She completed her 10th standard at St. Anne’s Girls Higher Secondary School, scoring 92.4%, and her 12th standard at Chennai Girls Higher Secondary School, Chennai, with 91%. Her father, Manikandan, works as a Tata Ace driver while her mother, Lakshmi, sells fish on the street. Her mother often falls sick because she carries fish on her head with ice, and the cold affects her health, causing earaches and headaches. Though she suffers from pain, she wants her daughter Ilakia to study well and become an engineer so that their family can be uplifted. Ilakia is the first graduate in the family. Her younger sister, Jothika, is studying in the 11th standard at St. Anne’s Girls Higher Secondary School, Chennai. Ilakia’s favourite subject is Mathematics, and her ambition is to become a leading software engineer.