Abdul Khader Kukkady, the only IITian to date from the Beary community, may describe himself as a quintessential non-achiever, but those who know him would describe him as a person who has subordinated his own interests to those of his parents and siblings.

As the eldest of eleven children of the late Mr. K. Sayeed of Bunder’s Kunjerkhan family and the late Mrs. Khateeja of Baikampady’s Kukkady family, Khader topped the SSLC batch at Vidyadayinee High School, Surathkal, just like his uncle, the late Mr. P.A. Khader, did several years earlier.

During his Pre-University Course at St. Aloysius College, Khader became involved in the fight to save his family’s substantial land holdings from being acquired by the Mangalore Harbour project. Suspecting that this may have impacted his performance in the PUC examination, he studied diligently for the joint entrance examination of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), securing a rank that allowed him to choose any branch at any of the five IITs at the time. The IIT became the platform for his growth, success, and his quest for his family’s upliftment.

He completed his B. Tech in Chemical Engineering at IIT Madras in 1972, finishing in the top five percent of his class. A year later, he got admission to the prestigious Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad, but was prevented from joining due to a five-year employment bond with his employer, a common practice at the time.

Education and hard work have been the hall mark of Khader’s life. He not only pursued learning for himself but also ensured the education of all his siblings, particularly his sisters. In a community where equal education for both genders was uncommon, he believed in providing equal opportunities. Today, four of his siblings are medical doctors, one is an engineer, two are finance professionals, and one is an economist. His and his siblings’ twenty children are successful professionals. Thanks to Khader’s emphasis on education, the desire for learning has also spread to the next generations in his extended family.

Khader began his professional career with Mangalore Chemicals & Fertilizers in order to stay close to his parents. After eight years, he moved to Libya as a lead for a thirty-person team from MCF and other fertilizer companies. Impressed by their performance, the employer recruited over one hundred personnel from India the next year, replacing mostly British personnel. This success led other companies in the Middle East to follow suit, resulting in the global fertilizer industry increasingly relying on Indian manpower.

Khader’s expertise lies in the Ammonia and Urea Fertilizer Industry, encompassing all stages of projects, beginning from feasibility studies to basic and detailed design, construction, commissioning, and management. Over a career spanning 52 years across India, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Gabon, Khader was involved in establishing and running six such complexes. This included short stints in Japan and European countries.

Khader believes that the best way to give back to society is to work as sincerely and diligently as possible in one’s own field. He professes that sincere and hard work by entrepreneurs, businessmen, employees, and laborers make the world a better place. This belief kept him working until May 2023, when he retired from active work at the age of 73.

Khader acknowledges that he did not make the optimum use of his IIT education. In 1972, he could have pursued further studies in the USA with a full scholarship, but he chose to stay home to care for his parents and siblings. He believes that similar challenges still affect the aspirations of Beary students to pursue an IIT education, despite the increase in the number of IITs from five to twenty-three today.

In 1977, Khader married Razeena, the daughter of the late P.S. Abdulla of Puttur-Kasargod and the late Mrs. Zakiabi of the chemnad family. Khader has a son Khanfer, and a daughter Farah, both of whom are postgraduates in Engineering & Management and employed as Engineering Managers in the Bay Area, California, USA.

Tragedy struck Khader and his children on April 21, 2019, when his wife Razeena lost her life in the Easter Sunday bombing in Colombo. An extraordinary lady with immense talent and strong religious and family values, Khader credits her for bringing him back to Islam after his years at IIT had taken him away from it. She loved Khader’s family as her own which lead to the siblings and their families continuing to bond very closely together.

We look forward to Khader playing a more active role in our community in the coming years.