K.K. Kochu?s life and work, as both a writer and social activist, challenges dominant narratives?of the Congress as well as the Communists?that exclude the Dalit experience. Among his most significant works, his autobiography is not merely a gritty story of the life of an individual, but a history of modern Kerala written from a subaltern perspective.
Growing up in a village called Madhuraveli in a flood-prone region of Kottayam district, fishing in the clear waters of nearby canals and eating wild fruit, Kochu was also a promising student, reading everything he could lay his hands on.