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Vol.1/2018/41

Struggle against all odds, Agonizing search for Self -

A Feminist Perspective

1. Madhurima, Research Scholar, Rayalaseema University, Kurnool, A.P., India.

Introduction:

History is replete with many instances of gender disparity. Woman is considered weak and ineffective and is compelled to estrange herself from her own society. There have been numerous century by woman of different ages and different countries to make the world realize their significant role in societal activities.

The term feminism was first used in the nineteenth century by a French dramatist, Alexander Dumas, to refer to the emerging movement for women’s rights but mostly limited to politics. Women constitute roughly half the world’s population, but their role in various fields of activity has been totally disproportionate to their numerical strength. Considered the weaker sex, they have been subjected to social, economic, and political injustices. An awareness of the inequalities present in society resulted in the women’s Liberation Movement as late as in the mid – nineteenth century. It was in the later part of the twentieth century that it became more vigorous only to make people examine their age – old beliefs and concepts.

Shashi Deshpande’s first novel, The Dark Holds No Terrors, is a compelling story of a Well – educated, economically independent woman’s struggle against all odds. It is the story of Saru (called Saru) and her relationship with her parents and her husband, and her agonizing search for self. It is the story of a marriage on the verge of breakdown and of a woman who has been made acutely conscious of her gender since childhood. During the course of her struggle, Saru tries to uncover the dormant strength in human beings. In this way, the layers of the past are unfolded to the readers with the simultaneous knowledge of the present. The stream of consciousness makes Saru recall her childhood experience. Her estranged relationship with her mother, her marriage with the handsome versatile – looking young poet, Manohar and the suffering which follows, and her relationship with her daughter Renu and son Abhi.

Exploration on female prospective - Shashi Desh Pande

The novel is remarkable for its exploration of the inner landscape. It is a fascinating study of male psychology by a woman which in turn becomes in exposition of the female psyche too. Shashi Deshpande is a typical Indian feminist writer who delves deep into the problems of women: “ Her novels are concerned with exploration into the female psyche and an understanding of the mysteries of life and the protagonist’s place in it.”¹

Saru wants to free herself from the tyrannies of a male dominated society. She works out her own individual paths towards liberation and in the process discovers new facets of life. While discovering her real self and consequently seeking self – fulfillment, she understands the world better and makes thing clear for herself as well as for others.

The novel opens with Saru’s return to her maternal home with a twofold purpose after the death of her mother. She wants to look after her widower father and also seek solace from the nightmarish brutality of her sadist husband. Manohar (called Manu). Earlier she had resolved never to return to her parents house. Her stay in her father’s house enables her to recall the events of her life, which get unfolded through her memories of the past, and she be compares and contrasts her past with her present. These reflections reveal to her that “Happiness is so evanescent. Nothing is left. Except sensations and feelings” (35).

The novel highlights the story of a marriage on the rocks. Saru is a “two in - one woman”, who in the day is a successful doctor and at night “A terrified trapped animal” in the hands of her husband, Manohar, an English teacher in a third – rate college. The rest of the novel is the remembrances of things past and a brief confession to father, with whom she had hardly communicated before. Thus the narrative meanders between present and past.

Saru reaches her father’s home after fifteen years. Her father welcomes her “like and unwilling host entertaining an unwelcome guest” (14). The novelist unfolds the narrative through the memories of Saru, Saru recalls the past and realizes the truth about her marriage. She begins to sense that the unloved daughter was the unloving daughter. She knows that the unloved daughter was also the unloving daughter. She knows that the expression on her face in not different from that of her hated mother. In her own words: “And behind this fear the uneasiness that comes from losing something. No, not losing it, but being unable to find it because I’ve hidden it to keep it safe. Hidden it so well that I can’t find it myself now. And each day the thought”….I ²

Discrimination

She recalls the discrimination shown by her mother and how her problems had started right in her childhood. Her brother Dhruva was her mother’s cynosure and Saru was completely neglected. The problems in her life aggravated after her younger brother Dhruva’s death referred to in the novel as A.D. (After Dhurva) , which symbolizes the prelapsarian and postlapsarian life for Saru. Dhruva’s death overshadows all other memories how she was treated second to Dhruva.

This sort of blatant discrimination between Saru and her brother leader to a sense of insecurity and hatred towards her parents. Especially her mother, and to her resultant rebellious nature. Critics are of the view that “In this connection, Saru’s mother’s attitude is typical of most Indian mothers and a common enough phenomenon in the Indian context.”²

The turning point in her life is the accidental death by drowning of her brother. All her life she is haunted by the memories of her mother accusing ‘her of intentionally letting Dhruva die by drowning: “You did it, you did this, and you killed him” (173). This accusation haunts her like a ghost throughout her life. She too on her part has a guilty conscience as she considers herself responsible for her brother’s death by drowning by remaining a mute spectator to the incident. She never refuted the charge leveled against her by her mother:” Dhruva’s demise had always been her subconscious desire and there is a very thin demarcation between her wish and its fulfillment.”³ Shashi Deshpande thus reveals the social aspect of keen sibling jealousy born of a mother’s undue fondness for the son.

Thus, unloved and unwanted, she developed hatred towards the traditional practices during her impressionable years. Her hatred toward her mother was so acute that she became rebellious just to hurt her: “ I hated her, I wanted to hurt her, wound her, make her suffer” (142). Home, which is supposed to foster the growth of a child, robbed every happiness from Saru and she was forced to take a drastic step and leave home for Bombay to pursue medicine as a career and later on marry Manohar from her own choice with a view to torturing her mother: “I will show [her], “I will make her realize “(60). Being orthodox, Saru’s mother was not in favour of a pratiloma marriage.

Devoid of Love and Security

Devoid of love and security, Saru wanted to be loved, When she got attention from manohar, she wondered, “how could I be anyone’s beloved ? I was the redundant, the unwanted, an appendage one could do without” (59). The need of the moment was a relation with someone who could give her love and security. She thought: “The fisherman’s daughter couldn’t have been more surprised when the king asked her to marry him than I was by Manu’s love for me” (59). Saru considered herself the luckiest woman on earth, as the initial years of her marriage were sheer bliss. Manohar was her savior and the romantic hero who rescued Saru – a damsel in distress. She married Manohar to secure the lost love in her parental home and her identity as an individual.

Later, when her relations with Manohar became strained, she started regretting her having rushed into marriage unconditionally: “the fisherman’s daughter was wiser. She sent the king to her father and the father it was who bargained with him. While I …I gave myself up unconditionally, unreservedly to him. To love him and to be loved”. (59). It can be said that. “If her mother had provoked her by her blatant hostility, her father had contributed to her present predicament by remaining a mute spectator in the family drama”.⁴

If we look at her present, she is now a successful and famous doctor. Her busy schedule ultimately upsets her family life and her career becomes Manohar’s problem and he cannot digest the fact and gets annoyed at her popularity and feels very embarrassed when an interviewer asks him, “How does it feel when you’re your wife earns not only the butter but most of the bread as well ?” (182). Owing to her busy schedule Saru fails to concentrate on the domestic front. She is placed in an awkward situation, At the personal level, she feels a gradual disappearance of love and family – attachment which she had once developed. At the personal level, she feels a gradual disappearance of love and family – attachment which she had once developed. At this point of time she feels that as wife she is not able to devote her time to attend to her husband’s needs, and as a mother she is not able to take care of her children. In the given situation she fails both as a wife and as a mother.

The feeling that she was responsible for Manohar’s sorrowful state and thereby drove him to sadism makes her guilty and adopt silence, unable to either talk to him or confide in anybody else. Her silence causes her agony, but she continues to endure the suffering until she too, like Manohar, become a split personality, the two – in – one woman, who in the day time becomes a confident lady doctor and at night becomes a terrified and trapped animals. She feels: “This was not to be death by strangulation ; it was a monstrous invasion of my body” (10). Once again Saru’s home disappoints her. Her married life, which was once beautiful, has now become ugly. For the second time Saru leaves home, this time defying her husband.

Turning Point

It is at the crucial point in her life that Saru hears the news of her mother’s death and rushes to her parents’ house. She has become an emotionless human being. To her everything and everybody including her father appears strange. She is mentally disturbed. She is not able to speak out what she wants or what she expects from her father. She has a guilty conscience that she deserted her parents in order to marry Manohar. She expects sympathy from her father but to no avail. Now she thinks that had her marriage been an arranged one, parents would have come to her rescue now or they would at least have been receptive and sympathetic to her sufferings.

