Any prominent communist figure you can imagine attended the wedding of Engels in Kerala recently. Not literally, of course. Namesakes of Marx, Lenin, and Ho Chi Minh were present at Thrissur to bless Engels as he got married.
Engels, a native of Athirapilly village in Thrissur, got married to Bismitha at a local community hall. Commenting on the names of the wedding guests, Engels joked and said, "Of course, it is very rare to have all the giants in communism come together in a single frame," in a statement to The New Indian Express.
Engels has been a part of the local Athirapilly CPM committee for the past 12 years. "Every family here is a staunch follower of the Communist party. My dad Thomas and the father of Marx and Ho Chi Minh, Ouseph, have been friends and neighbours. They were die-hard Communists and followed the ideology to the letter," he said.
He also has a younger brother called Lenin. However, Lenin is not as interested or involved in politics as much as Engels. It was there father who gave them these names when they were born.
When asked if he would also name his kids in a similar fashion, he said, "As a staunch communist, I would like to follow my father's trend. However, this is a decision that I won't be able to take all by myself. I would need my wife to agree to it."
(With inputs from The New Indian Express).
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