Activities during college days provide the perfect platform to bring out latent talents of students, said international athlete Arjun Devaiah here on Tuesday.

He was addressing students at the inaugural of the 10th Inter-collegiate Athletic Meet of Visweswaraya Technical University under the aegis of Kalpatharu Technical Institute in the town. Students should make use of such once-in-a-lifetime opportunities, he advised.

Taking note of external pressures including matrimony and career upon most of the students after they finished their studies, Mr Devaiah pointed out that nobody came forward to tap the students’ talent at this juncture. It was therefore necessary to make use of available opportunities, he felt.

Continuing, the athlete also called upon present day youth to give priority towards maintaining health and fitness. Mr Devaiah lamented the impact of usage of cellphones on the youth.

Earlier, inaugurating the sports meet Mysore royal family scion and Karnataka State Cricket Association Srikantadatta Wadiyar called upon the participating athletes to strive towards winning. “Jealousy and rivalry are natural in sports contests. But sportspersons must not develop these tendencies; instead, they must make collective effort towards achieving their goal,” Wadiyar advised.

Kalpatharu Education Society president N Basavaraj presided over the function. VTU Sports Committee Vice President Dr Ashok S Shettar, Sports Director Arif Ali Khan, Society vice presidents T M Chandrashekhar, H V Keshavamurthy, T U Jagadish Murthy and G S Umesh, secretaries G K Shivaswamy, P K Thipperudrappa, K P Rudramuniswamy and K Rajshekhar were present.