Pune is a known tourist destination due to its moderate climate throughout the year and a host of sightseeing options such as historical monuments, gardens and places for enjoying adventure activities and fun. The cultural capital of Maharashtra also hosts institutions working for the betterment of youth and the underprivileged.

And then there is Garware Bal Bhavan, a place where children of all age groups indulge in creative and entertainment activities. The centre that came into being almost twenty-five years ago, is the brainchild of Mrs. Shobha Bhagwat, who felt that there weren't enough spaces in the city for children, where they could play or engage themselves in some kind of a recreational or more importantly, a creative activity essential for their overall development. Many mothers shared Mrs. Bhagwat's concerns and wanted an alternative. When Mrs. Bhagwat floated the idea of setting up a centre, they readily agreed to volunteer for the cause. Soon enough, young girls with a social outlook were enrolled and groomed for the job. They accompanied Mrs. Bhagwat to institutions working in the field of creating an interest towards creative activities among children. And thus was born Garware Bal Bhavan!"We started out with about seven-hundred students who came after school hours just to play and get engaged in one of the creative activities", says Mrs Bhagwat.

The number however doubled within a short span of time. Apart from playing, the children were introduced to some basic physical exercises. The summers, which are a vacation time for Indian children, started witnessing a drastic increase in participation. In order to sustain interest, additional activities like the yoga, gymnastics, judo and karate were gradually introduced. "We noticed that students showed more interest in these activities rather than the common mass drills", she adds.

The most preferred games of children happen to be musical chairs and relay races. To further enhance creative thinking and hone skills, workshops on painting, paper folding, growing vegetables, toy making, skating etc are also conducted.

It is a known fact that many children today, after having spent almost six hours in school, return to empty homes since both the parents are employed. As a result, they take to computer games or television, to spend their free time and gradually become addicts. A lot of the content on television, in particular, is unsuitable for child-viewership. This tends to corrupt their minds and also stunt their creative or imaginative ability. These being unfavourable indicators, Bal Bhavan, Pune attempts to provide a healthy alternative by offering facilities to play and learn new skills to growing-up children.

Another important need of the hour for students of certain age groups is personality development which often gets ignored in regular schools. At Bal Bhavan, the child by interacting with other children and instructors develops an active personality. Socializing, as it's called, has become an integral part of our every-day living. If you tend to keep away from others in childhood itself, you are likely to develop a shy personality, which might pose a greater challenge in adulthood.

Therefore, taking cue from Garware Bal Bhavan, more of such institutes should open up with the help of which, the important task of moulding the future of India can be undertaken in a better way.