A. J. PHILIP
Ernesto “Che” Guevara (1928-1967), Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, guerrilla leader, diplomat, and military theorist. PHOTO/Wikipedia
When Che’s book “Bolivian Diary” was added to the Pathanamthitta Panchayat Library, I was one of the first to borrow it. I was simply amazed by the dare-devilry of the Argentineborn revolutionary, who fought in the jungles of Bolivia and fell to the bullets of the American CIA-funded military when he could have been smoking Cuban cigars and enjoying the creature comforts that the post of minister offered him. I drew inspiration from Che’s photograph on the cover taken by the Cuban photographer Alberto Korda, which was one of the greatest portraits ever taken. I confess that I even ruined my studies to an extent.
I fancied myself as a Che when I protested against the casteist remarks made against a fellow student by a powerful priest of the Orthodox Church and thus had the college’s door closed to me for higher studies. However, it was my poor father who had to pay a price for my transgressions when I had to seek admission to a distant college for my degree course.
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