Value of Sports and Games
"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" this very adage reveals the value of sports and games in our life. In ancient Greece games formed an essential part of education. In the developed countries games and sports are integral feat ures of the academic curriculum in schools and colleges. In India sports and games are not given that much value. We have very few athletes and sportsmen of international renown expected in the field of cricket and hockey. The Jam Sahib of Nawanagar or Ranjit Singh, Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Devor Sachin Tendulkar created history in the world of cricket. We have Dhyanchand and Premchand in Hockey who have won golden throne in the mind of sport-loving people. Nevertheless, the country of 85 crores of people has yet to produce many more sportsmen in various fields of sports: India usually curs a very sorry figure in the international sports meet.
In Asian games, in the Barcelona Olympics or in the World Cup Football in France, the less said about India, the better. We can at best boast of a P.T Usha, Siny Abraham, Milkha Singh or a Leander Paes. The list has to be cut short. We have not shown brilliance in other outdoor and indoor games. Megastars are not the need of the hour. Sports lust have a wider base. At present there is no dearth of trophies and rewards. There are the Arjun Awards, Nehru Gold Cup, Federation Cup, Ranjit Trophy and so on.
But there are very few centers of the raining. Only in Patiala, Calcutta and at a few other places we have such centers. There is little effort for encouraging and popularizing the indigenous games like kho kho, hadodoo, kabadi and others. Discipline, collective encounter, courageous tackle and many such qualities are developed. A sound mind resides in a sound body. Sports and games assure physical fitness: The proverbial saying goes: "The battle. of Waterloo was won in the playfield of Eton.
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