Today I got a chance to visit 4 Ashoka Road in New Delhi. At present this government bunglow is accommodating the All India Kisan Sabha and SFI. I went there to meet senior comrade Noorul Huda, former Member of Parliament and now working with the AIKS. We discussed organisational as well as personal matters and had a cup of tea.I felt very pleasant after the discussion.

Whenever I think of 4 Ashoka Road, a lot of memories come to my mind. It was here that Com.A.K.Gopalan stayed when he was the Member of Parliament and the leader of the opposition. Every time I came to New Delhi for conventions, Conferences etc. I used to visit the place to meet Com. AKG, who will invariably give guidance on some matter or other who will treat you as one of his own family. Every body who had contacted with Com. AKG might have felt the same. He was so close with each and every body.
I remember an incident when I visited 4 Ashoka Road later. Com. AKG was not well and was in Kerala. It was on 26th June 1975, the day after the draconian Emergency was declared by the Indira Gandhi government to suppress the democratic movement and to save her position, that I reached Delhi to attend a National Convention of the CG Employees on 28th June, but since the Emergency was declared and the Mavlankar Hall where the Convention was to be held was completely blocked by the police, there was no question of holding the convention. We were accommodated at the quarters of com. Jyotirmoyi Basu, MP, due to security concern. I went to the 4 Ashoka Road in the evening. I met Comrade Narikutty Mohanan there who was the Delhi correspondent of Deshabhimani, the CPI(M) daily. Incidentally at that time a call came from Ernakulam Exchange.There were no mobile phones.Even STD was not available.Every trunk call was to be connected by Exchange only. It was fortunate that late Comrade K.Prabhakaran, well known P and T leader called from Ernakulam. Since all press news were completely barred and communications through telephones and fax were all censured there was no opportunity for Narikutty to give a report to the Deshabhimani in Kerala. When Prabhakaran contacted I asked him to connect Deshabhimani and Narikkutty gave detailed report about the declaration of emergency, the list of the arrested leaders and other information. And in the next day issue of Deshabhimani, all the news came with photoes of the arrested leaders and a strong editorial. I was told later that Narikkutty was taken in to custody and questioned, but the police could not find how the news reached Ernakulam Deshabhimani, because there were no records of fax, trunk call etc.
All these came to my mind when visiting 4 Ashoka Road.
Many comrades usually confuse 4 Ashoka Road with 4 Windsor Place, where the office of the CPI connected organisations were/are functioning. Both are on the same side of Ashoka Road and having red boards of their organisations. But the office of the CPI organisations is numbered considering that it is in the Windsor round.
I was happy that I could visit 4 Ashoka Road, though after a long time.