Absolute confusion prevails upon her. She feels that she has done injustice to her mother, her husband, and her children as well: “But there can never be any forgiveness. Never any atonement. My brother died because I heedlessly turned my back on him. My mother died alone because I deserted her. My husband is a failure because I destroyed his manhood” (198). She cannot overcome her guilt nor for that is matter she is not capable of facing the situation boldly.

Ego

Manohar’s male ego tries to dominate Saru, which ultimately results in the disintegration of their married life. The egos of Saru and Manohar clash with each other and Saru’s feminine psyche encounters the working forces which emanate from her husband’s masculine vigour. Saru reveals the horror of her conjugal life to her father, who emerges as an understanding and compassionate protector. Her father gives all the moral support and injects a life – blood into her otherwise dying veins. He tells her, Give him a chance, Saru, Stay and meet him. Talk to him. Let him know from you what’s wrong. Tell him all that you told me…… Don’ts turn your back on things again. Turn round and look at them Meet him (197). Saru’s encounter with her school friends Smita and Nalu presents yet another aspect of a woman’s life. Smita’s gives an impression as if hers is a happy and perfect married life when she takes her husband’s name several times while talking to Saru. But in reality it is quite different. Once when Smite asks Saru for a small loan to buy a gift for her sister – in – law without her husband’s knowledge, Saru is annoyed to find Smita’s complete dependence on her husband for money, Through the character of Smita, Deshpande highlights the hypocrisy in married life and the problem of economic dependence. On the other hand Nalu lives an independent life. She is a spinster. Lecturer by profession, she lives with her brother and his family. She has acquired an air of dignity and confidence. “but with it a conviction of her own rightness that made her seem overbearing and dogmatic” (121). Through the lives of Smita and Nalu, Saru draws a contrast between the joys and sorrows of a wife and mother and that of a spinster. She finds that it is difficult to draw conclusions and say who is happier and more fulfilled. Betty Friedan observes, “The married were reported dissatisfied with their marriages, the unmarried once suffering from anxiety and finally depression. Strangely a number of psychiatrists stated that in their experience unmarried woman patients were happier than married ones.” However, as Prabhat K.Singh has made it clear. “This novel is not about a woman or about feminism but about life and living. TO me it is a fictional portrayal of a highly pragmatic philosophy of life – Atma deepo bhava’ That means ‘Be your own light.”⁵

Saru rids herself of the complexes and guilt and comprehends the meaning of human life and energizes, “It’s my life…. But it’s true. We come into the world alone and go out of it alone. The period in between is short.. And all those ties we cherish as eternal and long lasting are more ephemeral than a dew drop”(189).

Saru’s coming back to her husband’s house is not indicative of submission to patriarchal edifice constructed by her mother; rather she comes back to reconstruct her emotional role without deconstruction her gender identity.

Thus the Dark Holds No Terrors portrays the life of Saru, who becomes a doctor not only as a measure of self – reliance but also to achieve and identity of her own. The epigraph, a maxim from The Dhammapada is revealing and at the same time connotative of the novelist’s feminist concerns :

You are your own refuge;

There is no other refuge.

This refuge is hard to achieve.

Sensitive and Delicate Portrayal of Indian Womanhood

Shashi Deshpande’s novels present a sensitive and delicate portrayal of Indian womanhood with a focus on the predicament of women and her concern in the life of her protagonists. The inner most recesses of woman have been probed into to give a better perspective of life to her heroines. Shashi Deshpande’s success lies in her representation of real life experiences. In her that Long Silence she realistically depicts the inner conflicts of Jaya and her quest for the self or identity. About That Long Silence, she says that she wrote the novel almost entirely as a woman’s novel; nevertheless, a book about the silencing of one – half of humanity: “ A lifetime of introspection went into this novel, the one closest to me personally; the thinking and ideas in this are closest to my own.”⁶

Shashi Deshpande’s themes deal with the struggle of women in contemporary tradition – bound, male –dominated middle – class urban society in India. Her protagonists try hard to overcome their self - imposed inhibitions and handicaps to establish their respectable status. The attitudinal postures of Deshpande conform to the theory of Julia Kristeva that “ the consideration of femininity as marginally offers a position and not the essence, as they exhibit the courage to transcend the marginality and activate their epicentric participation in life.”⁷ A similar view is expressed by Shashi Despande herself when says, “When I wrote That Long Silence, I had no intention of writing a feminist tract, tract, though the book has now got the of being a ‘feminist novel’. I was telling the story of Jaya, a woman who found herself questioning her life, her beliefs, her relationship with others – in all of which her gender played a big role. If, in the course of this woman’s mental and emotional journey, a feminist picture emerged, this was not my intention.”⁸ Deshpande derived the title of the novel That Long Silence from a speech by Elizabeth Robbins to WWSL in 1907: “ If I were a man and cared to know the world I lived in, I almost thinks it would make me a shade uneasy - the weight of that long silence of one – half the world. “9 She uses a passage from the speech as the epigraph. The epigraph reveals that the novelist is interested in breaking the long silence that has hidden the ineffectuality of woman in deep sleep, The novel is about is a married couple, Jaya and Mohan, who get separated and about Jaya, who observes silence all through her married life only to break it in the end when she takes to writing about herself, her own plight, and her husband Mohan. But the novel ends on a note of optimism as her son, Rahul, returns and Mohan promises to return. Jaya also learn the truth that “Life is always to be made possible” (193). The novel describes of Jaya’s disappointments in her married life and her suffering in isolation. Deshpande describes Jaya’s married life in the image of “ A pair of bullocks yoked together” (7), suggesting that the husband and wife perform their duties mechanically. Jaya is a creative writer.

 

Educated and Cultured

Jaya is a well – educated and cultured woman. She leads a quiet life. But later hardships of life fiercely jolt her out of her complacency into a gloomy state. Her silence is symptomatic of alienation and apprehension rooted in every woman’s soul in different forms. But silence is often misunderstood by men as woman’s contentment. Jaya faces the dilemma of a woman – writing who is also a housewife. She is presented in the image of a worm crawling into the hole suggesting her withdrawal keeping inner talent of creative writing to herself and suffering the monotony of life caused by the household activities. As a writer, she has to present her views and ideas to the readers but she remains silent probi9ng into her past, struggling with their present, and trying to establish a rapport with her future. The novel begins with Jaya’s silently following Mohan to Their Dadar flat, leaving the Churchgate bungalow, into exile as unhesitatingly as her mythological counterpart, Sita, discharging her sati dharma. Here Jaya is compelled to “ excavate her own truths and of other women in her life and unlock that long silence. Jaya, who stoically stood behind her husband for seventeen long years, is shattered to hear the news that husband is caught accepting bribe which she could not believe. She says: “ I did not know what I was to do with such a gift. It seems to me impossible. Mohan had to be wrong “ (4), Jaya begins her married life thinking that “ A husband is a sheltering tree” (32). Though she does not hold any good opinion about Vanita – mami, She sincerely following her advice: “Keep the tree alive and flourishing, even if you have to water it with deceit and lies” (32).

Jaya tries to perform her role as a True wife and when it comes to the question of a choice between her husband and family, and herself as an individual, she unhesitatingly chooses her husband and family Two more noteworthy thing about Jaya’s personality are her writing skills and her friendship with Kamat, her neighbor, Kamat, unlike Mohan, is neither a good – looking nor a well – groomed man. He is middle – aged and bulky, with grey hair, He is neither wealthy nor socially distinguished. But he is an intellectual whose life of “ Structured to loneliness” (157). Jaya feels attracted towards him due to his intelligence. She very freely shares and exchanges her ideas with him.

Friendship and Intimacy

Jaya’s friendship and physical intimacy with Kamat clashes with her image of wife and mother. She feels totally at ease in his company which she does not experience when she is with Mohan. “The relation of man to woman is the most natural of one person to another” (158), Kamat tells her once, and the initial platonic nature of their relationship develops into physical attraction. But Jaya overcomes her desire only to safeguard her marital relations with Mohan. She feels heart – broken when Kamat is left alone, unattended and dies suddenly. Though she witnesses it, she moves away without attending to her well – wisher and friend. She remains passive and helpless at the sight. She is scared to make her clandestine retrospect, she realizes: “ I am Mohan’s wife, I had thought, I’m only Mohan’s wife, and I had run away” (186).

