A lot has changed with time

Vijay Garg

(vkmalout@gmail.com)

Everything matters according to age. For children, their toys are their capital. Some toys are very special. A lot has changed with time. The ways of playing also changed. In fact, games and toys should be those that keep children happy and healthy. Laughter and play are essential to health. Well, let's talk about the mentality of children. The question is whether expensive toys are giving happiness to children? Are they mentally healthy, happy or are these expensive toys a waste of money? Parents did not buy toys if we talk about a few decades ago, even in cities, children used to play in streets or open spaces. In villages, children used to sleep, eat, play and study mostly outside. The children used to play games like gulli danda, backgammon, driving the bicycle tire with a stick, Kotla Chhapaki etc. All these games did not cost money. For playing backgammon, balls and broken earthenware were fixed. Kotla used to be an old chunni for playing chhapaki. In fact, there were not very expensive toys in the market and parents used to buy them. There was a lot of running to the poles, balls or wooden blocks. At present children have expensive toys but children are not happy. At a young age, children are surrounded by diseases like heart diseases and diabetes. Every game is played on mobile only. No sense of running or the enjoying the wind outdoors. Sitting idle, children now eat pizzas, burgers, potato chips and drink cold drinks. They play with toys sitting at home.

The chemicals that make those toys get on the hands and they also go into the mouth. Children do not have the inherent strength to fight diseases. Village children are still better than city children. Yes, a lot has changed in the villages as well. Now there is no custom of making toys by bringing soil from the village pond. No one knows how to build huts by putting their feet in piles of sand. Even in the villages, children are no longer seen beating the tire of a bicycle with a stick. The naivety and sparkle have gone from the children's faces. There are dull and pale faces. Loneliness has made children mentally ill. They cannot face even the small problems that come in life. This is the reason why school children are also committing suicide. Even broken things can give happiness. They have mobile phones in their hands. By giving expensive toys to children, parents think that they are giving them all the happiness. Children are playing with servants and expensive toys. Parents are running to earn more money. There is no understanding of diseases and there is no accounting for the money spent on expensive treatment. In fact, one can be happy only if the health is good and the environment is good. Despite earning a lot of money and buying expensive toys, if the children are tired and sick, they are of no use. Children laugh even playing with spoons and bowls. Even broken things can bring them joy. The fact is that expensive toys cannot give children joy like playing outside with children. Expensive toys may give some momentary happiness, but not real happiness.