Leisure is the time taken off from one’s usual work, the time that cannot be put to use for furthering one’s occupa ional prospects. Yet the human history is replete with instances of leisure time activities paving the way for most momentous discoveries of all times. Gregory Mendel, a priest in a monastery, observed the shape and colour of peas in his kitchen garden.

Prolonged observation and tentative experiments of Mendel led to the discovery of the laws of Heredity. Issac Newton, in a relaxed mood, was looking at the spectacle of an apple falling from the branch of a tree when the laws of motion flashed across his mind. Hard mental labour might not have been able to give us theories of heredity and the laws of motion.

The reason would be that the creative faculties of mind are at their best when one is unburdened with the routine tasks of one’s occupation. The pressure of performance is hardly conducive to the unfettered, free play of one’s imagination which alone can explore the mysteries of the world of nature. Leisure, commonly perceived as useless time can be, therefore, of immense use in releasing the fertile mind of man from hassles of daily existence and can be harnessed for unraveling the secrets of nature.

Work and leisure are perceived as antithetical, but these are not so in reality. As a matter of fact, their proper utilisation can improve the quality of both. A regime of purposive and sustained work enhances the desirability and utility of leisure.

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On the other hand, leisure activities refresh and invigorate the mind to undertake the occupational tasks in an upbeat mood. Leisure breaks the monotony of fixed routines and unleashes the forces of creativity.

Freed from the worries of work, one can give free rein to one’s imagination and savor the beauties of nature. Nature in all its variety of shapes and sounds presents a virtual feast for the senses. The contours of the hills, the changing shapes of clouds, the colours of the rainbow fill the mind with wonder.

The sound of the murmur of I leaves in the forests and of the roar of the ocean transports one to a different world altogether. The smell of the earth after a shower or of the blooming flowers in a garden refresh the mind of one who is otherwise condemned to work in chemical factories or ; in uncongenial surroundings.

Sights and sounds of nature impart not only immediate pleasure; their memory becomes a treasure house for sensitive souls who can draw on them at will. William Wordsworth has beautifully captured this aspect of nature’s bounties in his poem celebrating the memory of swinging daffodils seen by him long back: For oft when on my couch I lie In vacant or in pensive mood They flash upon thy inward eye Which is the bliss of solitude And then my heart with pleasure fills And dance with the daffodils.

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There are as many varieties of leisure activities as of work and occupations. A man engaged in sedentary activities, requiring mostly the use of mental faculties, will find healthy diversion in manual and physical work like gardening, fishing and catching butterflies.

I while his occupation alienates him from the Mother Earth, his leisure can bind him to it once again. Seeing the plants grow and flowers bloom in the garden induces a sense of achievement in many a bureaucrat who is otherwise dissatisfied with his occupational career. A person engaged in physical activities as part of his profession may find activities 1 of the mind a great relief and a promising pastime.

The famous Indian writer in English, Arundhati Roy, who won the Booker prize recently, is a teacher of aerobics by profession. The pastime of writing has taken her to heights of literary fame.

Many individuals have to choose and pursue certain professions not out of choice but out of various compulsions. They feel constrained and suffocated. They are, however, not in a position to leave these professions for want of an alternative means of livelihood.

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A small percentage of such individuals pursue their interest in music, paintings or some other art and craft in their leisure time and acquire substantial skill to carve out another source of income and mental satisfaction. Leisure, creatively used, can bring the best out of a person and lead to unimagined joy and a sense of fulfillment.

It is difficult to enumerate the uses of leisure. A housewife confined to the four walls i of her house for the most part can use her leisure time to lend variety and colour to her otherwise humdrum existence. A chance watching of some T.V. programme on some successful handicraft artisan can awaken her school time interest in clay modelling and can make a sculptor out of her.

Instances are not lacking of housewives giving a complete new direction to their lives inspired by some examples seen or read in the electronic or sprint media. Many have been inspired to take up social work for the upliftment of orphans I and slum dwellers in their leisure time.

Leisure should be used as a tonic to energise one for work and not as an opiate to; sedate or drown the drudgery associated with uninterrupted and regimented routine. Work is the absolute necessity and a permanent condition of human existence.

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Ever since Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden to live by the sweat of their brow, man is destined to work in order to live. Leisure, imaginatively used, can add spice to man’s life and can make our earthly existence not only tolerable but eminently enjoyable too.