Septuagenarian Gautam Ghosh expected Class VII schoolboy Abu Sufian Sheikh to know who Che Guevara was when he saw the teenager trying to click a picture of the revolutionary’s daughter at a public felicitation at College Street in Calcutta on Saturday.

When Sufian said he didn’t know about Che, Ghosh, amid shouts of “long live Che Guevera”, gave the boy a crash course on the revolutionary, whose daughter Aleida Guevara made her way on the stage.

“You know of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and Khudiram Bose right? They fought for the freedom of our country. Che Guevara fought for the freedom of Cuba,” the 73-year-old told Sufian.

Sufian’s eyes grew wide as he heard stories about how Che and his comrade Fidel Castro brought freedom to Cuba. “Che then quit everything to fight for the freedom of Bolivia, where he was captured and killed,” Ghosh said.

“It is his daughter — Aleida — on the stage,” Ghosh told Sufian.

Aleida is in Bengal for two days since Friday. On Saturday she was felicitated by Left outfits such as the SFI, DYFI, AISF, and others at a public event in College Street. It is here that Ghosh met Sufian.

Ghosh said he was an ardent follower of Che. He claimed to be a senior leader of the All India Students Federation and had heard stories of Che’s visit to Calcutta in 1959, from his father.

“Five years back we organised an exhibition on Che. The Cuban consulate in Calcutta had praised it,” he said, adding he had translated Che’s letters to his daughters when he left Cuba, into Bengali.

Sufian is from Behrampore in Murshidabad. He came to Calcutta with his father, who wanted to see Aleida.

Che made Ghosh and Sufian strike up an unusual friendship.

Aleida sounded overwhelmed. “I’ve been to several parts of the country during this visit. But the love I have received here makes me wish I could embrace all of you,” she said.