Seeing the indifferent attitude of Jaya, Mohan accuses her of being cold towards him, especially when he is facing the biggest crisis of his professional life: “ I know that I’ve never mattered to you, not really” (118). He says angrily,”……… the truth is that you despise me because I’ve failed. As long  as I had my job and position, it was all right; as long as I could give you all the comforts, It was all right. But now, because I am likely to lose it all…..” (121)

His accusations make her hysterical and she bursts into a loud laughter. This hurts Mohan and he leaves home without a word. To add to her despair, Jaya receives a message that her son Rahul, who was on a holiday trip with their family friends, was lost . Jaya, in the isolation of her Dadar flat, probes into her long moments of silence. A way from her life and relationship that she avoided or failed to realize earlier. Jaya is unable to digest the meaningless practice of the male – dominated society where a woman is totally ignored. She is told that she belongs to her husband’s family and not family. She learns that her name and existence, along with those of other women in the family, are completely blotted out of the family history. It proves the point that a woman, whether traditional or unconventional, is not recognized as an individual in a male – dominated society. Now she no longer wants to play the role of a passive wife. She even recollects the final words of final words of lord Krishna’s sermon to Arjuna from the Bhagavad – Gita: “ Yathecchasi tatha Kuru ….. Do as you desire” (192). Now she is a changed person.

Thus That Long Silence projects, through the character of Jaya the plight of the middle class woman, the hollowness in her life, even though it was shielded by the deceptively beautiful screen of her social graces and obligations. Even a highly educated and capable woman is invariably affected by her social status, as an individual, Jaya’s social and familial responsibilities disturb her severally because she is forced to accept them compulsively as a woman. She becomes a showpiece after her marriage. She fails to establish a normal relationship with her husband.

The novel also portrays several other characters, like kusum, Jaya’s mad cousin, Mohan’s mother, and many other victims of patriarchy and also their own silence. The novel grippingly discusses the plight of women who never break their silence. Shashi Deshpande points out how even a cultured society has been kept silent on woman’s sufferings.

The character of Kusum is portrayed as a counter – foil to Jaya who mirrors the darker side of her (Jaya’s) psyche. Jaya tries to define herself negatively through the insanity of her mad cousin, Kusum, who is a deserted wife. Kusum, carrying and “aura of defeat about her from her birth” (23), represents the lifestyle of women who are aware of their low position in their own society. Jaya accommodates and takes care of the insane Kusum despite several serious objections from her elders. After, sometime, when Kusum improves her health, Dilip, her brother, takes her home. But unfortunately she commits suicide a day before her husband is supposed to take her home to establish his family. Thus Kusum epitomizes women who submit to insults, injuries, and humiliations with a stoic patience, without any protest of complaint as they have been trained to have implicit faith in the virtues of patriarchy rather than faith in their own strength. Vanitamami represents another facts of the traditionally suppressed woman, she tells Jaya that “a husband is like a sheltering tree” (32). Jaya recalls, perhaps the truth was that Vanitamami had never known what it was to choose. Since the day she got married she, like the rest of Ai’s family, was dominated and ruled by that ghoul, her mother – in – law, my other ajji, Even Vanitamami’s saris were chosen for her by the old woman, Later, there was Ai, who went back to her old home after Appa’s death; there still is Ai. (45)

Mukta, Jaya’s immediate neighbor at her Dadar flat, Widowed at a very young age, lives with her parents and a rebellious daughter, Nilima, Mukta is economically independent, film, and competent of handling any situation and yet she believes in superstitions. She expects her daughter to be like her. But Nilima is indifferent and rebellious. Mukta, on the other hand, is a pious woman, and Jaya is shocked at her futile self – imposed suffering by undertaking fast on almost all the seven days of the week.

Jeeja, Jaya’s maid servant, is another typical example of suppressing. She is battered by her good – for – nothing drunken husband. She supports him without any protest and even provides him with liquor from her hard – earned money. She bears no ill feeling though he takes up another woman. Nayana, another maid, also views life with a dispassionate objectivity. She craves for a male child, not because she expects any help from him in old age, but because if it is a daughter, she does not want her to be discriminated against and harassed by society. She is confident that a boy will definitely enjoy at least some status and maintain individuality, Which are denied to a girl. She says: “why give birth to a girl, behnji, who,” II only suffer because of men all her life?” (28).

Domesticity and Oppression

Deshpande sensitively presents how a woman’s existence is confined within domesticity and how all forms of oppression are perpetuated on her Vimala, Mohan’s sister, tells Jaya the pathetic story of Mohan’s mother.

This poor lady suffered miserably the domination of her senseless husband. She had to wait for him late in night, and to cook rice for him again as he wanted it fresh, hot and from an untouched vessel, and refused to eat what he caned “ your children’s disgusting leavings” (35). The wife’s long waiting for her husband in the night became a futile exercise when, one night, the man got angry for not being served fresh chutney to eat, and threw the heavy brass plate at the wall and left the house in anger. This poor lady silently picked up the plate, removed the food scattered on the floor, and sent her son, Mohan, to the next door to borrow some chillies. She patiently and silently prepared fresh chutney, Lit the fire, cooked rice Again and sat down and waited for her husband. The children woke up the unexpected that was created in the house, finally drifted off to sleep again, but “she was still sitting there in front of the fire, silent, motionless” (36). The cruelty of the husband and the insensitivity of the son clearly show the discrimination against and subordination of women. Even her educated son, who witnessed the incident, never found fault with his father. Jaya finds the story painful and Mohan’s comments on it strange: “ God, she was tough; woman in those days were tough” (36). He interprets her despair and misery as toughness.

Vimala is another victim of suppression and exploitation in Indian society. A suppressed woman seeks consolation in her obsession human bondage, leading to social degradation, ill health, and death, She is compelled to sacrifice her own needs and interests to those of her family.

That Long Silence, about the suffering of an educated woman, focuses the predicament of a modern Indian woman caused by the insensitivity and rigidity of her husband and making her a victim of circumstances. The novel also dramatizes transformation of Jaya, the “everywoman” of our time, through self – recognition and self – analysis. She faces adverse situations boldly and realizes that the wheel has turned a full circle and the shadow that lurked between husband and wife for about seventeen years has disappeared.

 

Deprivation

Thus the novel attempts to portray the sufferings and deprivations of women in general by presenting various characters as stereotyped representatives of traditional womanhood. The India womanhood. The novel seems to advocate that a woman should be assertive and maintain her individuality and take her own decisions about her life and future: “ The novel is an attempt by Jaya to liberate herself from the prescribed and interiorize role of the other, an adjunct to her husbands, and find her own identity as a human being capable of thinking and acting on her own initiative.” Shashi Deshpande seems to be more for a woman’s social, emotional, intellectual, spiritual, cultural, find economic liberation which would negate the possibility of nourishing and enjoying various relationships which society and biological nature have imposed upon her. She can be a woman with multifaceted roles of daughter, mother, wife daughter – in – law, sister – in – law, and friend by overcoming her inhibitions. The intricacies of a woman’s life within the family and outside can only be solved by herself when she learns to evaluate her worth and become conscious of herself as an individual.

REFERENCES

1. Ramamoorthi, P., My life is My Own : A Study of Shashi Deshpande’s Women, Feminism and Recent Fiction in English, ed. Sushila Singh, New Delhi : Prestige, 1991, p. 116.
2. Reddy, Y.S. Sunitha, A Feminist Perspective on the Novels of Shashi Deshpande, New Delhi : Prestige Books, 2001, p. 51.
3. Dominic Savio, G., A Woman’s Haritage of the common Wealth: A Study of The Dark Holds No Terrors in women in the novels of shashi Despande, Suman Bala, New Delhi : Khosla Publishing House, 2001, p.61.
4. Reddy , Y.S. Sunitha, 56.
5. Swain, S.P., Shashi Deshpande’s The Dark holds No Terrors: saru’s Feminine Sensibility, Indian Women Novelists, ed. R.K. Dhawan, New Delhi : Prestige Books, 1990, Set I, Vo1.4 pp. 35 – 36 .
6. Jain, Jasbir, ed., Creative Theory: Writers, on Writing, Delhi: Pericraft International, 2000, p. 210.
7. Kristeva, Julia, Women’s Time, signs 7:1 (1981) : 13-35, Quoted by Suheela Singh, Out lining Feminist Literary Criticism: Women as Reader / writer Perspective, Feminism and Literative: New points of view, ed., K. Sharma, Delhi : K.K. Publications, 1996, p.4,
8. Deshpande, Shashi, Writing and Activism, Writing Difference The Novels of Shashi Deshpande, ed. Chanchala K. Naik, New Delhi: Pencraft International, 2005, p.26.
9. Ali Bhai, Yasmin, No Sbeltering Tree, Review of That Long Silence, New Society, 5 February 1988.

