Udupi : Dinesh Amin Mattu, media advisor to Chief Minister, released “Chakyababa”, a collection of children’s stories, written by Balakrishna Shibarla on Wednesday.

speaking after releasing “Chakyababa”, children’s stories, Dinesh Amin Mattu said that it was essential to promote children’s literature in Kannada, the writers writing children’s literature were not given the same status as the mainstream writers in Kannada. This attitude should change. It was essential to encourage writers of children’s books, he said.

Before the advent of television, children used to grow up listening to stories told by their grandparents. Listening to such stories improved a child’s imagination and creativity.

But after the advent of television, whenever children made noise or demands, the parents switched on the television and the child was simply a passive recipient of the colourful objects that were beamed.

If not television, parents gave their mobile telephones to their children to play games. These measures did not help in the growth of intellect in the child, he said.

Emphasising on the importance of story books and children’s literature, Mr. Mattu said that story books played an important role in the development of a child. “Literature humanises people,” he said.

He said that parents encouraged the children to follow their hobbies — be it dancing, singing or others — till SSLC. But after that they wanted their children to concentrate only on education.

They did not want their children to undergo the hardship which they underwent. They wanted their children to become either doctors or engineers. They were imposing their dreams on their children, which was wrong.

Instead they should ask their children what they wanted to become and encourage them in their chosen field. This would help the former to contribute more to their chosen fields and more importantly to enjoy their work, Mr. Mattu said.

Sabita Gundmi, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Managalore University, Paul D’Souza, progressive farmer, were present. A photo exhibition by Praveen G. Kodavoor was held at the venue.