When I was young I lived on a narrow lane with a number of houses in a small area, all so close to one another that you could look out a window and see what was happening in the other house. The lane was around 6 feet wide and 30 feet long, and separated row of houses four each on either side. We did not have cable television in the 1990s. At night I would sit on the stairs leading to the terrace from our first-floor verandah and watch the neighbour’s TV.

Playgrounds were in abundance, with plenty of kids to play with. There was ample time to play and we were always enthusiastic and looking forward to a game or two.

Though this was a congested neighbourhood, it was not difficult to find open green spaces near enough. Some of them were playgrounds with prominent green fields spread over a vast area. One would go there only if one was seriously about play. Then there were small parks that were hardly maintained. Anybody could go and play there.

Times have changed and I am now in the twilight of my twenties, living in an urban neighbourhood with wide open lanes and big houses. People hardly know their neighbours. Though there are plenty of houses, well planned and neatly arranged in colonies, there are hardly any open spaces left. Kids nowadays are either hooked to the idiot box or engrossed in the computer from the age of six. When asked to go and play outside, they reply with a question — where to play and whom to play with?

Parents nowadays overload children with so many expectations that they lead a robotic existence. They have hardly any quality time left after studies. During the little time there is, the only option is to shake a leg or two on the lanes. These lanes double up as cricket pitches with bricks used in place of wickets, or as badminton courts with the net tied to the adjacent houses. There is space for a casual game of hide and seek.

There being plenty of vehicles in each household, there is always one or another going up or down the lane and disturbing the peace of play. Small playgrounds hardly exist where one could go anytime and play unhindered.

The only petty spaces that are left in the residential colonies are either being ruined in the name of landscaping or being “beautified” in the name of development. Brick paths dot the boundaries, benches and swings, consuming the little space left in the middle, leaving hardly any space for the kids to play freely in such spaces. Even if they do play there is always the possibility of having to endure the wrath of the elderly, which would douse any spark or desire left in innocent minds to play.

The big grounds, which boast of well maintained grassy surfaces, are hard to find, and one needs to go through an elaborate system in order to enable access to these luxury playgrounds.

In such a scenario there is little inspiration left in the kids to continue playing. The playgrounds are slowly dying, suffocated by urbanisation.

It is indeed sad that we are losing such a precious resource. There is no doubt that this is bound to have an impact on the lives of the coming generation. The time to act is now.

kartik.lubana@gmail.com