ABSTRACT
Nationalist and Hindu chauvinist appropriations of the early revolutionary movements have been enormously powerful in post-Independence India, with the result that the socialist and communist orientations of many of the iconic figures within them have been all but forgotten. This chapter attempts to bring together the scattered and often-difficult-to-obtain memories about life in communist communes. Communes, like ashrams, signalled the possibility of new affective communities, often requiring, or enabling, a breaking of ties between would-be members and their biological families. But, at another level, communes demanded a radical break not just from traditional and familiar ideals of the family, but also with the principles and practices of religiosity, ascetic asexuality, gender segregation, and retreat from urbanity that were enshrined in most ashrams. The best-known Indian commune was established in Bombay once the Communist Party was, in 1942, legalized due to its stance on the Second World War.
