A hobby can be defined as a pursuit which one undertakes in leisure for pleasure and not for profit. The hobby does not aim at earning any money, though sometimes it may indirectly bring about financial benefit. A man engaged in the collection of stamps may unknowingly collect a few rare stamps which may bring him money. Hobbies reflect the life and personality of a person and give us an insight into the temperaments tastes and propensities of the people. 

Life in the modern age has become monotonous, dreary and dull and hobbies provide the required change from the drudgery of a routine life and serve the purpose of a refreshing change. The fever and fret of our life is forgotten, though may be for a short time, when one is engaged in a hobby.

Reading fictions and journals, stamp- collecting, coin collecting, painting, fishing, photography, writing to pen friends are some of the popular hobbies. Collecting autographs of celebrities, boating, playing golf, cricket and other games are also the hobbies of some persons. Gardening is more or less confined to rural areas as their is hardly any place left for this hobby in the urban areas. 


Hunting, which used to b a very popular hobby in the olden days, when means of entertainment were very few and far between, has been given up as it involved the killing of innocent animals.

Some of the popular hobbies among women are social-work, knitting, stitching, crochet- work though some women indulge in negative hobbies of rumour- mongering and scandle mongering.

As it's rightly said that an idle man's brain is the devil's workshop, one should not remain idle and hobbies should fill up one's leisure which can serve as a welcome interlude in the tedium of one's daily life. Recreation is  not the aim of hobbies which give us knowledge we don't get from text books. Besides serving as mental tonics hobbies are an excellent way of spending one's leisure.



There is no doubt that hobbies are the best means of spending leisure and usefu; hobbies can certainly keep people away from evil ways of life. They channelise the exuberance, enthusiasm and energy of the young and can go a long way in solving many complex problems.  Hobby should not be converted into a dull dreary task but should be treated as a mental past time. Regular work should not be ignored for the sake of a hobby.