Udupi: It was as day for young children of age between 8 and 16, budding as writers and authors of poetry and other literatures that attracted hundreds of children at Barkur for an extracurricular activates camp in literature and Yoga on Tuesday Jan.14.

Dr Jayant Kaikini, a former editor of a monthly magazine in a Kannada and a cine lyricist inaugurated the camp and told that children have to start writing at a young age about their experiences in life and what they see around them in society. Such a habit would make them good literary authors of books or collections of poetry before they cross teenage and college days. The literary sense ripens with the age to make them well-known authors in a few years by writing for magazines or any other programme conducted in public life.

Ramabhatta Sajangadde made the keynote speech in which he advised children to read as many books of history and literature, poetry and novels, dramas and essays with a fund 9of knowledge they could imbibe before they started to write meritorious long-lasting literary works of any kind.

The conference was held under the aegis of Shantivana Trust, Shree Kshetra Dharmasthala, education departments of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi district panchayat, branches of Sri Ramakrishnashrama, Barkuronline.com, Srimathi Rukmini Shedthy Memorial First Grade College, Barkur with the blessings of Dharmasthala Dharmadhikari Dr D Veerendra Heggade.

Udupi zilla panchayat president Upendra Nayak released a series of poems written by the children.

Guests Konkani poet Melvyn Rodrigues, winner of Central Sahitya Academy Award also spoke on the occasion encouraging teenaged students to take to extracurricular b activities such as writing and sports to develop full personality when they come of age.

Former zilla panchayat president B Bhujanga Shetty, district Kannada Sahitya Parishat president Neelavar Surendra Adiga and Udupi taluk panchayat president Gauri V Poojary conveyed their best wishes to the programme.

Organizers B Seetharama Tholpadithaya, I Shashikanth Jain, C Rajashekar Hebbar, B Srinivas Shettigar, K Satyanarayana Udupa, Kishore Gonsalves, Ashoka C Poojary, Balakrishna Rekhya and others were present.

National poet late Dr G S Shivarudrappa was remembered earlier in the programme.

Former conference president Karthik Shetty welcomed and Prakash Hebbar, Prathvi and Radhika conducted the programme.