Balraj Syal: I think we should play a little to be in a good mindset, sports is like active meditation

We are moving so fast in our day-to-day lives that we hardly get time to take care of our body. This is the reason why our fitness goes for a toss. Actor, host and comedian Balraj Syal stresses on the importance of exercise for self-care, both physical and mental

 “As we grow up, our body doesn’t stay agile and becomes prone to injuries. Earlier I used to play a lot of cricket and my injuries used to heal quickly. Two years back, I suffered an ankle injury and it took two years to heal. Recently my shoulder got fractured. For the last one month I have been sitting at home and it will take approx two months to recover. I am not able to drive and my dependency has increased and my work has also stopped. As we grow up we tend to fear more about our injuries and fear that our work will stop. In her childhood days, we didn’t have tension for anything. I think we should play a little to be in a good mindset. Sports is like active meditation,” he says.

In an average person's life there are no sports except for watching it on television. Schools do encourage sports for children, but still, a lot of them end up playing more on mobile phones, computers or laptops.

 “People aren’t able to play much because in an average person’s life, things keep going constantly and he has to run for it to manage his family. When people get time they prefer spending Sundays with family. However, if you are not able to give time to sports, give time to your kids because playing with them will make you feel younger and make you feel good. You should try doing some activities with your kids on Sundays so that even your physical fitness gets covered. I believe that an average person is very fit because they have so much to do and have discipline and their eating and sleeping time are fixed. Sports also teach you discipline,” he adds.

About what can be done to revive playing sports in our lives, Balraj feels that the reformation should begin with the kids. After all, they are our future.

 “We say that children are always on phones and laptops playing games but the thing is we have allowed that to happen. Kids have to go to the ground to play sports and they require company as well but with the advent of smart devices, they don’t need anyone as everything is virtual. Also we have less open spaces today. Earlier the places used to be free of cost but today we have to book grounds. We shouldn’t blame everything on kids because the environment and the growing population is making them do so as there isn't much open space left. If you want to give your kids a phone, firstly you should teach them how to use it. You should make them understand why they are given phones. It’s the responsibility of the government also to make the grounds available,” he says.

There is no point in guessing that Balraj is a cricket buff. “I used to play badminton earlier. I feel happy when I am on the ground playing cricket wearing the jersey. I can spend hours playing cricket without using my phones. I like to play with everyone and this sport teaches you how to gel with people and how to keep on doing good for the team,” he shares.