Kolaveri Di

Hi All,

I have enclosed an article that nandhika wrote and was one of the winners in Times of India Coimbatore competition

Also enclosed is an article in Indian express on sunday about her ( she has done 3 books not 4 as mentioned ! I am sure working on her fourth !)

Happy reading

Ravi

MY KOLAVERI MOMENT
That’s it, enough was enough. This maths exam I was determined to get centum, I was tired of being the average kid. The last time I had managed excellent marks in math was in LKG, not really something my mother still appreciates.
I woke up early that Sunday and spent a total of almost ten hours studying, no TV, no facebook, and hardest of all, I didn’t watch my favourite show, the Simpsons. (Trust me, it was agony, my sister watched it with full volume in the hall, and the theme song nearly wrenched my heart out.) But I still stayed at my desk and studied.
When I could take the exhaustion no longer, I fell asleep on my table at twelve, my books as pillows. I woke up the next day feeling confident and enthusiastic, if not tired and suffering from horrible neck pain. I even spent an extra hour studying in the morning (the first time in my life) and ended up going to school late. I sat down in my place just as they were distributing the question papers.
I don’t think I had ever been that happy to write an exam. When the teacher came to my place, I almost snatched the question the question paper out of her hand in eagerness. I placed it on the table, closed my eyes for a split second and opened them. There on the paper was “SCIENCE” in clear bold letters. It struck me then that I had forgot to note down the change in timetable previously, I put my head in my hands and thought “Why this kolaveri di?”
- Nandhika Nambi, age 15
-

Starting young

Meet Nandhika Nambi, 15. Plays the piano, drums and recorder. Wants to study architecture, literature and do a diploma in music from the London School of Music. And, oh yes, she’s also written four books.

Now in class 10, Nandhika was just 11 when her father, Dr Rabi Nambi, a UK-based dermatologist, got her first book Sally’s World published and printed through pothi.com. “It was an amazing birthday gift,” laughs Nandhika who lives with her mom, older sister Aswatha, and younger sis Medha, in Coimbatore.

Her dad says mainstream publishers weren’t interested. “The big companies don’t accept anything unless you have an agent. And agents won’t touch your book unless you pay a certain amount. So I chose pothi.com,” he explains. Sally’s World has been well-received, but Dr Nambi says he didn’t self-publish to sell, but to encourage his daughter.

And Nandhika? “All I want to do is write”, she grins.