New Delhi, Feb 19 : Indian swimmer and Tokyo Olympian Srihari Nataraj visited Bengaluru’s R.V. Girls High School on Saturday, taking Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Meet the Champions’ initiative ahead. This was the first time that the unique school visit campaign was held in Karnataka, with Olympic medalists Neeraj Chopra and Bajrang Punia, having visited schools in Gujarat and Haryana respectively and Olympic sailors Varun Thakkar and KC Ganapathy taking it to local schools of Tamil Nadu. The young Olympic swimmer spoke about the importance of having such initiatives as it helps promote sports in the country. While interacting with the students, Srihari said that the initiative will help a lot of kids to understand the importance of sports, fitness, nutrition and health, and it will be a major boost, not only for the health of every kid but for the growth of sports in India. Srihari spoke to the students on the importance of having a ‘Santulit Aahaar’ (Balanced Diet), fitness and even shared details about his food habits and the diet he follows. After the interaction, Srihari tried his hands at the game of badminton and played a few games with the students. Besides members of the host school, student representatives of 75 schools from various districts of Karnataka also got the opportunity to attend the event and share their experiences with the South Asian Games gold medallist and interact with him about swimming and his experiences as a competitive sportsperson. ‘Meet the Champions’ initiative is part of the Union Government’s ‘Azaadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ which was kicked off by Olympic gold medallist Neeraj Chopra in December 2021 and Paralympic bronze medallist Sharad Kumar in January 2022. The school visit campaign is jointly being organised by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, where the Olympians and Paralympians share their own experiences, life lessons, tips on how to eat right and give an overall inspirational boost to school children.(UNI)