KOCHI: Eleven-year-old Deepak posed a rather curious question to E R Joshi during a visit to his house in Muscat, Oman. “Uncle, are you a Communist?” Joshi, hailing from a Communist family at Kaippamangalam, Thrissur, though startled, wasted little time in acknowledging his political leanings.
“So that’s why you’ve named your son Fidel,” Deepak told Joshi, a lecturer at the business department of the Higher College of Technology . A fifth grade student, Joshi’s 11-year-old son, is not the only Fidel from Kerala.
For Kerala’s socialist populace, the leader of the Cuban Revolution was a symbol of resistance. A shining beacon of hope. The name bridged two remote shores of Communism - one in the Arabian Sea and the other on the Caribbean isles. “Cuba may be a small nation. But under Fidel Castro, it showed that a small country can defy US - a super power. Cuba survived right under its nose and emerged as a symbol of resistance. We knew many people for whom Cuba is a passion. So, when Iqbal Kuttippuram penned the story of a virtuous hardcore Communist in ‘Arabikkatha’, Cuba was the finest prefix for the protagonist. Hence was born Cuba Mukundan,” said Lal Jose who directed the movie which critically narrated the transition of the Communist party.
“Our leaders used to draw parallels with the Latin American country even when we discussed issues in Kerala. Curiously, many of them never had visited the country. But it showed their love for the country and their belief in Fidel,” he said.
The name is glued to the psyche of Malayalis as evidenced by an incident after the election to the Kerala Assembly. A section was peeved over the selection of Pinarayi Vijayan as the Chief Minister. However, a ‘surgical strike’ by CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury cleared the air. “Comrade VS is like Fidel Castro for the party. What Fidel Castro is to Cuba, Comrade VS is to India,” he said. Arguments vanished instantly. “What’s in a name” wrote the great English bard once. Everything, if one goes by the name - Fidel Castro.