‘I was ashamed I didn’t know Marx,’ CPI leader D Raja recounts school years

Different Strokes with CPI leader D Raja. In an exclusive interview with Hindustan Times, D Raja recounts a childhood spent in poverty and how he survived on mid-day meals in schools. “I never fasted but I have often starved,” says D. Raja, MP and National Secretary of the CPI. For someone who was considered very well-read for his age, D. Raja's “ultimate humiliation” was when he drew a blank on Karl Marx. “I had not heard of him till my teacher mentioned him,” he reminisces. Watch the full interview for more glimpses into the life of the CPI leader and what shaped him into the person he is today.