Vol.1/2018/42

Cricket Pitch Principles and practice of pitch preparation

1. Ravi Kumar* Ramana Murthy**

* Professor of Physical Education, NIT, Warangal-506 004, (TS)

** Professor, Dept. of Geo Tech Engineering, NIT, Warangal-506 004, (TS)

Introduction

Present Attempt:

• Keeping in view the limitations of the adopted practices for pitch preparation, an attempt is made to use the fundamental concepts from the modern soil mechanics.
• The science of soil mechanics indicates that the soils having finer content (-75u size)of around 30% with liquid limit 30-35%, is suitable for a wide range of applications without much compromising on the strength aspects.
• Such soils also maintain better drainage while supporting the growth of grass.
• The cricket pitches at NIT Warangal were prepared by using artificially mixed soils using two locally available soils in such a way that the mix derives the beneficial properties from both the individual soils.
• Trail mixes of black cotton soil and red soil were made in different proportions and their index and compaction properties were determined.(Table:1) Soil balls were made and sun dried in order to observe the degree of cracking.

Properties	Soil Mixes
	Black Cotton Soil	Red Soil	70% Red Soil + 30% B.C. Soil	50% Red Soil + 50% B.C. Soil
Grain Size Distribution Gravel (%) Sand(%) Silt + Clay (%)	0 34 66	0 76 24	0 64 36	0 56 44
Atterberg Limits Liquid Limit (%) Plastic Limit (%) Shrinkage Limit (%)	68 24 12	29 18 17	37 17 16	47 22 14
I.S. Soil Classification	CH (Highly Plastic Clay)	SC (Clayey Sand)	SC	SC
Compaction properties Optimum Moisture (OMC)content(%) Maximum Dry Density(MDD) (g/cc)	20 1.62	13 1.78	15 1.74	16 1.70

Table – 1
Properties of Soil Mixes

 

CONSTRUCTION OF CRICKET PITCH

• Trial Sections : Trial sections of different soil composition were constructed before finalising the test pitch. Five trail sections of size 1.5 x 2 m were constructed using the top soil covers of B.C. Soil, Red Soil, 70% Red Soil +30% B.C. Soil; 50% Red Soil + 50% B.C. Soil and 70% B.C Soil+30%Red Soil respectively.
• These sections were tested for their moisture retention, drainage, grass growth, crack growth, bouncing, and sustainability characteristics. Though the grass could grow on all combinations, B.C. Soil could retain higher moisture content for relatively longer time period.
• However, the surface remains sticky even with little watering. Red Soil has shown almost the opposite behaviour. The combination of 50% B.C. + 50% Red Soil has shown higher degree of shrinkage cracks, though other properties were favourable.
• The mix of 70% Red Soil + 30% B.C. Soil, on the other hand, has shown the favourable properties of moderate shrinkage cracks, good drainage, workable surface even after wetting while supporting good grass growth.

CONSTRUCTION OF FINAL TEST SECTION

• The final test section is of size 25’x 75’ was constructed with the cross section shown in Fig.1. A 40cm depth of trench of size 25’ x 75’ was excavated and the sub-grade was compacted using a roller. Over the compacted sub-grade, 10 cm thick brick powder was placed and compacted by suitable water content. Then a metal layer of 12.5 cm thickness using 65 mm and 12 mm size aggregate was laid and compacted. The above layers of brick powder and metal facilitate good subsurface drainage while giving stability. Over the metal layer, 7.5 cm thick red earth was compacted to its maximum dry density at its optimum moisture content of 13%. The top 10 cm thick layer consists of 70% red soil + 30% B.C. soil blended mix was compacted to its maximum dry density at its optimum moisture content of 15%.Subsequently, grass was grown over the finished surface (plate).
• The mix of 70% red soil + 30% B.C. soil has resulted in a favourable combination having the properties conductive for strength, moisture retention for grass growth and little to moderate shrinkage cracking.
• These theoretical aspects were further verified by making few balls of soil mixes and allowing them to dry under sun.
• The moisture content of test balls is kept at their plastic limit water contents to facilitate ball making by remoulding and the balls and were shaken on the palms until their surface becomes smooth.
• Then these balls were kept under sun to allow them dry and observations were made with regard to their degree of cracking .
• It can be observed that the red soil balls are almost free from shrinkage cracking (plate) while black cotton soil balls have shown severe cracking (plate).
• The degree of shrinkage cracking of clay balls is observed to be decreasing with the addition of red soil to it.
• For 50% red soil + 50% clay also surface cracks are observed. However balls with 70% red soil + 30% B.C. soil have shown only micro-cracks, confirming the theoretical aspects of this mix based on the index properties as shown in table – 1

 

Conclusions

• It is a fundamental principle that you cannot play good cricket on poor wickets.
• 50 %to 70% of black cotton soil is traditionally used for the preparation of top layer of the turf wicket without any scientific basis.
• On the basis of the research undertaken it was proved that the top 10 cm thick layer consists of 70% red soil + 30% B.C. soil blended mix was compacted to its maximum dry density at its optimum moisture content of 15%.
• Subsequently, locally available grass was grown over the finished surface.
• It is thought fit to upgrade the knowledge available to Physical Educationist, Coaches and Cricket administrators for the preparation of turf wickets that too with limited budget and with simple and most scientific way.

Vol.1/2018/43

PERSONAL HYGIENE FOR ADOLESCENT GIRLS AND WOMEN*

*Dr. B.S Anuradha

Department of Microbiology

Chaitanya Postgraduate College (Autonomous)

 Hanamkonda Telangana

Introduction:

Hygiene refers to the set of practices perceived by a community to be associated with the preservation ofhealth and healthy living. When a young girl starts to mature, many physical changes take place. Some of these changes include an increase in body hair, an increase in sweat (accompanied with body odor), facial skin problems and an oily scalp.

 Good personal hygiene should be practiced to combat the problems associated with these changes and to avoid contracting any diseases related to poor personal grooming.

A finely tuned body in good working order from head to toe promotes and reflects a sense of well being. If we treat our body with respect we actively encourage a feeling of vibrant health, energy and confidence.

Understanding how our body works and knowing how to take care of it on day to day basis are the two of the important elements to fitness and well being. Such type of body care includes looking after our skin, whatever its type, caring for our hair, keeping hands and nails well groomed ,looking after teeth and gums and also maintain cleanliness during the menstrual cycles. We have to also keep our eyes and ears healthy as these are delicate organs which need regular care and attention to serve us well for life.

Having good personal hygiene is important for both your health and physical appearance. Because a man and a woman’s chemistry is different, a woman needs to pay more special attention to her personal hygiene, especially during the days we have our menstrual period.

Personal hygiene is the process of maintaining cleanliness. Individual standards for personal hygiene vary from person to person depending on factors like culture, personal preference and learned habits. Laying out specific objectives for personal hygiene is a helpful way to ensure that all goals are met. Understanding the consequences of poor hygiene can serve as motivation for planning and accomplishing personal hygiene objectives.

Everyone needs to understand the basics of personal hygiene. Personal hygiene is the process of keeping your body clean. If you stop taking care of yourself and allow your level of personal hygiene to fall, you have a greater risk of becoming sick or being ostracized by others.

 This paper discuss about the personal hygiene on day to day basis especially for teenage girls and young women.

Personal hygiene basics:

SHOWER DAILY:

Shower daily to remove the offensive odour that develops when bacteria caused from sweating is left on the skin to grow. The odour from these bacteria has a strong smell to it, especially in the area of the armpits and the feet. The groin area may develop an unpleasant odour. Cleanse your body with warm water and a gentle soap. Apply deodorant, antiperspirant or talcum powder to underarms to keep sweating under control and to mask underarm odour if needed. An antiperspirant works to stop sweating, and it may help sweat dry up. Deodorant or talcum powder is designed to mask the unpleasant odour that comes from bacteria growth associated with sweating. Antiperspirants and deodorants may be irritating to sensitive skin.

KEEP HAIR CLEAN

Wash your hair at least once in a week basis and use oil-free hairstyling products. The sebaceous glands make more than enough oil in the teen years, so do not add to it with greasy products. The objective of hair care is to keep the hair clean and well-groomed. Choosing a shampoo formulated for your particular hair type can produce the best results.

Take care of your hair. Care for your hair each day. Don't forget to comb it. Knotty, frizzy, and unkempt hair is harder to manage or clean.

NAILS HYGIENE:. Trim your nails regularly to keep them how you like, also washing your hands often should keep them relatively clean underneath, but if not, use an under nail scraper to get the dirt under your nails. Clip and clean your fingernails and toenails at least once every week or once every two weeks, it depends on how much your nails grow.

FACIAL SKIN HYGIENE:

Wash your face two times a day without fail. Adolescents go through a period in which their oil glands produce more oil, and some adolescents wind up with acne. Use skin care products made to treat acne, and if your acne symptoms do not improve after eight weeks, go to a dermatologist to see what he/she can do to help you. Avoid using anything on your face that contains oil if you have acne, and do not rub the skin on your face with a heavy hand. Do not spend too much time under the sun, and keep your hands off your face. Skin care is vital for a youthful and attractive appearance. Daily washing of the face skin is vital for a youthful and attractive appearance. Daily washing of the face and body with mild soap and water is the best way to remove oil and debris that cause acne breakouts. Regular exfoliation using a scrub brush or exfoliating lotion helps remove dead skin cells that build up and clog pores.

