In Kerala, Che, Castro and Valentina are siblings

Monday started as a day like any other for Che Guevara. He reached office on time, with plans to attend a public function, marking the 50^th death anniversary of his namesake—the great revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara, in the evening.

Che, who hails from Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, is a living example of how his Argentine counterpart inspired generations of youngsters. The latter is still very much a revolutionary icon in Kerala, which had the world's first democratically elected communist government in 1957 (with the exception of the tiny San Marino island).

"I am proud to hold the name of a great revolutionary. I will always be thankful to my parents,'' said Che, an engineering graduate.

He admits that he felt bad when he was young, as people made fun of his name. "But, after I became mature enough to understand its significance, I have been nothing but proud of it,'' said Che.

According to him, people are surprised to hear the moniker; many ask for clarification too. "When I mention my name, they do not believe it, and ask for proof. So I always carry my identity documents with me."

He is just one of the many Latin American revolutionary namesakes in the state, where Neruda, Borges and Marquez are very much a part of the daily diet. Take the case of Castro M.R. He was at a wedding in Thiruvananthapuram when he heard of Cuban leader Fidel Castro’s death, on November 25, 2016. He rushed home and hoisted a black flag next to the red CPI(M) flag. Barely 1km away lives Sidin Castro, whose parents saw the Cuban leader as the “ultimate icon of socialism”. The state was on the forefront of collecting money and food for Cubans—in the early 1990s—when Cuba was being pressed to the wall by the West after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

According to Che, one of the great advantages of his name was that it always stood out. "Nobody forgets it,'' he says.

But, life was not always easy.

(File) An election poster, emblazoned with the image of Che Guevara, in Kerala | Fahad Muneer

After completing his B.Tech course in marine engineering, Che had applied for a job in a firm. He had reached the final round; during the interview, he was asked about his name. "I told them that I was proud of it. Then they asked about my opinion on employee strikes. I replied that a strike was a way of protest, needed to address injustices. Would I go on strike if some injustice happened at the office? I said I would," he recalled.

That answer sealed the fate of his job. He never heard back from them again.

"I have no regrets. I can never live a life which does not do justice to the name that I carry,'' he asserts.

Che, currently the DYFI Kazhakkoottam local committee secretary, works at an old age home run by the municipality.

Has he met the other Che Guevaras in the state? "There are many with the Che surname. But I am yet to meet anyone with a first name Che Guevara, like myself."

Kerala's fascination with revolutionary icons does not end with names. Political theatre in Kerala was very influential in spreading the communist ideals in the 50s and the 60s. Even the pop culture in Kerala slants heavily to the left, laden with revolutionary symbolisms. Take the case of the 1991 movie Sandesham, written by Sreenivasan and directed by Sathyan Anthikkad. The stinging satire hilariously portrays the life of a family in Kerala, and the difficulties faced when two brothers aligned themselves with rival political parties. Apart from providing a glimpse into the highly charged political atmosphere in an average Kerala home, many one-liners in the movie ("Don't you dare utter a word about Poland," a visibly angry communist brother retorts to a sneer by his sibling nemesis) were immortalised as memes.

Any similar problems at Che's home? He hails from a family with strong left leanings. His brother is named after Castro, and his sister is named after the famous Russian astronaut Valentina Tereshkova. "My parents were active CPI(M) workers. Hence our names,'' says Che proudly. So, none on that front.

Will he name his children after Che? "Of course I will," he says categorically. In a state where Che is still much more than a t-shirt icon, the statement comes as no surprise.