Women's Day: Gargi Sarkhel Bagchi

Gargi Sarkhel Bagchi

Gargi Sarkhel Bagchi, a Pune-based writer and poet, has earned numerous accolades, including the Reuel International Poetry Prize 2022, the Poiesis Award for Excellence in Literature (2023-2025) and the Panorama International Youth Literature Award 2024. Her debut poetry book, “Two Cents For My Thoughts,” launched at Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi, secured the Rama Chowdhury Memorial Award 2023 and Panorama Golden Book Award 2024. She is also an editor at the prestigious Yugen Quest Review literary magazine.

She Will Rise

She stands unbowed, both fierce and free,
A force as wild as the roaring sea.
Lightening might strike, thunder may call,
Yet she will rise and never fall.

 

Her hands have shaped the morning light,
Turned darkened days to burning bright.
Through flames and ash, through dust and pain,
She walks unshaken in the rain.

 

They built her chains, she broke them all,
She scaled the heights they swore she’d fall.
They tried to dim her shining grace,
But fire still dances on her face.

 

The winds may howl, the rivers cry,
The stars may fade from the dreary sky,
But she endures, her spirit strong –
A warrior's heart, a victor’s song.

 

Through nights of storm and days of trial,
She climbs beyond the world's denial.
Her voice reverberates, her will stands tall –

Yes, she will rise and never fall.

---

Setu, March 2025