Traditional Games Provide Participation Opportunities

Games, sports, and recreational means are developed alongside human culture.

These traditions have survived through centuries, rejuvenated and rolled down to the present day. They are the sports of the masses and games of the soil. Every child, youth or adult, irrespective of gender, participate in traditional sport or games or such activities like martial arts, yoga and folk dances. Traditional activities don’t need large grounds or costly consumable equipment. They are simple in design and implementation, suitable in all weather conditions with low-cost, space, time and equipment, but still capable of promoting values of life and health related fitness. They have their own values, ethics, aesthetics and mass appeal.

Relying only on modern competitive sports and finding access to them as a fundamental right would be a rather difficult task in view of the high and recurring costs of equipment, play surfaces, indoor structures and specialised sport technology. Multi-complex sport facilities need large areas of land, usually unavailable in the vicinity of the city, for which agricultural land is sacrificed.  The promotion of traditional sports would be justifiable under such circumstances for easy access to sport as a fundamental right for all.

For further information please contact Suresh Despande at shdeshpande40gmail.com (Suresh Deshpande).