Sport and Games, music, quizzing, going on tour or picnic and a plethora of other activities are all recreational activities for pleasure. The whole idea behind the concept of recreation is to enjoy one’s spare time. So recreational activities are intended to refresh one’s body and mind.
What role do the recreational activities play today?
Sports and Games
For many sports persons sports and games are their full time career. Cutthroat competition seen in this field has led to rivalry, animosity, and other bad qualities in the participants. The overall aim of sports and games is to improve the physical fitness of people.
Promotion of friendship, team spirit are not the concern at all nowadays. The rivalry seen is so great that it drives the people to take to drugs to excel. The stabbing incident involving tennis star Monica Seles is probably fallout of this trend.
The narrow concepts like the nations, regions and the like also have contributed to this phenomenon.
Music
Music is being terribly misused with money in mind. This trend is seen especially in cinema music. Modern music contributes more for noise pollution than to the quality of music. Technologies like stereophonic system and computerized music system also have contributed for the deterioration by abetting commercialization of music.
Cinema
Cinema is now considered as people’s cheap recreation. It is cheap not only in terms of money but also in terms of its content. Men and women becoming full time actors and actresses doing nothing else is a colossal waste of manpower. The pseudo-heroes and heroines because of their popularity in cinema are able to become leaders and rulers in this misguided world. cinema has become a money spinning industry and in the process it has contributed, in no small measure, for degradation of the culture of the era.

Modern music contributes more for noise pollution than to the quality of music.
Ezhill,
And here we are with the federal minister for the Environment having been one of the worst offenders. channel 7 plays promos every 80 seconds promoting motor sport. Drag racing & tyre burn-outs are promoted on national TV. the poor old fish get the worst bashing of the lot from pollution to getting caught. How many TV shows promote that ? barbed hooks are still widely used here in 2008. Mindless & oblivious to reality. pretty warped mentality I'd say.

Dear Ezhill,

I'm not all that into sports, although I do enjoy watching the tennis - on television.

As far as music is concerned - my taste is wide and varied, depending on my mood. I don't really care about the 'politics' of the music industry - I buy the CDs that I enjoy listening to.

The same goes for movies. It's a question of taste again. Amongst the
'run-of-the-mill' genre - there will be some real gems that will tear at your heart strings. Films like, 'Romulus, My Father.'

I also love theatre - be it drama, musical, ballet, opera or symphonic concert. The problem of course is - price.

I tend to ask for theatre tickets for Birthdays and Christmas.

So, all in all I can't really complain - my recreation's fine as it is. And if I suddenly was to lose the ability to enjoy the things I've mentioned here on this post, I know I could always keep myself entertained with a book (a good read) from my local library - which wouldn't cost me a thing. So as I've said before - we are pretty lucky in this country. We have such a wide choice - as far as our recreational activities go.

Dear Foxy,
I am happy that you are able to enjoy the recreational avenues available.But we must be concerned about the adverse effects caused to our youth.Recreational activities mentioned are now more of career like activities.How can playing be one's full time job? If you want I can send my full paper on this topic.Please note what the great Einstein has said." The world is a dangerous place to live in not because of those who do evil but because of those watch and let it happen'

What an odd topic.

I like odd topics.

But a few modifications might be in order.

>>For many sports persons sports and games are their full time career. Cutthroat competition seen in this field has led to rivalry, animosity, and other bad qualities in the participants.<<

I'd suggest "a select few" would be more appropriate than "many". For example, vastly more people get a game in the "park cricket" league I play in each weekend than in all the professional teams put together. At a wild guess, I'd say that for every career cricketer, footballer, basketballer etc. there are at least a hundred amateurs who still play for the joy of the game and the mateship.

>>Promotion of friendship, team spirit are not the concern at all nowadays. The rivalry seen is so great that it drives the people to take to drugs to excel.<<

Again, you are only referring to the upper echelons of professional sports, which is entirely unrepresentative of what I see as "recreation". Absolutely no-one I know uses "drugs to excel", and still play for the love of the sport.

>>Music is being terribly misused with money in mind<<

That's an odd statement. Music is something that doesn't need money at all in order to exist. Only in the grubby realms of commercialism is there any form of exploitation - on any given day you can find anything from a pub band to a symphony concert that is untouched by financial exploitation.

>>cinema has become a money spinning industry and in the process it has contributed, in no small measure, for degradation of the culture of the era<<

I could just about accept that the direction that cinema has taken in recent might have contributed to its own cultural demise, but I don't see that it has had any generally deleterious effect on culture at large.

So all in all, I reckon that we don't lack for recreation.

But it's just possible Ezhil that you might be looking for it to come to you, rather than you to go to it.

Dear Pericles,

You have some very valid points. My son has been playing basketball ever since I can remember. He plays on a weekly basis - and I go and watch . Their team spirit is great - and the same can be said for the team spirit of the teams they compete with. Of course they're all amateurs - and do it for the love of the game.

My brother is in a band in a small country town - plays where and when they can. (Mostly pubs). He's a school principal - full time.
Again, he's not in it for the money.

So, yes, unless we are talking about "life at the top," professionally speaking . The choice of recreational activities - are wide and varied and doing quite nicely. But isn't the top end of any
profession - extremely competitive - and cut throat?

Dear Pericles,
Thank you for your comments.Individually each one can make use of the entertainments available depending upon his or her level.But I am worried about the trend that is being set at various levels. Your contention that competition is fierce only at the top is alright. But those at the top form the role models for the young. They are being focussed in all the media. That will send wrong signals to the youth.In future the present innocents will follow the trend and succumb to the pressure of allurements.
Anything that is oriented towards money will lead to misuse. It applies to sports , music or cinema. In my opinion the misuse has already occurred and the youth are diverted from truth, honesty and other good qualities as these qualities are sidelined because of the obscession for money.