Hobbies are activities that we engage in, in our free time. We may be interested in needlework, drawing and painting or music. Other common hobbies are stamp-collecting, clay-modelling, solving crossword puzzles. Although hobbies also entail work they are taken upon through one’s own personal choice. They are not forced upon us. They are activities that we are really interested in and hence give us a great deal of pleasure. Hobbies make life interesting. They refresh our minds after a hard day’s work. We need to do something different in order to do our routine work effectively. Hobbies provide this variety. Hobbies relieve us from the monotony of daily life. They fill us with enthusiasm for work and keep our energy levels high. We will go to any extent to get the things that we require, to get the utmost joy from our hobbies. Hobbies are also useful activities. Quite a few hobbies, like stamp-collecting, widen our general knowledge about various countries of the world. When we share common interests we even get into correspondence with people of other countries.

1. “The Battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton.” These words have been attributed to the Duke of Wellington. Certainly one does not play games in order to win battles; neither does the curriculum include them for that reason. But the importance of games in life should not be underestimated, for without them it is harder for a person to be sound in body and mind. 2. For one thing, if a person is to fulfil all the duties that society expects of him, it is important for him to keep healthy. He may be very intelligent, but that has little meaning if he cannot make use of his intelligence, because he is always suffering from bad health. In some ways, the human body is like a machine. If it is not made use of, it starts to work badly. People who are not fit grow weak and become more susceptible to disease. Any form of game is useful, provided it gives the body an opportunity to take regular physical exercise. 3. Secondly, playing — and therefore experiencing winning and losing — encourages the spirit of sportsmanship, thus enabling one to deal with life’s problems in a wise and natural manner. Games teach the truth embodied in the Olympic motto: ‘The important thing in playing is not the winning or the losing, but the participation’ — and, I may add, doing the best one can. 4. We have to remember some other things about playing games, however. First, it is the physical exercise that is important for health, not the games themselves, and there are other ways of getting this. Is not India the home of yoga? It is also possible to be too interested in games. When we think of the Greek ideal expressed in the Latin phrase, ‘mens sana in corpore sano’ (a healthy mind in a healthy body), we should not forget that it is the mind which is mentioned first. And if we let games become the most important thing in our lives, we may be in danger of changing the Olympic motto to ‘the important thing is winning’. 5. Nevertheless, in spite of these dangers, playing games can be a valuable activity, and if we take part in them wisely, we can gain great benefits.