A quest for healthy living has made yoga popular among schoolchildren, around 1,200 of who took part in the Dr BC Roy Memorial Committee presents Sara Bangla Atulya Ghosh Smriti Yogasana Protiyogita 2013 in association with TTIS at Bidhan Sishu Udyan last month.

Chhottu Dutta would often fall ill and miss school till the 10-year-old took to yoga. "He was weak and often had fever. We took him to many doctors but to no avail. Practising yoga has improved his health," said Rita Dutta, a resident of Belur and Chhottu's mother.

Arkajoti Rana, 13, of Arambagh had been suffering from gastritis and eight years of regular yoga has almost cured him.

Sanjay Chatterjee, doctor, said yoga helps check aggressive behaviour, social withdrawal and hyperactivity in children. "Yoga is considered as a mainstream therapy for autism and hyperactivity," he said. Yoga plays a role in muscle and joint flexibility, strengthens the abdomen and spine, Chatterjee said. It also helps improve the sense of balance and focus.

Swagata Banerjee, 11, has found relief from severe asthma through yoga. "It was tough for me and my husband to see our son suffer so much. No medicines seemed to help. It was only after he joined yoga, that things slowly improved," said Lima Banerjee.

Rina Laskar, yoga specialist and one of the judges, recommended yoga from a young age. "Yoga can be useful in many ways. In my years of teaching, I have seen kids joining yoga classes for various reasons. There have been kids with asthma, aches and pains who have got relief," she said.

Not all turn to yoga for its healing powers. For Adbhutender Chinamna and his sister Amrutendrini Chinamna, yoga is a serious sport. Adbhutender is a silver medallist and his sister a gold medallist at School Games Federation of India. The siblings from Madhya Pradesh started practising at the age of six and dream of becoming yoga instructors.

Shreya Dawn and Tista Das, 11-year-olds from Girish Park, too want to be yoga teachers.

"The children's performances touched my heart. Yoga is becoming popular throughout the country. We have introduced yoga at the police academy too. I strongly feel there should be a quota for those skilled in yoga for police recruitment, just like sports quotas," said city police commissioner Surajit Kar Purkayastha.

With the increasing popularity of yoga, the scope of the 37-year-old competition has expanded too. This is the first time that the event saw participants from beyond Bengal. "We began this competition with just 200 children and now we have more than 1,000 competing. This year, around 40 kids from outside Bengal also took part, making the competition tougher," said Goutam Talukdar, the secretary of Bidhan Sishu Udyan.

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Children stay fit and fine with yoga