Games and Sports

Games and Sports are an essential part of life for the 21st century urban youth, because they need physical activity, fresh air, building of team spirit, healthy competition, and a variety of human interactions outside the sphere of study or work. But the reality is that games are being relegated to the background, primarily because of lack of playing grounds, logistics, time, and lack of awareness of its significance.

On the other hand, highly competitive sports, winning medals, sponsorship of teams, fashion/glamour, and media hype have increased tremendously, making sports the sinecure of the elite. Millions of young boys in India dream of becoming cricket players, not because of the needs I mentioned above, but because of the money, fame and glamour attached to it.

The Delhi Commonwealth Games in 2010 highlighted all that is wrong with our approach to this essential part of life. Corruption, politics, nepotism, disregard to values and human beings, poor performance, were all brushed aside when we celebrated our No. 2 position in a motley group of tiny and insignificant nations. The other factor that few paid attention to was that we attained the No. 2 position primarily because of the medals we won in rifle and pistol shooting. Has anyone even questioned whether a violent "sport" like shooting, which does not involve physical activity, outdoors, team work or human interaction, should be part of such competitions at all? In a violence ridden world, why do we need to glorify and reward expertise with fire-arms?

I would like some enlightened sports-person, patriot or philosopher to throw light on this in a holistic and long-term view