LOSING GROUND: WHITHER HAVE ALL THE GROUNDS WITHERED?

                    Give me the clear blue sky over my head, and the green turf beneath my feet”.

                                                                        William Hazlitt (Table Talk, vol.2,'On Going a Journey’)

 Whither have all the Grounds withered? It seems the children of my city have finally lost the battle to their parents, over ground! In bygone era the city of Lucknow had earned the sobriquet of "the garden city” or the city in a garden. The City of Nawabs boasted of many gardens that find mention in the literature of the time, but were gradually lost to development. But in recent times, it seems the sobriquet of the garden city has been taken rather too seriously by the People of Lucknow, especially in the aftermath of the culling of trees, their sacrifice to clear ground for pet projects of Treeless Parks of Stone, which were then razed to be raised again-resurrected in more magnificent form than the before...and the process of went on! This seemed to galvanize the residents too and each locality went on a spree of local park development program---seizing playgrounds and zealously clothing them in verdant livery. Each playground metamorphosed into well-manicured garden, aesthetically laid down flowerbeds and a serpentine jogging track of interlocking tiles for the health conscious! But this generation of the joggers was doubly blessed- a generation that grew up playing on these playgrounds, which it had now wrestled away from the current younger generation and banned them from playing in these zones lest they spoil the newly laid gardens!”. “Catch them Young” is what the wisdom says and yet the “wise “are guilty of Depriving the young generation the basic right of access to a playground”. Shrinking living spaces, and paucity of time had already  pushed children into a chair in front of the T.V. and kept them there, where they further lost the battle of the remote (T.V.) to their parents .Now outdoors too they have lost ground to their parents and Quite Literally so!!

Children have lost ground at school too. Though Schools  have mushroomed all over the city-right from kindergarten to nursery, junior to senior secondary, but are cramped into high-rise buildings sans the playground. The “field’ has been eaten up by the monster called Urbanization-unplanned, unbridled and unhindered expansion of cities coupled with escalating, inhibiting prices of Real Estate. The boom here has boomeranged and spelled doom for the grounds and leaving the ground zero with zero ground!

“It is the child in man that is the source of his uniqueness and creativeness, and the playground is the optimal milieu for the unfolding of his capacities and talents” said Eric Hoffer. A couple of decades ago, cities in India, including Lucknow, boasted of many “grounds” that were accessible to young children and were used as “playgrounds”. One could see children playing Cricket matches with the dedication of a professional or football just for fun, one could even catch a group of youngsters loitering about aimlessly just for fun! These grounds were where children took refuge from stress of studies for recreation and roamed for fun, unsupervised, masters of their mind, laughing, chatting, cracking jokes or even fighting and then making up- in short learning life skills! Summer sun was never too hot to sacrifice a game of Vish-Amrit or Den or other indigenously invented games nor were winters too cold to deter them from playing hide and seek or Antakshari or flying kites. Contests of cycling were common sight. Many a singers, players, orators, teachers, creative writers and diplomats were carved and chiseled on this Terra

Firma! “Nature  is a tool to get children experience not just the wider world, but themselves” says Moss.

Return the ‘Play Ground’ to the children or increase the number of the hospitals! No, this is not a cynical pessimist’s view of future, rather a realist’s warning for the writing on the wall is very clear. Let us pray that our children do not fall prey to diseases. Just five minutes of “ Green exercise” can produce rapid improvements in mental wellbeing and self-esteem, with the greatest benefits experienced by the young. The children do not have alternative open places to indulge themselves thus, which afford   physical and mental health benefits of getting kids. Outdoor activities, especially unstructured, formless free play helps children develop a large number of skills- learning social skills, executive functions and behavioral skills as well through play. It boosts problem solving skills, self-discipline and enhances focus. Socially, it improves cooperation, flexibility, and self-awareness. Emotional benefits include reduced aggression and increased happiness. Running around and being active promotes good health and keeps obesity away- In neighborhoods without a usable park or playground, the incidence of childhood obesity increases by 29 percent concludes Darell Hammond. It relieves stress in children – It’s no surprise that children today are a stressed lot incapable to cope up with the pressures that life offers. Spending time outdoors increases focus in children relatively and helps increase attention span. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, lots of kids are suffering from vitamin D deficiencies. This vitamin has several health benefits, including preventing kids from future bone problems, diabetes and even heart disease. Going out and playing in the sun boosts vitamin D. A study reported by Optometry and Vision Science found that children who spend time outside have better distance vision than those who primarily play indoors. In a nutshell, children will be smarter, better able to get along with others, healthier and happier when they have regular opportunities for free and unstructured play in out-of-doors-concludes an authoritative 2005 study by American Medical Association.

In this age of gadgets and social networking-facebook, cable T.V. etc, fewer children interact with nature. Heavy demands are made on their time after school and it is heavily pressured unlike ever before. They are expected to spend in profitable pursuits and in constructive activities like afterschool activities, coaching, organized sports or instructions in hobby courses-singing, dancing, painting or sketching. No time for kicking your heal outdoor, so to say. Unlike before, parents do not want their children getting dirty.

Unlike before safety issues too have restricted children’s hours that they spent out-of –doors and how they spent them. The culprit is “Stranger danger” the fear of abduction by an unknown adult, writes Jon Henley in the Guardian. Children are not allowed to “stray” far from home.

Children are compelled to spend most of their time inside their homes-studying or watching television or working or playing on Computer. Indoor environment is two to five times more toxic than our outdoor environment. The International Agency for Research on Cancer and the World Health Organization have concluded that 80% of all cancers are attributed to environmental rather than genetic factors, including exposure to carcinogenic chemicals, many of which are found in household cleaning products. The World Health Organization (WHO) agrees, reporting that almost 3% of the global burden of disease is due to indoor air pollution. We spend as much as 90% of our lives indoors nowadays and researchers are investigating our exposure to indoor pollutants as contributing causes to rising incidence of autism, allergies and toxin load. In the short term, indoor air pollution can cause irritated or dry mucous membranes in the eyes, nose, respiratory tract and throat. It may also cause dizziness, fatigue, fever, forgetfulness, headaches, irritability, lethargy and nausea. Researchers have found that childhood diagnoses of allergies, autism, Asperger’s and Tourette’s syndrome are linked to indoor pollutants such as dust,
PVC flooring and second-hand smoke. The list is long and scary.

To children know a lot about nature, but indirectly, through television and may visit nature resorts but do not experience it directly. They do not know the names of plants and trees, have no interest in the avians, which –as it is, are on the decline in the urban havens. I was surprised to find out that in a class of about eighty students in a B.A. freshman class only two students owned potted plants at home and had interest in gardening! The American writer Richard Louv defines the phenomenon as ‘nature deficit disorder”.  The Playgrounds were a sure way to cure this. We have destroyed the connection between the children and nature. In the current scenario, where we are languishing with a bleak scenario on the Earth front, we need to restore this connection urgently and immediately so that our children fell connected with their habitat, feel it , experience it and most importantly understand it and value it.

In India 14^th November is celebrated as Children’s day. This year let us return to our children their ‘playgrounds”, havens of health to which they can return in hoards, reminding one of the sojourn of flocks of migratory birds that come to congenial grounds...!!!