BODY HAIR HYGIENE:

Shave your under arms and legs if you desire, but do so with care. Use a new blade if you are going to shave with a manual razor to lessen your risk of cutting yourself. You can also use hair removing creams, waxing to remove hair on your arms and legs. Take your time when shaving to avoid nicks and cuts. Removing hair from under arms reduces the body odour to a large extent.

Many women feel cleaner and more confident after they remove some or all of the hair from their genital region. You can rid yourself of pubic hair by waxing, shaving or using a depilatory cream. Do not apply the cream to your genitals it can cause burning and tissue damage.

ORAL HYGIENE:

Do not let halitosis, bad breath, become a problem. Brush your teeth after eating, especially after eating foods that contribute to bad breath. Clean your teeth for two minutes minimum, and replace your toothbrush after six months. Brush your tongue as well as the top of your mouth, using a light touch. Use floss to remove plaque and pieces of food from between your teeth. Schedule an appointment to have your teeth cleaned by a dentist once a year.

Cover your mouth or turn away from people when you cough and sneeze. It's not just manners, as you could spread illness even when healthy. It is now being taught to cough or sneeze into the crook of your elbow/sleeve. This keeps germs from your hands which might contaminate others before you get an opportunity to wash.

CHANGE YOUR CLOTHES EVERY DAY

Put on clean clothes every day to prevent smelling bad, as fabrics have a tendency to absorb odours. Make sure your socks and undergarments are freshly laundered. Wear dresses and blouses made of cotton or dresses which have a cotton lining as this fabric and other natural fabrics are good at blotting up perspiration. Do not wear clothes with stains, wrinkles, and smells on them. Sometimes reusing clothes are okay, as long as you are sure they're not dirty.

HAND WASHING:

Hand washing is instrumental in preventing infections of all kinds. Food-borne illnesses, contagious infections like the flu and many other pathogens can enter the body via unwashed hands. According to medical practioners hands should be washed for 20 seconds with soap and water to effectively kill harmful microbes. Always wash hands before eating and after handling garbage, pets or raw meat. While anti-bacterial hand sanitizers are a convenient option, the friction created by soap-and-water washing is the most effective method for killing germs

The basic rule is to wash hands before preparing food and after handling uncooked meat and poultry, before eating, after changing diapers, after coughing, sneezing, or blowing one's nose, after using the bathroom, and after touching animals or anything in the animal's environment. Use warm water and soap every time you wash your hands. Create a soapy lather and rub your hands for 15 to 20 seconds. You can sing Happy Birthday in this amount of time.

Practice good bathroom hygiene. Always wipe yourself clean and wash your hands using plenty of soap and warm water.

EAR HYGIENE:

 The ears are normally efficient, self cleaning organs that take care of themselves. The wax in the outer ear contains a bactericide that helps to trap dust and potential irritants. Body warmth melts the wax which travels outward with the help of the movement of the hairs in the outer ear. Never poke the wax with any type of cotton bud, hairpin or any instrument this can damage the ear drum and can result in deafness. Wash or wipe only the outer ear with a wash cloth.

VAGINAL HYGIENE:

Don't use soap to clean your private parts, this will disturb your natural pH-balance, and might result in yeast infection. It is good to clean any of the sweat and bacteria gathered around your inner thighs and around your private general area, but there is no need to clean the outer or especially inner parts of your vagina. The vagina is a self cleaning ecosystem of good bacterias, and your discharge (the clear fluid that comes from your vagina) is what sweeps out anything unwanted. Do not douche (a method of washing inside a part of someone’s body, using a narrow stream of liquid) as doctors do not recommend douching. Wash the pubic area with a mild soap and water to keep the area clean and free of odour. See a gynaecologist if you experience abnormal itching, pain, a burning sensation or a yellow/green or lumpy white fluid coming out of your vagina or if you experience pain when you urinate.

Women, especially the college going and working professionals often have problems about maintaining hygiene during periods. The dirty restrooms, unavailability of paper towels, water problems are some of the common problems encountered when they are badly in need during this time.

 Women are more prone to infection if they do not maintain a proper hygiene during this time. Here are few suggestions on personal hygiene during menstruation.

Menstrual Hygiene Tips-

1. What Should Your Bag Contain: Paper towels, sanitizers, sanitary pads, water, chocolates, pain killers (not advised but only in case of emergency). The paper towels will help in cleaning, sanitizers keep your hands dry and smell fresh, pads for changing. Water and chocolate to provide you energy and make you feel better. Pain killers if you suffer from severe muscle cramps.
2. Never calculate the number of napkins (sanitary pads) you use as it is at the cost of health and personal hygiene. Discard it after certain hours of use as it may stink due to sweat and the damp pad may even irritate skin.
3. In case you are using homemade cloth napkins wash them properly with soap and water and dry them in sun to get rid of all the bacteria present on it.
4. Soak the stained clothes in warm soapy water and wash it after minutes. Stacking up the stained clothes for long will make stains stubborn and stink even after wash.
5. For personal menstrual hygiene, maintain a separate set of clothes and under garments for that time as even if the clothes stink or carry germs, it won't spread to the clean ones.

CONCLUSION:

The above methods if followed will undoubtedly help all the girls and young women free from any infections.

Poor hygiene deters people from getting to know you. If people find your body odour or unkempt, unclean appearance offensive, they're likely to pass judgments on your personality and your ability to care for yourself on a basic level. This can dissuade them forming friendships and meaningful bonds with you. People generally avoid smells and situations they find unpleasant. Maintaining good personal hygiene will benefit your social life in that it will remove this barrier to interaction and connections.
Appearances broadcast more than just how we look to the world. For example, when you present to a job interview well-dressed, displaying good hygiene, you look like a capable professional, able to handle yourself with care and respect. If you appear with poor hygiene, even if you're the most qualified candidate, it may send the message that you're sloppy, you don't care about your performance and you don't value and respect yourself. If your hygiene declines in school, college or the workplace, it can lead people to question your abilities and even your mental and physical health. At the very least, good hygiene in the workplace or school/College environment avoids creating unnecessary distractions to those around you.

References

U.S. Centers for Disease Control: Wash Your Hands

Hygiene on the Skin: When is Clean Too Clean?

Hygiene Expert: What is Personal Hygiene?

Healthy living and well being By Readers Digest

Vol.1/2018/44

ROAD MAP TO 2020 OLYMPICS

Dr .P. Ravi Kumar, Head , Dept. of Physical Education

National Institute of Technology , Warangal ,INDIA

Ancient Olympic Games

• No one is sure how the Olympic Games really began, but the first recorded event took place in Olympia about in the date of 776 BC.
• These Games were held at the place Olympia, every four years. The four year time span was called an “Olympiad”
• Many people came to visit Olympia to worship Zeus and his wife Hera; the king and queen of the Greek gods and the Olympic games began as part of a religious festival, which took place in Olympia, in honour of Zeus.

Eligibility to participate

• There were three main criteria for participation in the Games.
  • One had to be male
  • Of Greek origin
  • Women, slaves and foreigners were excluded.
• Women who wanted to race had a separate festival called the Heraia.
• Married women were not even allowed to watch the games – only men and unmarried women! It was only in the year 1900 that women were finally allowed to take part.

Events/Rewards

• Originally foot race was the only item and it was conducted in a single day. Later on other events like chariot race, horse race, Pentathlon (Running, Long jump, Discus throw, Javelin throw) and Wrestling.
• The Olympic winner was highly honoured. Poets immortalised his name in poems and sculptures carved his figure in stones. The concerned Olympiad was named after the name of the victor in 200 yards race called the staderace. To be a victory in the Olympics was the highest honour coveted by every Greek.
• In the modern Olympics, winners are presented with medals in gold, silver and bronze, but, in ancient Greece, there was only one winner whose prize was a wreath or crown of leaves. it was a wild olive.
• According to some sources, a lifetime seat at the table in the feasting hall. Winners were sometimes granted large sums of money by their own city state, when they returned home.

End of the Game

• The Olympic Games continued for many years but in 393AD, 1,166 years after they first began, a Roman Emperor named Theodosius I banned them.
• Olympia fell into ruin. There was an earthquake and a flood and the original ruins were buried and hidden underground.

