The book, The way I see it - A Gauri Lankesh reader edited by Chandan Gowda, columnist and Prof of Sociology-Azim Premji University, is an anthology of her journalistic writings, from Gauri's early days with the Sunday (90s) through her editorship of her Kannada weekly.
Chandan Gowda worked for 14 hours a day over two months on this project. “Apart from a tribute section, the book features 23 Kannada articles translated into English and 21 English essays,” Gowda said.
“It was important that we did this for Gauri; the range of articles I selected acts as a mirror to her persona. While her fire-brand activism comes to the fore in English, her range of Kannada essays showed her diverse sides, not to forget her tender and warm nature.”
It was as he edited the book that Gowda realised the depth of Gauri's character. In this interview, Gowda talks of all that went into the project. Excerpts.
How did this book come to be?
A few days after Gauri was assassinated, the publishers got in touch with me for an anthology of her political writings. I felt if such a book had to be done at all, it had to be more broadly conceived and convey the wide range of her social concerns and intellectual interests.
Could you tell us about the selection process?
Besides conveying the diversity of Gauri’s concerns, the book had to offer a sense for her as a person. Her essays on her parents, BV Karanth, KP Purnachandra Tejasvi and UR Ananthamurthy bring out her warmth. Given the constraints of space, at times, I chose her essays on lesser known issues over the ones on familiar ones.
It was very important that the book included essays from her early journalistic career in the mid-80s and early 90s. This was the pre-internet era so, retrieving those articles online was not an option. Her family had not kept a record of those writings. Gauri’s former colleague from Sunday put me in touch with Saktidas Roy, the chief librarian at Anand Bazaar Patrika, the publisher of Sunday . Thanks to his efforts, the book includes half a dozen cover stories and special articles Gauri had done for that magazine. These articles are special: they show the keen idealism of her younger days besides capturing compelling episodes from Karnataka.
It was imperative that the translators shared a sense for Gauri’s political sensibilities. Besides myself, S Bageshree, Sushma Veerappa, Sudhamshu Mitra and SR Ramakrishna worked on the translations.
Karnataka : Bengaluru : 12/02/2018 'The Way I See It: A Gauri Lankesh Reader' - edited by Chandan Gowda
Do the articles showcase Gauri’s emotions and moods?
Yes. Many remember Gauri for her sharply denunciatory articles on Right Wing fundamentalists and corrupt politicians. On the other hand, it is striking how gentle and tender she was while writing about social injustice or socially-committed people.
Besides analytical articles, her social and political commentaries came in a variety of forms — an imaginary interview, an open letter to a child victim, travel accounts, film and book reviews. Many of her articles appeal to a humanistic sensibility.
Do her articles in Lankesh Patrike show a desire to step into her father's shoes?
While Gauri was conscious that she was a journalist, and not a writer like her father, she was determined to be fearless, irreverent and honest as her father had been as editor. To lack these qualities was to betray the spirit of the weekly and her father’s legacy. She stayed true to her father’s principles by not accepting advertisements or state patronage.
Can you throw light on her outbursts that defined her as an activist in her later years?
There is no forgetting the way Gauri and her colleagues exposed powerful figures in politics, bureaucracy, religious institutions and business every week. Her weekly served as valuable documents of the corrosion of democratic life in the country.
The rise of the BJP in Karnataka, which paralleled the course of Gauri’s editorial career, was a matter of particular concern for her. She mobilized a successful movement to prevent the Sangh Parivar from taking over the Bababudangiri shrine in Chikmagalur in 2003. Gauri forcefully denounced the misdeeds of the religious fundamentalists. Her secular concerns were genuine and heartfelt. Besides, she felt she was continuing the critical voice that her father had cultivated in the pages of Lankesh Patrike.
At the book release you said you rediscovered Gauri when you were selecting articles to go into the book. Could you elaborate?
I noticed a few aspects of her personality for the first time while compiling the anthology. Her irreverence towards authority figures and love for democracy, I realized, were already in evidence in her early journalism. I also noticed that she had a deep concern for animals. She had written half a dozen op-eds that showed compassion for animal life.
Although she published three volumes of her editorial articles, she had never got them reviewed anywhere nor had she drawn attention to it in personal conversations. She had a self-effacing nature and generously acknowledged the contribution of her friends in anything she did.
