MP Parameswaran: A Multifaceted Life of Ideological Metamorphosis

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: MP Parameswaran lived many lives - being a hardened Marxist Stalinist to a seeker of a new world, from an advocate of democratic centralisation to a proponent of decentralisation, and from a nuclear scientist to a campaigner for sustainable living. Yet MP, as he was known for his comrades, friends and disciples, led the life of a lone fighter. At the same time, he was an ideologue and a truth-seeker to many. Barring a nearly two-decade-long career as a nuclear scientist at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, MP had no hesitation in giving up a job that many at the time considered prestigious to become a full-time CPM worker. MP wrote a book explaining what 'Dialectical Materialism' meant to Malayalis in Malayalam, And many other books followed. His association with the Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishad also began during that period and culminated in organising science classes across Kerala. The Parishad's smokeless stove revolutionised cooking, which was largely dependent on firewood at the time. In 1984, following the Bhopal gas tragedy, it was MP Parameswaran who came up with the idea of a Science Train, with nearly 1,000 Parishad activists travelling all the way from Thiruvananthapuram to Bhopal. A distinctive line of thought, far away from Communism, began to take shape in MP after the collapse of the Soviet Union (USSR). It was an era when, like Communists across the world, Malayali Marxists too were plunged into an ideological and political vacuum. Parameswaran come up with his book' Puthiya Lokam Puthiya India', in which one could see the resonance of his thoughts on the 'Fourth World' and decentralisation. These ideas eventually led to his ouster from the CPM. While he was a committed party worker, MP was always a science campaigner and was, in many ways, everything to the Parishad. In the tussle between the Sastra Sahitya Parishad and the CPM, MP stood with the Parishad on most occasions, and with the party on a few. His autobiography, 'Kalaharanapetta Sidhanthangal', tells the story of his ideological and political metamorphosis.