It remained hidden for more than 1000 years and there wasn’t another Olympic Games until1896

Modern Olympic Games

• This time the Olympics were international and took place in the Greek city of Athens.
• It was Pierre de Coubertin of France who dreamt up this ambitious project and Planned for the modern games began in 1894, and implemented with setting up the International Olympic Committee (IOC) with a Olympic mottoCITIUS – ALTIUS – FORTIUS (Faster, Higher, Stronger) as the definition to the philosophy of sport.
• Thanks to Coubertin, This date of the first Games, April 6,1896 in the Panathenaic Stadium, marked the beginning of an extraordinary event that has now lasted for over a century!In all, 311 athletes from 13 countries participated with 9 disciplines of sports and 43 events.

Renovation
The important thing in the Olympics is not winning but taking part. For the essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well.

Although the modern Olympic Games were inspired by the past, they are also quite different:

The ancient Olympics were conducted for five days. But the modern Olympics are conducted for 16 days More sports added apart from ancient ones.They were held in different places and Athletes from all over the world participated.A great deal of the ancient games still applies to the modern and yet so muchhas changed. 

Summer Olympic Games

• The Summer and Winter Games originally took place in the same year, but since 1992 the Winter Games have been held two years from the Summer Games.
• However the Summer Games and the Winter Games continue to be organized once every four years.
• In the Summer Games, athletes compete in a wide variety of competitions on the track, on the road, on grass, in the water, on the water, in the open air and indoors.
• The Winter Games feature seven sports practiced on snow and ice, both indoors and outdoors.

India at Summer Games

• India first participated at the Olympic Games in 1900, with a lone athlete (Norman Pritchard) winning two medals in athletics.
• The National Olympic Committee for India is the Indian Olympic Association, and was created in 1927.
• The nation first sent a team (Hockey) to the Summer Olympic Games in 1920, and has participated in every Summer Games since then.
• Indian athletes have won a total of 28 medals

Winter Olympic Games

• Winter sports made their Olympic debut at the Summer Games in London in 1908!
• Figure skating competitions were organized for men, women and pairs. The experience was repeated at the Antwerp Games in 1920, along with an ice hockey tournament.
• It was in Chamonix in 1924 ( at Chamonix, France ) that winter sports finally got their own Winter Olympic Games, held in association with the 1924 Summer Olympics.
• Six sports were on the programme: bobsleigh, curling, ice hockey, figure and speed skating, skiing (cross country and ski jumping) and the military patrol race.
• The Winter and Summer Olympic Games were held in the same years until 1992, when the governing body for the Olympic Games, the International Olympic Committee (IOC), decided to place the Summer and Winter Games on separate four-year cycles in alternating even-numbered years.

India at Winter Games

• India competed at the Winter Olympic Games for the first time at the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria.
• India did not win any medals till now.
• 1964 - The sole athlete representing India was Jeremy Bujakowski, who competed in the Men's Downhill event in Alpine Skiing.
• 1968 – Again Jeremy Bujakowski in represented India in Alpine Skiing
• 1988 - After 20 Years India again sent athletes to Winter games.
  • Women's Slalom skier Shailaja Kumar became the first woman to compete for India in the Winter Olympic Games. Gul Dev and Kishor Rahtna Rai both represented India in Men's Slalom.
• 1992 - Nanak Chand and Lal Chuni both competed in the Men's Slalom and Giant Slalom events in Alpine Skiing
• 1998 – After missing 1994 Games,in 1998 India's only competing athlete was Men's Singles Luge competitor 16-year-old Shiva Keshavan.
• 2002 - India's sole competitor was Shiva Keshavan in the Men's Luge, who placed 33rd overall.
• 2006 – 4 Athletes participated.
• 2010 - Three athletes represented India .

Youth Olympic Games

• The Youth Olympic Games (YOG) first held in Singapore from 14 to 26 August 2010.
• The games are held every four years in staggered summer and winter events consistent with the current Olympic Games format.
• The age limitation of the athletes is 14 to 18.
• 204 Countries participated in Summer Games.
• 2012 Winter Youth Olympic Games at Innsbruck, Austria, officially known as the I Winter Youth Olympic Games (from 13 to 22 January 2012) .

Approximately 1100 athletes from 70 countries competed

India at Youth Summer Olympics

• The Indian squad comprised 32 athletes competing in 13 sports: aquatics (swimming), archery, athletics, badminton, basketball, boxing, judo, rowing, shooting, table tennis, tennis, weightlifting and wrestling.
• India won 8 Medals.( 5 Silver , 3 Bronze )

India at Youth Winter Olympics

• One girl athlete represented India in 2012 Winter Youth Olympics, Aanchal Thakur in alpine skiing.

Paralympics Games

• The Paralympic Games are a major international multi-sport event where athletes with a physical disability compete.
• Disability includes athletes with mobility disabilities, amputations, blindness, and cerebral palsy.
• Paralympic Games are governed by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).
• The Paralympics have grown from a small gathering of British World War II veterans in 1948.

Here also we have Winter and Summer Paralympics Games, which are held immediately following their respective Olympic Games

India at Summer Paralympic Games

• India made its Summer Paralympic début at the 1968 Games.
• 1968 – Held at Aviv, Israel from November 4 to 13, 1968. Ten Indian athletes competed, eight men and two women. The team did not win any medals.
• 1972 - Held at Heidelberg, West Germany, India sent ten competitors, seven male and three female. Petkar won the Gold in Men's 50 m Freestyle.
• 1984 – At NewYork ,6 Athletes,all men, participated winning 4 medals (2 Silver , 2 Bronze )
  • Bedi, Joginder Singh ( 2 Bronze, 1 Silver ) – in Discus, Javelin,Shotput
  • Kesarhar, Bhimrao ( 1 Silver ) – Javelin
• 1988 – At Seoul, 2 Men and 1 Women participated.No Medal.
• 1992 – At Barcelona,7Men, 2 Women Participated from India.No Medal.
• 1996 – At Atlanta,9 Men participated. No Medal.
• 2000 – At Sidney, 4 men Participated , No Medal.
• 2004 – At Athens , 11 men and 1 woman participated, and won two medals at the Games, one gold and one bronze.
  • Devendra Jhajharia, Javelin thrower, won gold and Rajinder Singh won bronze for powerlifting in the 56-kg category.
• 2008 – At Beijing, five athletes (all male) competed in athletics, power lifting and shooting. India did not win a medal at these Games.
• In Total India Won :
  • 2 Gold , 2 Silver, 3 Bronze

Winter Paralympic Games

• The 1976 Winter Paralympic Games were the first Winter Paralympics. They were held in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden from 21 to 28 February 1976.
• The 1992 Winter Paralympics were the first Winter Games to use the same facilities as the Winter Olympics.
• India has never participated in the Winter Paralympic Games.

Policies &Reports

• Educational Policy 1904
• The Calcutta University Commission (1917-19)
• The Physical Education Committee of the Government of Bombay ( 1937,1946)
• Radhakrishnan Commission (The University Education Commission) 1948-49
• Secondary Education Commission (1952-53)
• Education Commission (1964-66) popularly known as Kothari Commission
• National policy on Education (NPE) -1986

The National Policy of Education -1986, has very rightly mentioned that "Sports and Physical Education are an integral part of the learning process, and well be included in the evaluation of performance. A nation-wide infrastructure for physical education, Sports and games will be built into the educational edifice" (cited on 8.20, NPE-1986).

• In deciding the curriculum load the need to allocate sufficient time to sports and physical education which the NPE, 1986 holds as an integral of the learning process, should be kept in mind.
• Physical education and Yoga should be introduced for at least 45 minutes per day, preferably just after
• Approved games should be included in the school time-table for at least two periods in a week.
• Special incentives will need to be given to students who perform well in sports and games.
• The basic equipment, such as Footballs and Volleyballs may be provided to each school, similarly, some amount of contingency may be provided to each school.

National policy on Education (NPE) -1986

• A scheme for creation and improvement of playgrounds should be taken up on a phased basis under Jawahar Rojgar Yojana (JRY) and Nehru Yuvak Kendras (NYK).
• An intensive and extensive programme of teachers training to equip all subject teachers with necessary skills to impart training in physical education, games and Yoga will be necessary.
• The present programme to train and recruit physical education teachers for high schools should be expanded.
• New schools may be established/recognized only if playgrounds are available.
• A comprehensive system of inter-school tournaments and championships in select disciplines should be introduced over a period of time. This system should culminate in a National School Championship.
• Special cash awards to winning schools and a special system of incentives for successful athletes also needs to be introduced.

Demographic Projections of India

Youth of India is going to be the major advantage over the other countries? Young India!

If so, Is India going to be strong nation in Sports? YES

Schools and University Sports

There are about 10,30,000 Schools!760 Universities!38,000 colleges!

