After winning the best actor award for her role in a children's film, GIIS SMART Campus PYP 3 student Eka Shukla has added another feather to her cap by penning a comic book which has hit the market on Feb 12, 2022.

The book titled ‘Lily the Axegirl’, features the adventures of Lily and her neighbour friend, Spike. She had written and designed this series in 2021 when she was 8 years old, and the stories were digitally illustrated using her hand-drawn pictures as a reference. The book was launched in an event organised on February 12, in Kerala, where various dignitaries attended.

Through this book, Eka is raising awareness and funds for underprivileged kids who need financial support for their education and health. All proceeds from the sale of the books are being donated to charity. In India, Eka visited a children’s home and has set herself a goal to support the education of at least 10 children for a year. In Singapore, she is supporting Club Rainbow https://www.giving.sg/campaigns/ekasbook, a charity organization that supports and empowers children with chronic illnesses.

Eka is an avid reader and loves to write her own stories and poems. During her playdates, she often makes up stories and acts them out with her friends as short skits. Her house is filled with several notepads and pieces of rough paper with her drawings, poems, and stories. ‘Lily, the Axegirl’ became a central character in some of these, and Eka wrote nine short stories about the adventures of Lily and Lily’s friend, Spike. Seven of these stories have been published in this edition of the book. During the digital illustration of the book, Eka provided her detailed inputs on the characters, their expressions, and backgrounds. Some samples of her hand-drawn pictures have also been included in the book.

Eka has acted in independent short films where she has won multiple Best Child Actor and Best Actress awards. Her work in 'Mini' and 'Smrisha' have won her awards and appreciation in various film festivals in India and abroad, including the Ahmedabad Children’s Film Festival. 'Smrisha' is available on Zee5 and was recently screened in Singapore as well.

The inspiration to start writing stories occurred to Eka when learned about creating story structures during one of the units, ‘How We Express Ourselves’, being taught at school. Eka’s talent is recognised well at GIIS, we are giving her the right stepping stone for her to flourish in her future endeavours.

At GIIS, we tirelessly work towards the holistic development of our students through our award-winning 9GEMS pedagogy framework, wherein the students excel not just academically but in sports, performing and visual arts, developing entrepreneurial and innovation skills, inculcating universal ethics, and other extra-curricular activities.