This 9-year-old writes poetry in her playtime

COIMBATORE: She's just nine years old. But she's already a published author, who is busy working on her second book. While her classmates are playing with friends, K Sri Ilakkiya, a class III student, sits and scribbles her thoughts in her notebook or on a piece of paper.
"I like to write about nature, my friends and parents. I don't think too much and just write down whatever comes to my mind," said Ilakkiya from Pannimadai.
Probably the youngest poet in the city, her first book, an anthology of poems called ‘Illustrated Scribblings', was released on January 26 this year by a local publisher.
It was her mother, R Savita, who discovered Ilakkiya's potential. Savita was initially a little worried when she found her daughter was not interested in playing with her friends and classmates. She even discussed it with Ilakkiya's teachers at Dr PGV Matriculation Higher Secondary School.
"Her English teacher, A Babu, spoke to her and realised that she was interested in writing and began encouraging her to write more poems," says Savita. "My husband and I were relieved." Babu says that while some of Ilakkiya's poems are childish, others are really good and read well. "Her writing skills are way beyond that of an average class III student," he says. "Nature and animals are her favourite topics."
Though Babu recommended books for Ilakkiya to read, she preferred to bury her nose in her favourite book an English-Tamil dictionary. "I like the dictionary as there are lots of words in it but I am not familiar with most of them," says Ilakkiya.
Her father, R Kumar, a private financier, says he couldn't go to college but his biggest dream is to see his daughter graduate and become a doctor. Though Illakiya has agreed to abide by her father's ambition, she confesses that she wanted to become an aeronautical engineer earlier.
"It took a long time for me to recognise my daughter's talent. But I was really happy the day she wrote a poem about her little sister," says Kumar. "She's also does well in school."