23 crore youth in the age of 10-18 it is possible if we focus on School and University sports

Where are we searching for talent?

• Not in schools! Not in Colleges! Not in Universities!

So we left the mainstream and searching for talent in side streams!

Who Has to fund the National level university player for long term coaching and participation in world universiade

University? UGC ? AIU ? Ministry of Sports ?

No! Every agency tries to disown. Player survives on the Mercy of individuals operating these organizations

Fate of talented sports persons in university sector

• No financial support from govt.
• Only few universities promote sports
• No sports scholarships
• No prize money

Many Universities are not extending financial support even when their players get selected for the world universities team Some Universities feel that it is the AIU or country’s responsibility

The sports leading countries consider World Universiade as final stepping stone for Olympics

Country Percentage of Olympians who participated in

World Universiade

USA 95%

Canada 90%

China 92%

India? 0%

Why our Olympians do not participate in World Universiade?

• No opportunities for players
• Organizations work in isolation
• No national commitment in organizations
• Sports Federations, Universities, SAI hostel, NSOs like Railways, Air India, ONGC, promote players for their own organizations and no commitment for country

Rarely organizations consider players as Nation’s Wealth.

Are the universities playing their role?

• Development of sports culture?
• Financial support for their respective players for long term coaching and to participate in the World University Championships?
• Sports Scholarships for the Inter University Medallists?
• Conduct of long term Coaching camps?
• Incentive marks and exemption of attendance during sports participation?

Winning formulae for Indian Universities team in OLYMPICS

AIU has to plan long term sports programs

• Identify some universities as centres of excellence in sports and support
• UGC/ Ministry of sports to fund the centres
• Select the probable’s of the Indian Universities teams in the Inter University tournaments
• Admit the outstanding employed players also (Olympians, international medallists within age limit of 28) in Open Universities and select them for the Indian Universities contingent
• Keep long term training for each team in one university
• Involve concerned federations to bring best players to university sector
• Make India flag high in the Next Olympics.

Mission Olympic 2020 possible only with

• Team Work of
• Governments
• Sports Associations
• Education Sector
• Parents

Concentrate on…..

• Clearly building clusters of excellence by sport is the way to go.
• Pullela Gopichand has single-handedly built a cluster for badminton in Hyderabad. This can be further developed to field a large number of players, in order to dominate this sport in Tokyo??
• Haryana & Punjab is a cluster of excellence for boxing and wrestling. This should be given a thrust with the intent to win big in these two sports.
• The Northeast has shown remarkable energy in sports, with the likes of Mary Kom and Dipa Karmakar. Focussing on sports there is a sure-fire way of bringing the region into the mainstream.
• Kerala is big in boat racing and martial arts, a natural place to develop capabilities in canoeing and sports like judo and Taekwondo.Mallakhamb is big in Maharashtra, and gymnastics is a natural extension for this

Road Map to Olympics

• Concentrate on 10 priority sports
• Host maximum number of major international events .
• Individual academies and IPL-style sports leagues should be encouraged in the 10 identified Olympic sports
• Hire best national and international coaches; grade them periodically to maintain quality
• All sportsmen to be divided in three categories based on their past Performance and world rankings
• Identify talent at a young age
• Have a national sports Injury Insurance Scheme to cover all sportsmen between the age of 5 and 35 years
• Implement Draft National Sports Development Bill, 2013 to bring transparency and accountability in sports bodies.

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Vol.1/2018/45

THE EFFECT OF YOGIC EXERCISES ON FITNESS COMPONENTS

Dr. P. Ravi Kumar*

INTRODUCTION

Yoga is an Indian physical Culture, which can be practiced by anyone and which does not require any special equipment or clothing. But it requires a small amount of space and a strong desire for a healthier life.

Yoga helps in building physical and mental health of an individual. Yogasana is a scientific procedure of exercise which affects the inmost parts of the body. Now the Indian physical culture is accepted world over and around 28 countries are now enjoying the fruits of our culture.

Yoga has become a part and parcel of Physical Education and it is getting its due weightage at various levels such as Schools, Colleges, Clubs and Senior Citizens are also doing yogic practices to delay the ageing process and to avoid various medical ailments.

Studies on Padmasana, Siddhasana, Pachimottanasana, Bhujangasana, Dhanurasana, Kurmasana etc., have revealed some degree of specificity in terms of Cardio-respiratory adjustments. Various studies have shown that regular practice of asanas and pranayama can help aliments like arthritis, arteriosclerosis, chronic fatigue, astama, varicose veins, heart conditions, temperature, heart beat and blood pressure. Today there can no longer be any doubt of yoga’s effectiveness as curative and preventive medicines.

Keeping this as a back ground it is thought fit to find out how far this yogic practices will have the effect on Flexibility, Agility, Muscular Endurance and Circulo-Respiratory Endurance on girls students below 12 years. Healthy subjects who consistently oblige conducting yogic practices, which were designed for the High School level, were choosen after careful personal enquiry. The subjects of 12 years age group were selected randomly from A.P. Residential Girls Schools, Hasanparthy, Warangal, Andhra Pradesh. Less weight and over weight girl students were eliminated from testing. The body weights of girl students whose matching weight (+ or – 5 to 10 Kgs) are taken into consideration.

Purpose

The purpose of study was to investigate the effect of yogic exercises on Flexibility, Agility, Muscular Endurance and Circulo-Respiratory Endurance.

Material Methods

The present study was conducted on 50 girl students of 12 years age group. None of the student has previously done any yogic exercise. All the subjects were divided into two groups namely yogic exercise group and control group, each group consists of 25 subjects. During the training period the experimental group underwent their respective training programme i.e. yogic exercises of 45 minutes a day for 6 days a week for 12 weeks. The control group did not participate in any specialised programme.

Flexibility, Agility, Muscular Endurance and Circulo-Respiratory Endurance was measured by AAHPERD Health related Physical Fitness Tests i.e. Sit and Reach, Shuttle Run, Bent Knee Sit ups and 9 mins Run/Walk test respectively.

All the scores were recorded before and after the training. Appropriate statistical treatment was administered. The statistical derivations includes Mean, Standard Deviation and ‘T’ test.

RESULTS AND OBSERVATIONS

The results are given in Tables -1 and 2. The tables displayed the data of Flexibility, Agility, Muscular Endurance and Circulo-Respiratory Endurance. The difference between pre test mean and post test means are presented in each table and ‘T’ value is also indicated. The Table-1 shows that the control group has no significant difference between the pre test and the post test means for the four parameters. The Table - 2 shows that the yogic (experimental) group shows significant difference between the pre test and the post test at 0.001 level of significance for Flexibility, Agility, Muscular Endurance and Circulo-Respiratory Endurance.

The present study establishes the fact that, the yogic training for the subjects definitely enhances the Flexibility, Agility, Muscular Endurance and Circulo-Respiratory Endurance.

TABLE – 1

VARIATION OF MEAN, STANDARD DEVIATION AND ‘T’- TEST OF CONTROL GROUP.

Sl. No	Parameters	Pre Test		Post Test		Obtained ‘T’ Value	Required ‘T’ Value at 0.01 Level
		Mean	Standard Deviation	Mean	Standard Deviation
1	Flexibility	33.68 Cms (25)	4.056	34.64 Cms	3.968	0.845	2.80
2	Agility	12.25 Sec (25)	0.493	12.41 Sec	0.493	0.658
3	Muscular Endurance	14.72 No.s (25)	3.975	15.76 No’s	3.932	0.93
4	Circulo-Respiratory Endurance	1462.66 Mts (25)	114.93	1470.6 Mts	114.75	0.2463

*Number of subjects is given in the parenthesis.

TABLE – 2

VARIATION OF MEAN STANDARD DEVIATION AND ‘T’ TEST OF EXPERIMENTAL GROUP.

SL. NO	Parameters	PRE TEST		POST TEST		Obtained ‘T’ Value	Required ‘T’ Value at 0.01 Level
		Mean	Standard Deviation	Mean	Standard Deviation
1	Flexibility	35.52 Cms (25)	4.579	41.12 Cms	4.641	4.294**	2.80
2	Agility	12.36 Sec (25)	0.643	11.63 Sec	0.447	4.575**
3	Muscular Endurance	15.72 No’s (25)	6.049	28.6 No’s	7.332	6.775**
4	Circulo-Respiratory Endurance	1446.0 Mts (25)	93.67	1540.6 Mts	87.96	3.681**

*Number of subjects is given in the parenthesis.

