“I may share my grief here. Some people say that I am converting a park into a jungle. I was compelled to uproot flowering plants as I was not letting cricket or football being played in the park. I was being treated as a trespasser though I have served the park as maali, sweeper and chowkidar. Since I am new here, people living here since long bullied me”. These are the words of a resident who lives in Sector 41 and looks after a park.
There are many who will relate to this grief expressed by a resident. And many voice their dissent on use of park for playing. Since children cannot vote for the RWA or managing committee, their voice or needs go unheard. The space for children to play has been shrinking day by day. Be it the independent houses or the apartments, the play area is almost nonexistent for children. The parks have mostly been landscaped and converted to ornamental ones. The children are shooed away by elderly residents citing that they would harm the plants and spoil the grass. There is not any clear stretch for the children between the age group of 12 to 16 to play cricket or football.
They cannot play on the streets as cars are parked and the balls can damage these vehicles. Secondly, they are at the peril of fast moving traffic if allowed to play on the streets.
But take the example of Sector 39. They have an amazingly impressive playground in their Sector. It has almost all the facilities from cricket pitch to skating rink to basket ball ground to football ground. The Sector has a whole team of adults who encourage children to play various games. A young cricketing talent who has been selected for under 14 national cricket team. Can our sector ever boast of such sports talent if we continue to discourage them from playing?
Develop a few playing grounds along with parks in the Sector. This will provide the children of our Sector a place to play and the elderly will also be happy with no kids to disturb their peace of mind in the parks. With today’s technology and gadgets children lack the physical exercise required for their growth. We, as adults , cannot give them an excuse to stay home glued to the TV or video games. To quote Oscar Wilde, “ What did the little child say to the giant? You let me play once in your garden and you shall come with me to the Paradise.” So lets not act as selfish giants and give the children their due.
