Traditional-Modern Continuum of Leisure in the RURAL India

The present study is an attempt to analyze the gap that exists between traditional and modern leisure activities in rural India. All the societies have a hint of their traditional instincts in all sorts of modern activities. Leisure activities have an important role to play in the development of the society as an energy boost up,. Indian villagers perform various leisure activities either individually or collectively through the means of traditional institutions incorporating usage of traditional pattern. These activities have an important position in the rural settings in India. They act as a pillar to leisure activities in villages. Traditional leisure activities are performed in accordance with the environmental conditions. The development of modern techniques saw a transformation in leisure activities. However, between modernity and traditionalism, rural parts of india find themselves standing in a very conflicting situation. One could notice a sharp contrast between traditional and modern methodologies. The traditional pattern promoted togetherness, whereas modern methods gave more importance to individuality, lonesome leisure time, personal space etc. Traditional activities include ‘Alha’, ‘mela’, ‘drama’/(Nautanki;  Nukkad Natak). Modern activities include watching films, substance abuse, listening to modern music. People who could afford to adopt new modern technologies started to modern leisure activities. Whereas, those who could not, found themselves in a continuum between traditional pattern and modern techniques. This resulted in the division of class between villagers. This is an analyses of gap created in rural india, which is due to their adoption of modern leisure time activities over traditional.