The `Ma' of Spring Thunder: Remembering Mandakini Narayanan, the woman Who redefined revolution in Kerala

Kozhikode: If revolution were to be likened to an ember, it could be called `Ma.' Today marks the birth centenary of the woman Naxalite known as `Ma,' or Mandakini Narayanan, who once startled Kerala. The story of how a Gujarati girl named Mandakini Navin Chandra Osa became a force in Kerala politics is also a historical account of the Left revolutionary movement.

Born into a conservative Gujarati Brahmin family on October 25, 1925, Mandakini rejected religious rituals and related customs at a very young age. She avoided jewellery and makeup, and actively participated in the Quit India Movement. During her college years, she aligned herself with communist liberation movements. She fell in love with and married Kunnikkal Narayanan, defying the traditional caste norms. Narayanan had come to Mumbai for work.

Mandakini resigned from her job at the Mumbai Secretariat, a position she received following her father’s death, when it became a hindrance to her revolutionary pursuits. Narayanan was expelled from the Communist Party in 1948 for opposing the Calcutta Thesis. Despite immense pressure from the party to separate from Narayanan, Mandakini remained resolute.

She moved to Kerala with Narayanan and their daughter Ajitha in 1950 and became a teacher at the Kozhikode Gujarati School.

She resigned from the Communist Party due to ideological differences and joined the Naxalite movement in 1964. Inspired by the Naxalbari uprising, she actively participated in revolutionary actions alongside Narayanan and Ajitha. She was imprisoned in various political cases, including the Pulpally police station attack and also led a life on the run.

She was also imprisoned during the Emergency in 1975. During this time, she fell ill and was left unattended in a medical college, suffering from hunger, while her husband and daughter were also jailed. Yet, this did not stop her from writing to her daughter, reigniting the spirit of revolution. “They are trying to break you physically and mentally by incarcerating you in a cage. But your revolutionary songs can be heard beyond the high walls,” she wrote in one of her letters.

Eventually, the Naxalite movement weakened. While many sought other paths, Mandakini remained steadfast . “Pulpally (Police station attack by Naxalites) was right at that time,” she insisted. In the final years of her life, she focused on promoting women’s liberation. At the age of 71, she became active in music, painting and writing poetry. She remained committed to her Leftist ideology until her death at the age of 81 in 2006.

Old comrades, friends and disciples affectionately called her `Ma, following the lead of her daughter Ajitha. `Friends of Ma' is organising various programmes in Kozhikode to commemorate her birth centenary.