Even as the world mourns the loss of the charismatic leader, two little girls in interior Tamil Nadu hop about, knowing little how their lives are sewn together with the fabric of admiration for Castro. Named after the revolutionary, their fathers recall with pleasure the goose bumps they had on receiving the greetings from Havana in Spanish, signed by Fidel Castro
CUDDALORE: After all, that glory that we saw for all these years, that man with divine fire, changed us also – and such as we are, we have been molded by him during these years.
If words could surmise what a man meant for his generation, the above excerpt from Jawaharlal Nehru’s eulogy at Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi’s funeral holds true for our times as well. A day after the passing away of Cuban leader Fidel Castro, eulogies extolling his ideals still trickle in. Even as the world mourns the loss, two little girls in interior Tamil Nadu hop about, knowing little how their lives were sewn together with the fabric of admiration for Castro.
Separated by 15,000-odd kms and two mighty oceans from Cuba, V C Vilvam sits in his home at Thiruverumbur in Tiruchy. In his hand is a letter, signed by none other than the late revolutionary leader Fidel Castro. A greeting no less, addressing him on equal terms.
“I married K Punitha in 2004 and we decided that if a girl child is born to us, we would christen her Cuba. I have always been a great admirer of Castro, having read many books about him. Under Castro’s rule, Cuba excelled in all sectors, especially healthcare. Large number of medical tourists throng Cuba for better care and Cuban doctors are flown in to countries hit by natural disasters. All such achievements only added to the awe,”he says.
Fortune smiled on him two years after marriage and he was blessed with a daughter in 2006. “I named her Cuba. With the help of a friend, I penned a letter to Castro to inform him about my joy. However, I hit a dead end soon after, as I did not have Castro’s address. It was then that my friend suggested to just write ‘Fidel Castro, the President of Cuba’ in the address column,” he recalls.
Caught in the web of life, he soon forgot about the letters, until one day he found a postal letter bearing foreign stamps at the doorstep. “I opened it, but could not immediately ascertain it was from Cuba. Though the letters were English, the words were not. Later, after some research, I realised it was Spanish and got it translated. It was a greeting.” Ask how the 11-year-old Cuba is faring and Vilvam says, she is sad at Castro’s death. “Though she does not know much about him, she has heard Castro’s name in the household,” he says.
For Pazha Prabu, a medical store owner from Uthangarai in Krishnagiri, the birth of his younger daughter could not have come on a better date than July 26. The now eight-year-old girl too is named Cuba.
“My younger daughter was born on July 26, 2008. I named her Cuba as her birthday coincided with the Fidel Castro-led 26th of July Movement. A month after her birth, I sent a letter to Fidel Castro, seeking his blessings for my Cuba. I had written ‘Fidel Castro, the President of Cuba’ in the address column. Two months later, I received a greeting card with the signature of Fidel Castro printed on it. The letter was written in Spanish,” Pazha Prabu says. Prabu’s elder daughter is named Darwina, after the great scholar Charles Darwin, who propounded the Theory of Evolution.