Ullekh, N.P. Mad About Cuba: A Malayali Revisits the Revolution

Ullekh's Mad About Cuba: A Malayali Revisits the Revolution is a pertinent and ambitious inquiry into the paradox between how the Malayalis, 1 a particularly Left-leaning community in Kerala, have historically romanticised Cuba as a beacon of revolutionary resilience and how the economic and social realities of the Caribbean Island nation complicate this imagination.Having been fascinated by Communist Cuba over several decades, Ullekh, an author, journalist, and political commentator, had a chance to visit the country in the summer of 2023 on a journalist visa.The book is the final product of that visit, and it consists of his observations while interacting with various local people, including scientists, senior bureaucrats, students, tourists, and a handful of ordinary Cubans from both the young and old generations, among others.It draws on his first-hand observations of the present-day realities, mixing them with his historical knowledge.The book constitutes an oriented travelogue, combined with interviews, reportage, and personal narratives, and with political, historical, cultural, and economic analysis.As a young boy in Kerala, a state in southern India, Ullekh first came across Cuba and Fidel Castro in the early 1980s.These encounters were mostly in the form of political discussions in his Marxist household and on the streets of Kannur, a district in Northern Kerala, which is considered a stronghold in the state of Communists and Communist movements.Kerala also holds the rare distinction in world politics of having democratically elected a Communist government in 1957 (more on this below).This was a very unusual occurrence back then, as Communist governments in general had come to power either by Revolution (as in the case of Russia, China, and Cuba) or through external 1Malayalis are the people of Kerala, a state/province in South India.