• Brinda, marriage, Emergency

It was during Emergency that I got married. I met Brinda when she was working as a wholetimer in our People’s Democracy office in Calcutta. She wanted to come to Delhi to work and the party agreed.

I had known her in Calcutta, when I stayed at our SFI office headquarters. I used to stay in Biman Basu’s room¿ He used to sleep on the bed and I on the floor. It was a small room full of books. The window opened to the People’s Democracy office. I used to meet her there.

But I got to know her better when she came to Delhi. When we decided to get married, we thought we would wait for Emergency to get over. Comrade (HKS) Surjeet said, “Don’t wait for the Emergency to get over — We don’t know how long it would last.”

I had decided on the marriage. Then I asked permission from the party and my mother. And P Sundariah, who was important to both of us . . . he knew both of us well and approved. The date was fixed by Surjeet. He said it should be on November 7.

For a long time, nobody knew her in Delhi as Brinda . . . till 1980s she was known as Rita . . . (During Emergency ) I had a different name . . . my name was Sudheer. She was known as Rita in public; in my case, I used that name only for certain purposes.

... contd.