CHAPTER 59

Summary

• The chapter opens in 1960 in Parambil, where a ten-year-old boy named Lenin Evermore arrives unannounced. He is the only survivor of his family, who died from smallpox.
• Lenin is taken in by Big Ammachi and is sent to a seminary school since he expresses a desire to become a priest. However, Lenin's free-spirited and rebellious nature leads to several 'misunderstandings' at the seminary and school, leading to his eventual displacement to Big Ammachi's care.
• Lenin is precocious and confident, easily dominating conversations about his tragic past, his escape, and his harrowing journey.
• Lenin's presence, though initially welcomed, starts to cause unrest as he exhibits rebellious behavior like defacing comic books and generally acting out.
• A lightning incident where Lenin attempts to attract lightning to himself, and subsequently breaks his wrist, cements his unpredictable personality.
• Philipose, Big Ammachi's son, eventually discusses sending Lenin to a boarding school due to his behavior, to which Lenin is indifferent.
• Amid Lenin's story, reflections of family dynamics, caste politics, and societal issues are discussed.
• The chapter also follows Mariamma, Philipose's daughter, who feels both an aversion and compulsion towards Lenin. She's always observing Lenin's actions, but also resentful of the admiration he receives.
• Mariamma and her inseparable friend, Podi, enjoy secret swims in the canal, a prohibited activity which they fear could lead to serious reprimands.
• In the latter part of the chapter, Philipose has a discussion with Joppan, Mariamma's friend's father, regarding the generational exploitation of pulayans (a low socioeconomic caste in Indian) like Joppan's father, Shamuel. He offers Joppan a manager's position and land ownership, but Joppan refuses, rejecting the idea of staying in Parambil under subjugation.

• The main character is sleeping in a barge, dreaming of having a faster fleet despite setbacks on a current motorized barge project.
• The character, Philipose, recalls his past dreams when he was younger, all the way from relocating to Madras to his complicated relationship with his significant other, Elsie.
• Another character, Joppan, discusses his support of the Communist Party, which has a substantial following in several regions of India, particularly in Malayalam-speaking territories.
• The Communist Party in these areas consists not only of the impoverished and marginalized, but also intellectuals and idealistic students committed to breaking down the country’s long-standing social caste system.
• In 1952, the year another character Shamuel passed away, the Communist Party won 25 of the seats within the region’s governing body, the Congress.
• Joppan predicts that Kerala, the region soon to be established through a merger, will be the first place where a Communist government is elected democratically instead of coming to power through a violent uprising.
• Philipose reflects on this past conversation almost a decade later, acknowledging that Joppan’s prediction had actually come true: Kerala’s Communist Party had indeed won a majority in the democratic elections and formed the first democratically elected Communist government in the world.