Nobody needs to teach CPM's Kerala unit that lesson. Revivals and comebacks have been part of the red party's legacy in the southern state. Grassroots outreach and the familiarity of its cadres with the masses have always been the Left's greatest strength. 
Two weeks after one of their biggest electoral defeats, the Left is back to the salt mines in Kerala to recapture lost ground. 
After the summer vacations this academic year, children in hundreds of schools across Kerala were greeted with bags, umbrellas and notebooks by the Students Federation of India (SFI) - the student wing of the CPM.