The aim of education is the overall development of the personality of man. It means the development of not only the mind but also the body. Games keep the body fit. Swami Vivekanand was of the view that only a healthy mind can realise God. But a healthy mind can dwell only in a healthy body. For keeping a body healthy, games are indispensable. For this reason Swami Vivekanand had advised that all young men and women should play games.
People who have developed the habit of playing games regularly can maintain good health. Games help to build a muscular body .They include sound sleep which is a sign of good health. Therefore, games are food for the body as knowledge is food for the mind. In fact, all work and no play make Jack a dull boy. Everybody likes games because these keep them physically fit and mentally alert.
Games help us to keep our body active and vigorous. They instill in us the spirit of adventure. They enable us to face dangers boldly. When a person plays games, his circulation of blood increases and his digestive system improves. He does not fall prey to any disease. Games inculcate in us the spirit of sportsmanship. They also teach us courage and perseverance.
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Games foster the qualities of fairplay. Good players maintain equanimity in the event of victory or defeat. They also teach us a sense of discipline. A disciplined team has a greater chance of winning a match than a team which lacks discipline. Discipline is not only essential for the progress of an individual but also necessary for the development of a nation. Only a disciplined nation can hope to progress and prosper.
Games provide us with recreation and enjoyment. They refresh our mind and activate our body. They enable us to divert our mind from the daily routine of life. When we play games, we forget all our worries and anxieties.
A player respects the rules of the game he plays. He thus becomes a man of principles. Games enable him to follow other virtues like honesty, integrity and fairplay.
Games are very essential for students. The shidents of today are the citizens of tomorrow. If the students play games, they can learn the good things of life. They can lead a disciplined life. They can develop the virtues of patriotism and loyalty to the nation.
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It is very disappointing that our players rarely win medals at the Olympic Games. Even players from small countries like South Korea, Cuba, Romania, etc. are able to win a large number of medals. We are far behind other countries in a number of games. One cannot resist the impression that in our country games are not given the importance that they deserve. We held the Ninth Asian games in Delhi in 1982. But we have not held a single Olympiad in our country so far. However, we shall be hosting the 19th Commonwealth Games in 2010.
It is, therefore, necessary that our Government should evolve a long term national sports policy. The students should be taught the advantages of games in the school itself. They should be given incentives for playing games regularly. Training facilities for various games should be upgraded and expanded. The existing system of selection of players for various meets and events should be streamlined unless we take these and other measures to popularise games, we cannot hope to bag medals at international sports events and Olympiads.
Various games and sports should also be popularised and encouraged in the rural areas of our country because nearly 72.2 per cent of the total population of our country lives in the villages. By holding games and sports in villages we can produce many sportsmen of an international level because villagers possess better health than city-dwellers. Possession of good health is a very important asset for the players and the sportsmen who aim at winning gold medals at international events and the Olympics.
In other countries of Europe and America and even in Asian countries like China, Japan and South Korea, games and sports are promoted in a big way. Therefore, we see that their players and sportsmen win a lot of gold medals in the international games and Olympics. It is due to the fact that sportsmen and sportswomen of these countries are given honour and big monetary incentives to encourage them to show feats of excellence and win gold medals.
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To encourage the Indian players and sportsmen and sportswomen, our Government should also give them suitable monetary and other rewards like scholarships, promotion in service, preference in recruitment etc. so that they can also come upto the international standards and win gold medals for their country in the international games and Olympics.
