This is the second time I enjoyed my right to vote. Since childhood I fancied the election procedure. The very powerful feel that the future of the Government depends upon me is really nice! As soon as I turned 18, I ensured that I’m eligible to vote. The day I received my Voter Identity Card, I felt ecstatic though I felt absolutely opposite when I glanced at my photograph! Last time, during the Lok Sabha elections, it went smoothly. This year I voted in the Panchayat elections.

The night before the vote was terrible. We had a power cut at 1.45 am. It wasn’t that big deal as I thought that there will be generator & we’ll get the fans. But to my horror I found out that it was only our flat that had the power cut whereas the whole locality had it. I knew it; I have to be wide awake as I can’t sleep without fan. To add to my woes, there were mosquitoes all over. Biting, flapping wings inside my ear which irritated me big time! To escape that situation, I took refuge to music. Put my earplugs & surfed FM stations till 5! Can’t believe that I could see the sunrise! The morning breeze made me feel better. I continued reading The God Of Small Things. At 6 I got up & by 7 I reached the polling booth. Already there was a long queue. Many of the voters didn’t bring their Voter Identity Card! How funny! There was cloth shade to avoid the sun. It was not even 7 in the morning & the sun blazed! There were 3 different queues on the basis of certain classifications. Suddenly, a woman arrived, aged, red haired, dressed in salwar kameez & sneakers, and started conversation with another woman in the line. Her intention was to sneak in the line but the moment she tried to get inside, a man protested saying that she is just not supposed to get in between the line just like that! She, in her defence said that she had asked her to keep space for her. This infuriated the man even more. He was absolutely right as he said that had this been the process, everyone would have booked their position from the night before. She stood at the end of the line without uttering a word as everyone had favoured the man. But that lady was big mouthed. Or maybe she felt insulted & wanted to gain sympathy towards her. Or maybe she has this habit of drawing public attention towards her. She started howling that why isn’t the line moving forward? Why is it taking so much time? This is not systematic at all! She was in a hurry so things must be done as quickly as possible. Then one of the candidates came to her & as if she was seeking forgiveness, said that it is moving slow as one has to vote thrice. Electronic voting system was not available as the number of voters & polling booths were huge in number so the manual voting system had to be followed. Then the raged & wretched red haired lady started shouting even more & said that these are all lame excuses! She didn’t have any compulsion of voting & behaved in such a way as if she was obliging everyone by doing so! My my! This was just so stupid of her! I couldn’t imagine how irrational she could be! I just lost it on her. My condition was worse of them all I guess as I missed my good night sleep! There were lots of other people who were aged, sick but still they wanted to vote. If they could make it why not she? I felt like giving it on her face but my mother stopped me.

Firstly, what system was she talking about? The system of making queues & waiting for one’s turn is the most civilized format. Can she howl about system, time scarcity & stuff during buying a movie ticket from high profile multiplexes or restaurants during peak season & time? One always has a choice to go for something & otherwise. Just because it is a village Panchayat elections, the people around are not from high standard back grounds she bashed them. She could just make her way out as voting is a right & not a duty as directed by the Constitution of India. But then, I feel, if someone doesn’t vote, he/she loses the right to criticize the government. Either you select your rulers or just accept whatever is offered to you without being fussy. She talked of running out of time. The booth is open till 5 pm. She could easily come later, during her leisure time. She kept on howling as an insane but I think this one was the best. She said to her friend that won’t they offer us tea? I couldn’t stop but remarked “Keno mashima? Apni ki patri dekhte eshechhen?”  (Why Aunty? Have you come to meet the prospective bride for your son that you are expecting tea?) People around me started laughing & I think that was audible to her also! She decided to leave. But some of the polling agents requested her to come back. She was given direct entry inside the room. This really pissed me off! Why? Just because one vote is expensive they supported someone who is as blockhead as…!?! Whatever!

When my turn came to go inside the room, there was a strict security check which had to be undergone. I showed my voter identity card. The polling agent glanced at my card, then he glanced at me. I think he doubted whether the girl in the photograph is really me! :P My God this is my worst picture ever taken! There were 3 agents sitting at 3 different tables, all laid in a horizontal manner. The 1^st agent took my thumb impression at the voting slip. There were 2 reasons for this. Firstly, time was scarce. Secondly, signature can be forged, not thumb impression. The 1^st voting slip was for the Gram (village) Panchayat election. The slip was pink in colour. I was diected towards the voting counter, covered with a piece of cloth. Before that, another agent put a blue black dot on my left index finger. Then gave me the stamp with which I’m supposed to vote. I went inside, there was a dimlt lit lantern, (don’t know what it was for! :O) put the stamp mark on my chosen symbol, folded the paper, came back & put it inside the ballot box. The same thing happened for the Panchayat Samiti & