Still, The Pen Remains Mightier

Gauri Lankesh never compromised with truth-telling. This anthology charts her career, including that courageous switch to Kannada journalism.

- Vanu Dev

Journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh’s killing was not only shocking, but unexpected, because Karnataka had never witnessed such a cold-blooded murder of a well-known lady scribe. The Way I See It, a collection of some of Gauri’s best articles, and tributes paid by her friends, brings out multiple facets of the journalist, and provides deep insight into her career, thoughts and views, and into her successful transformation from a journalist to an activist, which led to confrontations with political parties and Hindutva organisations.

Her friend Chandan Gowda, who tea­ches at Azim Premji University has done an excellent job in selecting articles that make the book a comprehensive and int­eresting read. Gowda has edited the book to include hard-hitting stories and columns written by Gauri during her career as a mainstream journalist working for leading English publications; articles in Kannada published in her father’s tabloid, Lankesh Patrike; profiles of people who influenced her and her important but controversial columns in Bangalore Mirror, The Wire and Tehelka, among others. Articles written on Gauri by some of her close friends, including journalists and friends, form the last section.

People in Karnataka are familiar with Gauri’s writings in