On the 59th birth anniversary of journalist activist Gauri Lankesh we pay tribute to her powerful memory that has become a direction for struggles of the oppressed voices in the country. K.P Sasi a filmmaker, writer, activist and cartoonist wrote this poem in tribute to the late fearless journalist, as a response to her murder.
Three bullets went close to my face
And another person stopped breathing.
Gauri, we miss your smile
A season of spring
In this cold winter.
You were not a Gandhi
You were not Kalburgi
You were not Dabholkar
You were not Pansare
You were a woman
And a brave one indeed.
Gauri, we miss your strength.
Your body may be cold
But our hearts are not.
No jail can imprison them
We may be waiting
For the spirits of the dead
To haunt the prisoners of hate.
No triggers and no pieces of lead
Can erase your memory
Or your words and actions
And your journey for justice.
Gauri, you have placed this nation to shame
For not being with you
In your journey for harmony.
We remain as your shadows
Waiting for the gallows
Of horror and terror
With a wounded Constitution
And a bleeding Republic
Waiting for a bright red rose
In these muddy waters.
Gauri, we miss your energy
And your will to keep us moving.
A million flowers on your grave
Is not the answer.
A million words of praise
Would not be enough
Let a million hands rise
In your memory
To turn this world
Upside down.
Gauri, you are more than a memory
You are a direction
For a world that should not be !
First published in Countercurrents.org. It is republished here with the permission of the author.
