Induchoodan – A brief note on the professor who made friendship with birds

Since young, observing birds remained one of his most favourite hobbies. Whenever he gets time, he spent his time in his courtyard of his ancestral home at Kavassery, following birds. He started closely observing them and made notes. When he grew up, his love towards birds also grew up along with him. He also practised this habit at all places he worked, and collected a huge amount of data about different types of Kerala birds. In search of birds, at last he found India’s biggest natural habitat of Pelican birds. Yes, the boy grew up to become one of the leading ornithologists of the country. K. K. Neelakantan is better known by his pen name Induchoodan among Malayalis.

A life fully dedicated to birds

To observe birds and study more about them, he dedicated his full life. His contributions to ornithology – the study of birds is immensely huge. He is a huge inspiration to many students of India, who study about birds. Though he was an encyclopedia of birds, he taught English at different colleges, an interesting fact to note.

He was not a full-fledged bird observer. Instead he tried to find time in between his regular work. As a part of his job, he worked in different colleges of Kerala, and he made use of it and studied about birds of that location. He spent his leisure time to study about birds, and his mind flew with them wherever they go. He used to closely observe birds and distinct characters. He also took extra care to note those things as soon as he got a bit of new information.

He published those notes as a book titled, Chirakulla Ayalkkaaran, which literally means ‘The neighbour with wings’. In 1949 he discovered the biggest habitat of Pelicans – the big water birds, where they reproduce. He located the place in Thadaikulam locality of East Godavari district of coastal region of Andhra Pradesh. It’s widely regarded as one of his biggest achievements as an ornithologist. Later a report was published by Bombay Natural History Society.

A brief biography on Induchoodan

He was born in Kavassery of Palakkad district in 1923. His real name is K. K. Neelakantan. He started his primary education in Chitradurga of Karnataka. His school education was completed at different schools of Malabar region. Later he completed his intermediate from Kozhikode Malabar Christian College, and also took graduation in English with honours from Madras Christian College. He worked as an English professor in different colleges across Kerala, and passed away in 1992 June 14 aged 69.

Some of his famous works include – Keralathile Pakshikal (with details of 261 birds of Kerala), Pullu Thottu Poonara Vare and Pakshikalum Manushyarum.