Sitaram Yechury or “Sita” as his friends used to fondly call him was a paradox. He was a quintessential liberal and yet the leading light of a party dogmatic in its ideological faith. A pragmatist to the core grounded in hard grass-roots politics, he still remained a romantic about the ultimate triumph of world revolution.
He appeared laid back, ready to discuss the mistakes and flaws of his party and the current woes of the international Left, but without losing his fierce commitment to the cause working tirelessly to the end with as much zeal as he had when he first became a communist half a century ago.
It was this complex personality along with his personal charm that endeared him to me along with so many others over the decades. Conversations and debates with Sita were often volatile but always without rancour, his sharp polemics and wicked wit seeking to defeat but never personally belittle his opponent.