Maintaining Physical Health?

There were the times, only about 4/5 decades back, when children and youth would play all types of HEALTH MAKING BUT SIMPLE AND LEAST EXPENCIVE GAMES just in front of their houses, in the lanes and bye-lanes. Use of bicycles too was very common. Students and even others including office goers used bicycles to cover small distances of about 5 to 10 kilometers when it was felt that covering such distances on foot would take more time and energy than available. Very small distances of 2-3 kilometers were always covered on foot. All these actions, besides providing better health and higher stamina, would also help keeping the atmosphere free from pollution, all over.


Now the conditions have changed a lot and that too for the worst, in the sense that it is not at all possible for the present generation children and even youth to venture on the roads and lanes for any type of games. The problem is that most of the times such places remain over crowded, rather congested, and full of pollution due to HEAVY MOVEMENT OF TRAFFIC. The problem has been further aggravated by having no control over BIG SIZED FOUR WHEELERS; I mean big cars which are for personal use. These cars, in general, occupy space double of what the normal sized cars need. Besides, cars are not the only vehicles on roads causing congestion and pollution. Two wheelers also give company to these cars, in order to hamper other wise free movements, including PLAYING & CYCLING activities. Then, due to the obnoxious and unchecked increase in POPULATION, availability of vacant land for playing even simple games and similar activities has become mostly extinct. Where ever in any scheme, some spaces have been left for parks, such space first of all is not sufficient for even simple type of games. Still unfortunate is this that such places are put to unauthorized use for many other purposes, including parking of vehicles. Argument may be advanced that children may go to big parks for physical activities and games, but due to paucity of time and other constrains it may not be practicable because such spaces/grounds may not be easily approachable.

Besides the conditions here to fore mentioned, due to increase of POPULATION AND VEHICLES, the children and youth have been encouraged to be glued to TV, watching CRICKET AND OTHER MATCHES, CINEMAS AND OTHER SMALL programs. ‘Encouraged’ I say because all such programs are permitted by the system what so ever it may be. Watching TV is done sitting in DRAWING OR BED ROOMS. Consequently, our children and youths, instead of moving their muscles and going into activities, keep cool, lazy and inactive. THIS CAN, AT BEST BE TREATED AS HEALTH HAZARD AND BAD CULTURE. Besides games, TV presents many other programs, round the clock. Most of these are generally bereft of any educative material. In general, they rather depict very negative type of house hold happenings and family quarrels and disputes. The administrators, the planners and all those Concerned with WELFARE OF THE NATION and are mandated to GOVERN may take trouble to move in the public as ordinary citizens. They would be surprised to observe that even small time contractors, masons, carpenters, and other small and less earning class of technicians and even still smaller daily wagers, many a times are seen moving on motorbikes and scooters. Not only this class of people but also the office goers placed in the lowest positions, surely getting not much as salaries, too are found using motor bicycles in general instead of pedal cycles. The writer of these lines should not have any grudge or malice against such class of people, but the concern is that at one point, petrol driven vehicles, instead of bicycles is a health hazard and on the other hand, such people may tend to indulge in unethical ways to earn more to be

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able to maintain these vehicles, including four wheelers as are being maintained by all and sundry and that too very indiscriminately. Such indiscriminate use of petrol driven vehicles may go to affect their health and culture to be active. This affects health of the nation as a whole. General observations are that most such vehicles are acquired through loans from banks and other finance companies. This aspect of financing and indiscriminate use of petrol driven vehicles need be brought under the lenses of the planners and executors. Similarly many students venture to their schools and colleges on petrol driven vehicles, which again are HEALTH HAZARDS as against moving on foot or on bicycles. Besides putting a stop to this indiscriminate use of all types of vehicles, I mean CARS [Big sized and even regular sized] AND TWO WHELLERS.

It is felt that junior and senior level NCC training be made compulsory for every able bodied student. Good it should be to make them work in rural areas or the like atmosphere doing social work in order to inculcate positiveness besides keeping them MENTALLY AND PHYSICALLY ALLERT AND FIT and also to galvanize them in totality.

For the TV programs, telecasting of any type of games can be restricted to maximum of one hour in a day. Other entertainment programs too can be permitted only between 7AM to 10PM with emphasis on positive thoughts and actions. Beyond this time only those programs need be made and shown to the viewers which pass on EDUCATION & MOTIVATION FOR POSITIVE AND SELFLESS WORK, CONCERN FOR THE SOCIETY /NATION and such other positive and satvik things. In simple words, these hours can be best made use of for imparting EDUCATION ON MANAV/RAJ/AND RASHTRA DHARAMS to the viewers. Beyond 11PM all programs on TVs can be put a total stop so that use of night is made for rest and recuperation and to ensure freshness for morning’s early rise, going for walking or other exercises, to be able to perform days work in better way so as to be able to give maximum and faultless output, in the area of their activity.

Many people talk a lot about poverty and exhibit their desire to help the poor, by giving doles and freebies. Is it the proper solution to the problem? If one moves freely on the roads and village sides, one would see many children, (would-be fathers and mothers,) who are physically very weak and some even look like skeletons, who too are going to help increase population at the later stage of lives. Most are in such poor state of health because their parents, in spite of having large families, I mean more children; do not refrain from indulging in vices of taking intoxicants. If we are honestly concerned with their welfare, their poverty and health it would be more prudent to educate them to be away from vices, work to their full capacity, and make them realize to have not more than two children per couple. THE USE OF INCENTIVES AND DISINCENTIVES may be resorted to for achieving this goal which would go in their interests.

These few lines are an invite to all concerned citizens of Bharat to take the things to the logical end.

RD Agarwal, A-86, Indira Nagar, Lucknow-226016

Blog: www.rdagarwal.blogspot.com Twitter: rdagarwal