Even tiny Marxism will not miss out when Socialism gets married in Tamil Nadu this weekend with his large brothers Communism and Leninism in attendance.
All are the progeny of A. Mohan, a district secretary of the Communist Party of India in Tamil Nadu where left-wing ideology nevertheless burns red-hot.
“My first son was born during the fall of the Soviet Union and everywhere in the news I was reading that this was the end of communism,” Mohan told AFP.
“But there is no end for communism as long as the human race lives on, so I named my first-born Communism,” he mentioned.
His next two sons have been named Leninism — whose 5-month-old son Marxism will also attend the nuptials on Sunday — and Socialism, the groom.
Pictures of the invitation to the wedding, embossed with hammer-and-sickle emblems, have gone viral on social media.
உங்க வீட்டு குழந்தைகளுக்கு பேர் வைக்கனும்னா சேலத்து ஆட்கள காண்டக்ட் பண்ணுங்க ????????
Communism – Leninism- Marxcism.. pic.twitter.com/W5g5tMHu6c— தேவ்…????❤️ (@Agamudaiyar_) June 9, 2021
Socialism’s bride-to-be meanwhile is P. Mamata Banerjee, named by her grandfather right after a firebrand left-wing politician in West Bengal.
The reality that this other Banerjee ended many decades of communist rule in 2011 in the eastern state to turn out to be chief minister is not spoiling the party.
India leaned more towards the Soviet Union throughout the Cold War, and names like Stalin, Lenin, Trotsky and even Pravda — the name of the USSR’s state newspaper — are not unheard of, especially in the south.
Tamil Nadu’s present chief minister is M.K. Stalin, named by his father in honour of the Soviet communist dictator just days ahead of he died in Russia.
Mohan mentioned that there was nothing at all uncommon about his sons’ names — some of his “comrades” gave their children names such as Moscow, Russia, Vietnam and Czechoslovakia.
But he admitted that his boys, specifically Communism, have been occasionally teased at college. One hospital refused to admit Communism when he was 3 years old.
“They were scared of the name Communism and initially I faced a lot of troubles. But over time, things smoothed out,” he mentioned.
All 3 sons, now in their 20s, are fellow members of the nearby communist party, and Leninism named his son right after none other than Karl Marx.
“Now I am waiting for a grand-daughter from one of my sons, who I will name Cubaism,” Mohan added.