V S Achuthanandan: A rebellious journey rooted in compassion
VS married late, at the age of 44. On July 16, 1967, he married Vasumathi, a nurse at TD Medical College, Alappuzha. They built a modest home near his childhood house and raised two children, V A Arunkumar and V A Asha. An atheist and a staunch Marxist, VS was known for his deep compassion and his enduring connection with the people of his village. 'He never missed an Onam till 2018,' recalls Mani P K, a resident of Paravoor.
'Even when he was the CM, he found time to visit the village, share meals, and interact with everyone.'
While his public speeches, especially in the 1990s, were fiery and aggressive, those who knew him personally remember a very different man. 'He was always kind, soft-spoken with the poor and the downtrodden. He never refused to help anyone. And he never did anything through the back door,' Mani adds.
VS's commitment to the working class had roots in personal experience. The small tailoring shop his brother ran after his parents' death became an informal hub for labourers to discuss the injustices they faced at the hands of landlords, which angered VS.
His brother was unaware, but VS had begun engaging with the underground Communist movement. At just 18, he left the shop and started his own tailoring unit at Kuttamangalam, Kainakary. It was here that his transformation into a trade unionist began.
During the fabled Punnapra-Vayalar uprising, VS remained in hiding. When police stormed his home, it was the neighbours who misled the officers.
'Had they not intervened, none of them would have survived,' said Narayankutty, a resident. VS' life was a remarkable blend of rebellion and empathy. His sister Azhikutty, 95, and family live now in the ancestral home. His other sibling, V S Purushothaman, died several years ago.
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