A hundred years ago, when V S Achuthanandan was born, the world—especially the colonies—was reeling under severe famine and the struggle against colonial rule. The Great Depression had made life miserable for the working class and peasants. As a young boy, he experienced the harsh realities of poverty, as his family struggled to make ends meet.

Caste discrimination was rampant. Achuthanandan, even as a schoolboy, had to physically resist the injustices he faced. He often recalled how he had to carry a weapon to defend himself and other backward community students from the agents of landlords who tried to prevent them from attending school.

Later, he became a worker in a factory where he found himself in the middle of another struggle—this time against exploitative managers who demanded hard labour without fair wages. It was during this period that the Communist Party began to emerge as a force in northern Travancore. Under the leadership of P Krishna Pillai, trade unions were formed and the coir workers’ unions of the time were radicalised. Many factory strikes were led by a young and determined VS.