“Have you noticed a noisy gang of birds in your backyard? The fiery babblers may look dull, but one can enjoy their raucous calls throughout the year. Or the red-whiskered bulbul that keeps chirping cheerfully all day long, looking for insects in your garden?” Asks P Jegannathan, wildlife biologist of Valparai-based Nature Conservation Foundation ( NCF), to highschool children. Their collective reply is “No” or “May be”.
“Step into any classroom for Nature talk, students can easily identify an ostrich, hippopotamus or a giraffe. Though some of the species are not indigenous to India, they know them because they have seen the images. What about our mynahs, crows and sparrows? These birds can be seen right next to our homes, but we hardly notice them,” says Jegannathan including that some Tamil books misrepresent names of birds, for instance budgerigars, the small, long-tailed parrots that are native to Australia are recognized as pachai kiligal in Tamil. This set him considering and he began accumulating names of animals and vegetation in Tamil to make a chart or ebook with Tamil alphabets. “Our ₹10 currency note features images of elephants, tigers and rhinos, but do students know that it has to be rightly identified as the Asian one horned rhinoceros?” he asks.
Tamil Yeoman, the state butterfly of Tamil Nadu is named Malai Chiragan in Tamil
| Photo Credit:
Illustration by Karunya Baskar
While there are few animal alphabet books and charts in English (similar to The Alphabet Book by Aparajita Datta, Vena Kapoor, Pavithra Sankaran for Lisu children in distant villages of jap Arunachal Pradesh) and Learn About Some Common Birds of Indiaby means of English Alphabet produced by Nature Classrooms and Early Bird, there are hardly any in regional languages.
“I wanted to see animals and plants from our regions in those charts. I was excited to learn that Nature Classrooms, an NCF initiative, was putting together nature alphabet charts in Kashmiri. They were also collaborating with other regional organisations and individuals to co-create more localised alphabet charts in different languages that represent local biodiversity, culture and nature,” he explains.
This thought led him to make a Tamil chart, superbly illustrated by Karunya Baskar. “As Jegan Sir is a scholar in language and wildlife, he briefed me in detail, the descriptions of animals, reference images, and angles to draw them in. Our objective was to draw images that help children identify them in real life. Instead of going in for something cartoonish, we chose realistic, yet dynamic illustrations that will appeal to children,” says Karunya, including that it was enjoyable to study concerning the anatomy of various animals.
Aauliya is the Tamil identify for Dugong
| Photo Credit:
Illustration by Karunya Baskar
“Each animal has a unique anatomy, and getting that accurate was a challenge. I have also tried to give the animals the form of the letters they are associated with, a shape or a curve that will bring to mind the word immediately. Knowledge about our natural environment is considered secondary today in mainstream education. We are surrounded by these creatures and small steps like this, finding creative ways to teach kids about nature, can build strong connections with nature,” says Karunya.
While the Tamil Nature Alphabet mission was Jegan’s thought, who believes that children’s first encounters with language also needs to join them with the land and life round them, Nature Classrooms took the concept ahead by discovering an illustrator and formed the imaginative and prescient into this lovely software. “The alphabet chart uses Tamil letters to introduce elements of nature that children can actually see and experience in their surroundings,” says Aditi Rao including that they’ve seen very younger children mild up in recognition, level out the chicken or tree close to their dwelling that matches the chart, and share tales they know. This recognition creates curiosity, and lays the inspiration for a deeper understanding and connection as they develop.
Palm tree is named Aintharam in Tamil
| Photo Credit:
Illustration by Karunya Baskar
Aditi, who if the supervisor of Education, Outreach and Communications of Nature Classrooms, says the mission introduced many new learnings. “We have created flashcards of the alphabet chart, where each card has the illustration on one side and the related ecological information on the other. We’ve made a short video version too, with the same visuals and Tamil pronunciation audio. It is currently in its final stages and will be released soon.”
The chart options generally discovered flora and fauna in Tamil Nadu with their Tamil names. The predominant goal, he says, is to introduce the biodiversity of Tamil Nadu by means of the Tamil alphabets for children, lecturers and nature educators. It covers organisms representing totally different landscapes like kurunji, mullai, neydhaland paalai of Tamil Nadu.
For instance, individuals residing within the Western Ghats might not be aware of Tamil identify ongil for dolphins. “I didn’t want to make it taxa heavy but ensured that there is equal representation. For instance dungeon, sea shell, sardine are from marine ecosystems; Indrella snail, Strobilanthes are from the forests, and the wasp, spider, skink are from the plains and our urban settings. We have picked lesser known organisms such as the stingray, butterflies, dragonflies and damselflies. We have also covered most of the taxa such as fungi, plants, invertebrates, reptiles, birds and mammals.”
The mission additionally turned the highlight on quintessential Tamil phrases that virtually grew to become extinct due to nil utilization like gnamali (canine), alangu (Indian Pangolin) to call just a few. “Though we can use examples like anil for Tamil alphabet aa, we chose aauliya (Tamil name for Dugong) to bring the word back in use. Once you stop using these words, it goes out of sight, out of mind,” says Jegannathan, including, “Tamil words are unique and have been there for ages. For example, kuruvi (for birds) was in use thousands of years ago. We should keep on using it. It’s our responsibility to do that. I feel happy to have played a part in redeeming these lesser known words.”
The chart is obtainable for free to obtain at www.natureclassrooms.org/nature-alphabets-in-tamil
Published – September 02, 2025 06:22 pm IST
