BINADIE The promising little wordsmith
Nugegoda Lyceum International School Grade 8 student Binadie Ratnayake who has been displaying exceptional skills in writing and drawing since her early childhood, has already launched her first book titled ‘Amelia’ while she is engaged in writing six books now. The avid reader’s first book was launched exactly two years ago to coincide with her 11th birthday. Coincidentally, her 13th birthday falls today. Her father Muditha Ratnayake is a senior banker while her mother Nadeera Hettiarachchi is a school teacher. They told us that Binadie was never sent for private tuition classes, thus giving her all the free time to engage in her pet hobby – reading, writing and drawing. The left-handed package of talent creates her own illustrations and characters that come in her stories. Expressing her views to Daily Mirror Life Impulse, today’s birthday girl Binadie said: “It’s been two years since I launched my first book. I was in the sixth-grade then. Now, I am in the eighthgrade, and I am making more progress in my career as a writer. I am currently writing a book, which I still couldn’t think of a title for. It’s about a young girl whose mom passes away, leaving her and the rest of her family in great grief. She tries to get over her mom’s tragic death, but she finds it difficult, although she improves day by day. Not the same goes for her dad, who gets depressed and causes trouble for the family. The story is narrated from the angle of the young girl. I have the habit of writing 2 or 3 books simultaneously, so I’m writing another book called ‘Maybe, Maybe Not’, which is about two best friends Rhiannon and Caitlyn, who share a strong, special bond of friendship. My main motive in writing this book is to highlight the importance and value of friendship, and explain how significant friends are in your life. I have also written a short story book and a book about a girl and her fairy friend who travel to Egypt to restore a cursed locket and save the world from a power-hungry evil fairy. I hope to publish these in the future.” My earliest memories about my writing is when I scribbled something on the balcony wall on a rainy day as a kid, saying that I hated the rain which prevented me from going outside to play. My father never scolded me for scribbling on the wall. Instead he took a picture of it and he has it saved even today. I am so grateful to my parents for motivating me and also my little brother Yenul. When I was a little kid I used to relate stories created by me to my parents. My pet topics are science, space and biology. As a child my ambition was to become an English teacher. But now I want to become a journalist or author,” said a hopeful Binadie.