hubballi nabha okkund a class 10 student of presentation girls high school is all of 14 but her accomplishments belie her tender years this precocious teenag er has published an anthology of kannada poems called chitte besides her poems the anthology also features 74 of nabhas paintings her work has drawn the attention of writers artists and the public her paintings which were showcased at an exhibition recently are largely inspired by nature nabha told toi that she took to poetry and painting after quitting bharatanatyam when she was in class 6 i had to quit bharatanatyam owing to some unavoidable reasons i turned to paintings and poems to keep myself active she said nabha said that her parents madiwaleppa and vinaya both kannada lecturers and noted writers were her biggest source of inspiration my elder sister prithvi who is currently studying mbbs had released an anthology of poems when she was a class 8 student she motivated me a lot too nabha added besides her poems and paintings gracing the pages of various kannada publications nabha has also had the honour of reciting her poems on all india radio dharwad her father madiwaleppa said that he had sent his two daughters to kannada medium schools as a kannada professor i realized that if the child receives its primary and high school education in the mother tongue it will help in allround development he said endorsing her husbands observations vinaya said that children in kannada medium schools could understand the content better besides increasing participation in cocurricular activities our daughters read many magazines story books novels of their own interest we never discourage them from taking up such activities she added ganesh devy a scholar in linguistics opined that nabhas paintings held promise particularly in view of her age the imagination and use of colours show maturity when i made a few suggestions she humbly noted them down which is a feature of a growing artist he saidpainter b maruti observed that nabha had a sharp eye that took in her surroundings closely what she sees and observes she manages to capture them in her paintings and poems she is very sensitive towards animals and nature she also has sufficient knowledge about the composition of colours he saidnoted writer natraj budalu heaped praise on nabha for her poems which delve into a multitude of subjects and topics despite being influenced by the thoughts and ideas of her elders nabha has preserved her identity in her poems he saidshankar halagatti the founder of chilipili publication which has published nabhas anthology said we appreciate her dedication towards art and literature we intend to publish another book that consists of 36 poems he added