Thikkodiyan

P. Kunjanandan Nair (15 February 1916 – 28 January 2001), better known by his pseudonym, Thikkodiyan, was an Indian playwright, novelist, lyricist and screenwriter of Malayalam. He was known for his contributions to the genre of radio plays and his autobiography, Arangu Kaanatha Nadan (The actor who had never been on stage), which detailed the socio-cultural development of Malabar in the post-independent period, fetched him a number of awards including the Kendra Sahithya Academy Award, Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Biography and Autobiography, Vayalar Award and the Odakkuzhal Award.

== Biography == Thikkodiyan was born P. Kunjanandan Nair, on 15 February 1916, at Thikkodi, a small hamlet in Kozhikode district, of the south Indian state of Kerala, to Puthiyedath Kunjappa Nair and P. Narayani Amma. He lost his parents while he was boy and was brought up by his grandfather, who was a theatre enthusiast. After schooling at Basel Mission Middle School, Koyilandy, he completed a teachers'training course and started his career as a teacher at his alma mater in 1936. There, he became involved in trade union activities and he was expelled from service when he participated in a strike in 1938. Later, he became associated with the Bharat Seva Sangham and the Devadhar Malabar Reconstruction Trust where he worked alongside K. Kelappan and V. R. Nayanar and was also involved in Nayanar Balika Sadanam, an orphanage founded by Nayanar in 1942. It was during this time, he joined Dinaprabha daily and worked there until 1948. In 1950, he moved to the All India Radio as a script writer, and spent the rest of his official career there to superannuate from service in 1979 as a drama producer.