Gauri Lankesh: Storms Battered Her From Outside, But She Stood, an Unwavering Flame

Shivasundar, a freelance journalist, writer, and longtime associate and dear friend of fiery activist-journalist Gauri Lankesh, who was assassinated on September 5, 2017, by extremists alleged to belong to the dreaded Sanatan Sanstha has penned this heartfelt poem on Gauri. On the eighth anniversary of her dastardly assassination.

*Gauri*

Shivasundar

When shadows thickened

and the world seemed smothered in night,

she caught fire—

burning through the dark

until she became light itself.

When the heat of the street

melted the cold within,

she rose,

shaped by compassion

that refused to be contained.

Storms battered her from outside,

whirlwinds tore at her within,

yet she stood,

a small unwavering flame

that would not go out.

She did not trim truth

to fit convenience.

She walked with the street,

stood among the people,

and became their lamp.

She guarded the hushed voices

of conscience,

listened to the secret murmur

of the self,

and in knowing herself,

she helped us know who we are.

She saw red inside blue,

blue inside red,

embers glowing in black,

an open sky shining through white.

She wove these colors together

and became the rainbow.

Courtesy: Sabrang India