"Our house was overrun by partisan border guards. Dozens of them. My father was beaten, my mother was beaten, and this man, my father's friend, he was beaten. And I watched this man. Every time they hit him, he stood back up again. So they hit him harder. Still, he got back to his feet. I think because of this they stopped the beating. They let him live. 'Стойкий мужик’. I remember them saying. 'Stoikiy muzhik'. Which sort of means like uh, 'standing man'... standing man..."

Steven Spielberg may have never known or even heard about V S Achuthanandan. But these words -- reflected in the dialogue by arrested Russian spy Rudolf Abel (played by Mark Rylance) and his lawyer James Donovan (played by Tom Hanks) in Spielberg's movie, Bridge of Spies -- best profiles this legendary Communist.

VS was always the standing man. Many a time he was beaten, but he stood back with vigour. He remained a person haunted by the past and tortured by pinpricks of contemporary politics.

They were two distinct images of this standing man. Like two sides of the same coin.

The first one presents him in immaculate white body-gripping kurta with sleeves rolled up above elbow revealing ebony forearm; bearing the brunt of political fights. He was the white knight of Left politics; the standing man who prevented all bids to hijack ideology and to kidnap icons of the movement.

And the second image captures him in loose sleeveless vest and checked lungi. This casual attire remained his signature even when he was Kerala chief minister. At his camp office, he greeted guests as the simple comrade who never bothered about wardrobe gimmicks or PR garnishing.

Also Read: ‘A born fighter, had his baptism by fire’: What US intelligence thought of VS Achuthanandan

Who was the real VS? Late Sitaram Yechury once called him Kerala's Castro after snatching the CMs chair from VS in spite of being the mascot of the 2016 assembly poll runup. By then VS was facing isolation from within the party. Just for being the Standing Man.

Neo comrades with a corporate hue considered him an anti-development advocate. They portrayed him as a Communist who built dams preventing free flow of investments into Kerala. They spread stories on how he threw away business proposals submitted by global giants. Threads of such gossip knit a narrative that projected him as an anti-hero.

But those who knew him would never believe these stories. He was not against investments or new opportunities. They cite his presence at the inauguration of multiplex and malls to rest their case.

Much before world started discussing carbon footprint and green hydrogen, septuagenarian VS climbed atop steep Mathikettan mountains and Munnar heights raising awareness levels about the need for environment protection. It is but natural that others went green. VS was the one-man army against encroachers who set sultry eyes on Kerala's green wealth.

In spite of his crude demeanor, VS was a super strategist. He never launched an open fight against his detractors in the party. But he showcased a unique knack to drive home his message even as he continued to underline his relevance.

There was a historic perspective to the hardliner posturing VS took. He was the state secretary of the party when Communism was losing relevance across the world. He, perhaps, was an ambassador of the old school who groomed new leaders and taught them new syllabus.

Also Read: From Munnar to Plachimada protest: VS Achuthanandan’s war on land mafia and corporate polluters

But the master mind found himself abandoned when the CPM juggernaut thundered through portals of power. He was given an ornamental position. VS soon relinquished the post of chairman of the Kerala Administrative Reforms Commission citing health reasons. But he never faded from political memory.

Whenever CPM digressed, comrades asked each other: "What if VS was active now?" For, they know he would have opposed these deviations in his own style. The vacuum is more eloquent than the presence; a rare honour for a leader whose words are awaited by thousands as they search for a new direction.

They know he -- the standing man -- would have stood by them through the din. May be the youth will find echo in Passenger's lines "You only need the light when it's burning low; only miss the sun when it starts to snow".

The political scape is sure to face the chill as the patriarch leaves autumn stage. The moot point remains -- will the long winter that follows autumn spoil the Party? Tomorrow never lies. Lal Salaam, Comrade.

Also Read: As panic swept through the cabin mid-air, VS remained calm — steady, silent and utterly unshaken!