Sourav SinhaHobbies - Then and Now

22March

Hobbies – Then and Now

As we all know, hobby is an activity which is done regularly during one’s leisure time for
pleasure. As human lives evolved, so has the hobbies.
When we were kids in the 80’s, generally, hobbies used to be a lot about outdoor sports.
After 1983 cricket became a rage in India and every evening one could see many kids
playing cricket in the open fields (which used to be plenty those days). We being in
Bengal, meant football was in our blood by default. One would hardly find a bengali kid of
the 80’s and 90’s who didn’t play football during the rainy season. So cricket and football
used to be the hobbies of most kids those days.
But there were exceptions as well. Many of my friends those days used to have a great
knack towards philately. There were a few who used to be fascinated with fast cars.
Remember those days, India was more like a socialist economy and having an
ambassador was a luxury. Our only way of learning about fast cars were from magazines
or through World This Week (A weekly programme which used to be aired in Doordarshan
and had a slot for F1 races). Some of my friends used to collect pictures of these sport
cars (Porsche, Ferrari etc.) and paste them in their scrapbooks. It used to be a fascinating
experience seeing those scrapbooks. I used to be equally fascinated with my philatelist
friends because seeing stamps of various countries intrigued me.
I was always very enthusiastic towards cricket and other than playing the game with my
friends during the evenings and holidays, I had this unique habit of scouting through
newspapers and collect the scorecards of International matches (primarily test matches). I
had this as a hobby for more than 3-4 years and I had bundles of books filled with
scoreboards of matches all across the world. From a very young age, specifically from
standard one, my father taught me chess. I caught up with this game very fast and it
became a hobby for me during my growing up years.
When I look at today’s kids, I can see so much difference from how we were those days.
With the advent of high speed internet and fancy smart phones, today kids are upto date
with everything. Today, I get updates about the latest car models from my 15 year old son.
With Video on Demand service available most kids today are either hooked to cartoon
movies or playing fancy video games in their mom or dad’s mobile phone. Many of my
friends keep telling me that their phones become their kid’s property after they reach
home. I have hardly found a kid in the last 10 years whose hobby is philately. That’s sad.
Outdoor sports continue to be played but the numbers have dwindled because options
have increased. One thing that I see many kids picking up these days, is music. Singing,
dancing or playing musical instruments have seen a rise in the last 10-12 years in India.
We must be thankful to the numerous talent hunts that keeps coming up on our TV
channels which has been the primary reason for this upswing.
Finally, its best to leave the kids what they love to do. Let them explore whatever they want
under parental guidance. Share with them our life story for them to get inspired. Let them
spend their leisure time meaningfully and above all, let them do what makes them smile.
Hobby is after all, to not only pass your time but to make you happy as well. So if you love
painting, do it. If you love sketching, go ahead and do it. If you love music, do it. Unfurl
your wings and fly high. The world is waiting to embrace.