class.
But I was in there too. If you want to find me, look at the grammar. The guide book never wrote "to opened the door". And look for the philosophy. At 12 to 15, I kept adding some big, overarching, hodge-podge philosophy to whatever I was copying. I think I did it to hide the borrowings, and maybe to make the writing richer. It came out raw and borrowed at the same time. That is so much like me.
My Favourite Hobby (3 March 2004)
The question was "Your Favourite Hobby", and I copied the question into the first line too: "Your favourite hobby is very advantageous to your daily life." My teacher crossed out "Your" and wrote "My" in red.
"I beam with Satisfication when I cast my eyes on my luxuriant garden."
"My uncle, who often goes abroad on business, has been helping me to collect rare stamps."
"Each stamp has a story to tell me of distant lands and strange peoples."
Newspaper (14 December 2004)
"Observe closely the word 'NEWS'. The word is coined in a very wonderful & thought provoking way. The Letter 'N' stands for North, E stands for East, W stands for West & S for South."
"The first fore-most work of a modern man is to opened the door & picks up the News paper."
"The motto of a Newspaper should be establishment of Manava dharma & it must act as the torch bearer."
A note from me now: This essay also says the first English newspaper in India was the Indian Mirror (1863) in Calcutta. It was actually Hicky's Bengal Gazette, in 1780. And "NEWS" doesn't come from North, East, West, South. It just means new things. Every guide book said otherwise.
Olympic Games (2005)
"Zeus was the Supreme god of the greeks. Hercules was the Son of Zeus."
Supreme and Son in capitals, greeks in small letters. The guide book didn't do that. That was me, capitalising whatever felt important.
"Taking part is more important than winning"
Environmental Pollution (18 August 2005)
"Man so called the superior being is also polluted i.e., he is lacking in the characteristics of human beings. He has become the ardent worshipper of mammon & greedy in nature."
"Take for example, the Ganges & Dal lake. This holy river become so pollutated, it is not safe of drinking."