H-O-B-B-Y

H-O-B-B-Y

 

Blog on hobby may appear to be a fun or inconsequential subject for some.  Is it really so?  No, I personally don’t feel so. Lockdown during pandemic is motivation and inspiration for me to pen down a few lines on the simple but an equally important subject- HOBBY-. For people of all age groups from a child to an elderly one, it contributes to their persona.

Wikipedia explains that hobby is a regular activity done for enjoyment, typically during one's leisure time, not professionally and not for pay.

 

Similarly, Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary defines a hobby an activity that you do for pleasure when you are not working.

 

2.         Primarily, it is an activity undertaken as a fun that too at regular intervals, during spare time i.e. away from one’s occupation. It is a helpful activity, indeed, to overcome boredom and unavoidable stress.  Hobby relaxes one’s body as well as mind. It being a casual work performed during leisure time without attaching any profit or income motive. To derive pleasure and rejuvenate oneself is the sole objective of any hobby activity.

 

3.         Incidentally, people at times do not make distinction   between hobby and habit. These terms are put to use by them, interchangeably, freely. In fact, it is not so. Both these activities are quite different. A habit, as we are aware, is a routine behaviour that is repeated regularly and tends to occur, subconsciously. In the same fashion, differentiation between hobby and interest needs clarification. Interest is something about which someone is curious or concerned.  He desires and   wishes to learn to satisfy his anxiety or otherwise. Once the concept of hobby is clear, we can proceed further on the subject without any inhibition.

 

4.         The citizens were placed on lockdown for a considerable period of time during Covid-19.  During the unprecedented crises, as we are aware, movement of people or vehicle was totally restricted.  It was totally unexpected and a novel experience particularly for students and working class to confine themselves within four walls of home that too for days together. The challenge resulted in many sufferings, apart from anxiety and stress. Boredom was bound to creep in. Therefore, here hobby plays   an extremely positive role for relaxation and to mitigate anxiety and stress. To my mind, lockdown period was a unique opportunity to cultivate new hobby especially for those who could not pay attention towards it due to their busy schedule or otherwise.

 

5.         Exploiting advantage of lockdown, I too developed a new hobby “Apartment Gardening”. Had a thorough study about a few plants and their requirements in terms of Soil media, Exposure to Sun light, Frequency of watering, Application of fertilizers/manures and other important tips etc. for healthy growth and survival of Container Plants. Compilation of ‘Care Cards’ for each plant in my flat is an innovative idea. The entire exercise is altogether an enriching and satisfying experience. Now engagement with Apartment Gardening has become a relaxation activity and wonderful past time.

 

 

6. There are numerous advantages to have a hobby.  A few of those are enumerated hereunder:

           

·         It makes our personality more interesting. The knowledge so acquired through hobby can certainly be shared within a group to become socially more acceptable.

 

·         No doubt, it is a source of de-stress, relaxation and recreation away from daily drudgery of routine job, chores and other official as well domestic responsibilities.

 

·   It may further add traits such as patience, skill, self confidence and self-esteem to one’s personality.

 

·         Any hobby would enrich one’s self. Be it developing new skills and ideas or acquiring fresh knowledge on the issue. In short, it provides an outlet for creativity, distraction, and something to look forward to.

 

           By pursuing a hobby, energy is channelized to rejuvenate you.  It is a road block        against bad habits, negative thoughts / activities and wastage of time. It provides an outlet for creativity, distraction, and something to look forward to.

 

  It is not exhaustive but an illustrative list of benefits that accrue by pursuing and engaging in a hobby.

 

7.  It is learnt that people are hard pressed for time to pursue a hobby. They are tied up with their profession/job and other day to day activities. Absolutely, no time is available to learn or pursue hobby. Surprisingly, at times, it is considered as a luxury itself and sheer wastage of precious time and resources at their disposal.

 

8. No one can deny the rationale/logic, particularly constrain of time, to pursue hobby. But to me, major hindrance is our mind-set. Otherwise, how it is explained that some people can excel in their profession and pursue hobby too when Almighty has allotted twenty four hours a day to each one of us.

 

9. To overcome this attitude, we do cultivate/develop a hobby for enjoyment and recreation of mind and body. Of course, all of us are unique and, therefore, our interests and hobbies are bound to vary. But once we find a hobby that is interesting and enjoyable, we can pursue it. We all are well aware that there is plethora of hobbies such as singing, dancing, music, yoga, bird watching & stamp collection etc.  Hobbies can be expensive.  However, on surfing net, details of hobbies which are not so expensive can be easily collected. A few illustrations of hobbies which are low cost and in-expensive are as under: 

        (i)Teach Yourself A Language (ii) Do It Yourself (DIY) (iii) Play Sudoku (iv) Practice Meditation (v) Start a blog (vi) Mentoring (vii) Learn Computer Programming (viii) Collect Something (ix) Container Gardening (x) Learn How To Cook

10. Last but not the least, I hope that every one of us must be pursing one or other hobby. My only submission is that if someone is not on board, he/she may start from today, itself. The people who are already pursuing hobby may nurture in a new activity/ hobby, of course, if time permits. 

जब जागो, तभी सवेरा।

                                                                    

  NL CHAWLA  

@@@@@

.