<!--QuoteBegin-Bharatvarsh+Mar 16 2008, 12:54 AM-->QUOTE(Bharatvarsh @ Mar 16 2008, 12:54 AM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->The attitude of 24 hour studies has to change if we are ever going to do well in other sports[right][snapback]79677[/snapback][/right]<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->Also, sports are good for mental happiness and health. Study-obsessed individus or families may also be thrilled to learn that sports promote better concentration and are good for your neurons. A natural anti-depressant (expels toxins while producing hormones that make people feel happy and positive), it also gives people confidence, a good sense of balance and is a positive outlet for over-energetic ('hyper-active') or aggressive kids.
(Disclaimer: Contrary to the amount of over-enthusing in the above, I did not in fact get paid for this 'commercial'.)
I think families should encourage children to play volleyball, basketball, swimming, tennis and other fun stuff in India. Oh, and more hockey. And definitely the Natural Religions' martial arts: if not Kalari, then at least Karate, Taikwando or Gong Fu. (And of course Tai chi for all ages; similarly tennis and badminton are good for all ages including the very elderly as well).
Personally, I'm ambivalent toward professional soccer and rugby because pros tend to lose sight of sportsmanship and go into boring agressive behaviour more often (leastways, that's the feeling I get watching Touch and soccer worldcup - so many people yelling and kicking each other rather than the ball <!--emo&:blink:--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/blink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='blink.gif' /><!--endemo--> ). Playing soccer at school or with friends is fun, though.
Also sports makes people very happy. I remember my aunt telling me how the thing she most missed from her younger life was playing sports in school; that running and sports were her favourite pastimes. She found that once the kids came and everything, there was no time or no one else to actually play with. But her face always brightened up when she talked about it. Spectator sports wasn't for her.
Cricket is okay for watching, more watchable than some. (Maybe the reason I find it watchable is because it doesn't irk me - like other sports do - that I'm not playing it myself... I tend to just get bored watching others play most sports.) But I'm guessing that playing cricket would be like playing baseball: not much activity, long periods of standing in one place and waiting around for the ball to come your way. People would definitely have to pay me for that. No wonder Indian cricket's getting billions.
Indian schools can't be relied on for making the necessary changes to encourage more sports in kids' lives though. Schools in India are so colonial-minded they only like what the stationary Victorian christo-british approved of, even if the British have moved on since. Indians before used to be interested in sports and general athletics (until the medieval period at least, certainly the royalty). Whenever a country is healthy and at the forefront of progressing, you find an interest in active participation in sport amongst the population. Indians today don't lack it, they've just brainwashed themselves out of considering it as an option, worried that success in finding employment implacably equates to spending every second of every waking moment studying.
Since schools are hopeless in sufficiently encouraging sports, families need to promote more of it amongst their youngsters - it will only lead to their kids having more energy and better success all-round.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->These are only the more well known sports, Australia of course is also a top Olympic performer.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->Bear in mind that Australia and even NZ used to be very sports-oriented until recent times. That is, their measure of success or failure was in terms of sports and you weren't anybody unless you were an apt sportsman (a bit earlier on, the requirement was for an outdoorsy person). A number of good films, dramas and the like made on this period.
Ultimately, it's the same problem as modern-day India: too much focus on 'achieving' in one area - be it studies or sports - and your life goes out of whack. Guess it's time for a cheesy reminder of 'moderation' or something (actually, it ain't cheesy, The Middle Path is from the Tao-Te-Ching!) And in India's case this means more games, more running, more playing.
(Disclaimer: Contrary to the amount of over-enthusing in the above, I did not in fact get paid for this 'commercial'.)
I think families should encourage children to play volleyball, basketball, swimming, tennis and other fun stuff in India. Oh, and more hockey. And definitely the Natural Religions' martial arts: if not Kalari, then at least Karate, Taikwando or Gong Fu. (And of course Tai chi for all ages; similarly tennis and badminton are good for all ages including the very elderly as well).
Personally, I'm ambivalent toward professional soccer and rugby because pros tend to lose sight of sportsmanship and go into boring agressive behaviour more often (leastways, that's the feeling I get watching Touch and soccer worldcup - so many people yelling and kicking each other rather than the ball <!--emo&:blink:--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/blink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='blink.gif' /><!--endemo--> ). Playing soccer at school or with friends is fun, though.
Also sports makes people very happy. I remember my aunt telling me how the thing she most missed from her younger life was playing sports in school; that running and sports were her favourite pastimes. She found that once the kids came and everything, there was no time or no one else to actually play with. But her face always brightened up when she talked about it. Spectator sports wasn't for her.
Cricket is okay for watching, more watchable than some. (Maybe the reason I find it watchable is because it doesn't irk me - like other sports do - that I'm not playing it myself... I tend to just get bored watching others play most sports.) But I'm guessing that playing cricket would be like playing baseball: not much activity, long periods of standing in one place and waiting around for the ball to come your way. People would definitely have to pay me for that. No wonder Indian cricket's getting billions.
Indian schools can't be relied on for making the necessary changes to encourage more sports in kids' lives though. Schools in India are so colonial-minded they only like what the stationary Victorian christo-british approved of, even if the British have moved on since. Indians before used to be interested in sports and general athletics (until the medieval period at least, certainly the royalty). Whenever a country is healthy and at the forefront of progressing, you find an interest in active participation in sport amongst the population. Indians today don't lack it, they've just brainwashed themselves out of considering it as an option, worried that success in finding employment implacably equates to spending every second of every waking moment studying.
Since schools are hopeless in sufficiently encouraging sports, families need to promote more of it amongst their youngsters - it will only lead to their kids having more energy and better success all-round.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->These are only the more well known sports, Australia of course is also a top Olympic performer.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->Bear in mind that Australia and even NZ used to be very sports-oriented until recent times. That is, their measure of success or failure was in terms of sports and you weren't anybody unless you were an apt sportsman (a bit earlier on, the requirement was for an outdoorsy person). A number of good films, dramas and the like made on this period.
Ultimately, it's the same problem as modern-day India: too much focus on 'achieving' in one area - be it studies or sports - and your life goes out of whack. Guess it's time for a cheesy reminder of 'moderation' or something (actually, it ain't cheesy, The Middle Path is from the Tao-Te-Ching!) And in India's case this means more games, more running, more playing.