Get moving, get thrilled

On feet and off couch — let that be your idea of entertainment

Before previous Deepavali, my mother and I decided to paint a few walls of our house and do some stencil designs on them. Though we had no experience, we managed to do the work like professionals. Painting the walls ourselves was much more gratifying than hiring someone to do the work. It was a nice way of entertainment, and we ended up doing something creative as a bonus.

From this, I realised the importance of active entertainment and the various ways to accomplish it. Travelling, sports and music are conventionally considered the most common forms of active entertainment. But, even inside home, we can find affordable ways to entertain ourselves actively.

Internet and OTT platforms are full of passive entertainment options. But active entertainment is far more satisfying than that.

In passive entertainment, we lose time, energy, and resources, but in active entertainment, we invest them to better ourselves. With passive entertainment, all we can be is a consumer, but with active entertainment, we can be a producer or a creator as well. Entertainment is good, but gaining something out of it is even better.

People from different age groups face different issues regarding entertainment. Youth face a lot of stress and generally find an escape in passive entertainment. Rather than finding a convenient escape, try to better engage with the situation in our life. Learning new skills, developing a new hobby, workouts and so on can help us develop ourselves better as an individual and return to our challenges better equipped.

I have seen parents giving phones to their babies as a pacifier. I do not know what a one-year-old makes out of a small screen, but experts do warn about the hazards of “screen time” for young ones. Child psychologists recommend that children be given exploratory types of toys so that they can learn better. But the stressful lifestyle of today encourages parents to provide something to quickly pacify the child.

Children should be rather encouraged to go for active entertainment, which stimulates their physical and mental development. Passive entertainment, though convenient, can prove harmful in the long run.