** Significant at 0.01 level of confidence.

REFERENCES

1. Bramachari, D., Sahni, S., Vachani. V., Ran. K., and Rai. L: A comparative study of some individual yogic postures on ventilator responses in Yoga proficient subjects. J.Res. Edu. Ind. Med. 2, 1989, pp 7-17.
2. Bramachari, D., Sahni, S., Vachani. V., Ram. K., and Rai. L: Cardio-ventilatory responses to yogic practices of Muktasana, Paschimottanasana and Dhanurasana. J. Res. Edu. Ind. Med. 2, 1989, pp 198-29.
3. Harison, H. Clarke,. David H. Clarke: Application of Measurement to Physical Education, 6^th, Prentice Hall Inc., Engle Wood Cliffs, New Jersey, pp 153-159.
4. Yobu Test measurement and evaluation, Greece printers madras, pp 435-513, 1998.

* Professor of Physical Education, National Institute of Technology, Warangal (TS) India.

Vol.1/2018/46

 International Charter of Physical Education and Sport

Proclaimed by

the 20th session of

the Unesco General Conference

(1978)

PREAMBLE

The General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, meeting in Paris at its twentieth session, this twenty-first day of November 1978, Recalling that in the United Nations Charter the peoples proclaimed their faith in fundamental human rights and in the dignity and worth of the human person, and affirmed their determination to promote social progress and better standards of life, Recalling that by the terms of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth therein without discrimination of any kind as to race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth .or other consideration, Convinced that one of the essential conditions for the effective exercise of human rights is that everyone should be free to develop and preserve his or her physical, Intellectual and moral powers, and that access to physical education and sport should consequently be assured arid guaranteed for all human beings, Convinced that to preserve and develop the physical, intellectual and moral powers of the human being improves the quality of life at the national and the international levels, Believing that physical education and sport should make a more effective contribution to the inculcation of fundamental human values underlying the full development of peoples, Stressing accordingly that physical education and sport should seek to promote closer communion between peoples and between individuals, together with disinterested emulation, solidarity and fraternity, mutual respect and understanding, and full respect for the integrity and dignity, of human beings, Considering that responsibilities and obligations are incumbent upon the industrialized countries and the developing countries alike for reducing the disparity which continues to exist between them in respect of free and universal access to physical education and sport, Considering that to integrate physical education and sport in the natural environment is to enrich them and to inspire respect of the earth's resources and a concern to conserve them and use them for the greater good of humanity as a whole, Taking Into account the diversity of the forms of training and education existing In the world, but noting that. notwithstanding the differences between national sports structures, it is clearly evident that physical education and sport are not confined to physical well-being and health but also contribute to the full and well-balanced development of the human being, Stressing the importance for peace and friendship among peoples of cooperation between the international governmental and non-governmental organizations responsible for physical education and sport, Proclaims this International Charter for the purpose of placing the development of physical education and sport at the service of human progress, promoting their development, and urging governments, competent non-governmental organizations, educators, families and individuals themselves to be guided thereby, to disseminate it and to put it into practice.

Article 1

The practice of physical education and sport is a fundamental right for all

1.1 Every human being has a fundamental right of access to physical education and sport, which are essential for the full development of his personality. The freedom to develop physical, intellectual and moral powers through physical education and sport must be guaranteed both within the educational system and in other aspects of social life.

1.2 Every one must have full opportunities, in accordance with his national tradition of sport, for practicing physical education and sport, developing his physical fitness and attaining a level of achievement in sport which corresponds to his gifts.

1.3 Special opportunities must be made available for young people, including children of pre-school age, for the aged and for the handicapped to develop their personalities to the full through physical education and sport programmes suited to their requirements.

 Article 2

Physical education and sport form an essential element of lifelong education in the overall education system.

2.1 Physical education and sport, as an essential dimension of education and culture, must develop the abilities, will-power and self-discipline of every human being as a fully integrated member of society. The continuity of physical activity and the practice of sports must be ensured throughout life by means of a global, lifelong and democratized education.

2.2 At the individual level, physical education and sport contribute to the maintenance and improvement of health, provide a wholesome leisure-time occupation and enable man to overcome the drawbacks of modern living. At the community level, they enrich social relations and develop fair play, which is essential not only to sport itself but also to life in society.

2.3 Every overall education system must assign the requisite place and importance to physical education and sport in order to establish a balance and strengthen links between physical activities and other components of education.

 Article 3

Physical education and sport programmes must meet individual and social needs.

3.1 Physical education and sport programmes must be designed to suit the requirements and personal characteristics of those practicing them, as well as the institutional, cultural, socio-economic and climatic conditions of each country. They must give priority to the requirements of disadvantaged groups in society.

3.2 In the process of education in general, physical education and sport programmes must, by virtue of both their content and their timetables, help to create habits and hebaviour patterns conductive to full development of the human person.

3.3 Even when it has spectacular features, competitive sport must always aim in accordance with the Olympic ideal, to serve the purpose of educational sport, of which it represents the crowning epitome. It must in no way be influenced by profit-seeking commercial interests.

 Article 4

Teaching, coaching and administration of physical education and sport should be performed by qualified personnel

4.1 All personnel who assume professional responsibility for physical education and sport must have appropriate qualifications and training. They must be carefully selected in sufficient numbers and given preliminary as well as further training to ensure that they reach adequate levels of specialization.

4.2 ‘Voluntary personnel’, given appropriate training and supervision, can make an invaluable contribution to the comprehensive development of sport and encourage the participation of the population in the practice and organization of physical and sport activities.

4.3 Appropriate structures must be established for the training of personnel for physical education and sport. Personnel who have received such training must be given a status in keeping with the duties they perform.

 Article 5

Adequate facilities and equipment are essential to physical education and sport.

5.1 Adequate and sufficient facilities and equipment must be provided and installed to meet the needs of intensive and safe participation in both in-school and out-of-school programmes concerning physical education and sport.

5.2 It is incumbent on governments, public authorities, schools and appropriate private agencies, at all levels, to join forces and plan together so as to provide and make optimum use of installations, facilities and equipment for physical education and sport.

5.3 It is essential that plans for rural and urban development include provision for long-term needs in the matter of installations, facilities and equipment for physical education and sport, taking account the opportunities offered by the natural environment.

 Article 6

Research and evaluation are indispensable components of the development of physical education and sport.

6.1 Research and evaluation in physical education and sport should make for the progress of all forms of sport and help to bring about an improvement in the health and safety of participants as well as in training methods and organization and management procedures. The education system will thereby benefit from innovations calculated to develop better teaching methods and standards of performance.

6.2 Scientific research, whose social implications in this sphere should not be overlooked, must be oriented in such a way that it does not allow of improper applications to physical education and sport.

 Article 7

Information and documentation help to promote physical education and sport.

7.1 The collection, provision and dissemination of information and documentation on physical education and sport constitute a major necessity. In particular, there is a need to circulate information on the results of research and evaluation studies concerning programmes, experiments and activities.

 Article 8

The mass media should exert a positive influence on physical education and sport.

8.1 Without prejudice to the right of freedom of information, it is essential that everyone involved in the mass media be fully conscious of his responsibilities having regard to the social importance, the humanistic purpose and the moral values embodied in physical education and sport.

8.2 Relations between those involved in the mass media and specialists in physical education and sport must be close and based on mutual confidence in order to exercise a positive influence on physical education and sport and to ensure objective and well-founded information. Training of personnel for the media may include elements relating to physical education and sport.

 Article 9

National Institutions play a major role in physical education and sport.

9.1 It is essential that public authorities at all levels and specialized non-governmental bodies encourage those physical education and sport activities whose educational value is most evident. Their action shall consist enforcing legislation and regulations, providing material assistance and adopting all other measures of encouragement, stimulation and control. The public authorities will also ensure that such fiscal measures are adopted as may encourage these activities.

9.2 It is incumbent on all institutions responsible for physical education and sport to promote a consistent, overall and decentralized plan of action in the framework of lifelong education so as to allow for continuity and co-ordination between compulsory physical activities and those practiced freely and spontaneously.

 Article 10

International co-operation is a prerequisite for the universal and well-balanced promotion of physical education and sport.

10.1 It is essential that States and those international and regional intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations in which interested countries are represented and which are responsible for physical education and sport give physical education and sport greater prominence in international bilateral and multilateral co-operation.

10.2 International co-operation must be prompted by wholly disinterested motives in order to promote and stimulate endogenous development in this field.

10.3 Through co-operation and the pursuit of mutual interests in the universal language of physical education and sport, all peoples will contribute to the preservation of lasting peace, mutual respect and friendship and will thus create a propitious climate for solving international problems. Close collaboration between all interested national and international governmental and non-governmental agencies, based on respect for the specific competence of each, will necessarily encourage the development of physical education and sport throughout the world.