By: Amlanjyoti Goswami Published in: *The Wire* Date: February 25, 2024 Source: https://thewire.in/culture/a-poem-in-honour-of-fali-nariman
*Eminent jurist and senior advocate * *Fali S. Nariman passed away at the * *age of **95 on February 21, 2024.* *Nariman argued several landmark * *cases during his illustrious career of * *70 **years and was appointed the * *additional solicitor general of India * *but resigned **in protest when the * *Indira Gandhi government imposed * *Emergency rule in **June 1975.* *He received the Padma Bhushan in * *1991 and the Padma Vibhushan in * *2007.* *For Fali Nariman* Fali met his maker in his sleep. A good way to go, someone said The last brief still unfinished For the Constitutional Bench. A chuckle from the other side As he firms up his final arguments In a booming, frail voice. There’s no easy path to liberty And once you find it, you have to keep at it. Freedom of speech, but also freedom after speech. All green, he once said to me, twenty-five summers young So full of heart. Do not lose heart, he said Though the ocean is turbulent Do not lose faith. Blessed with principle, but also someone who knew How to laugh. Who enjoyed a joke like no tomorrow. Old lawyers don’t fade away, he said They just lose their appeal. He understood, how things pass, How time makes way for no one But that page had to be written, and that argument Had to be chiseled to perfection. He liked the pen and signed his letters, to old and young, Simply Fali. *Amlanjyoti Goswami is the author of *River Wedding (2019)* and *Vital Signs (2022)*, published by Poetrywala. *
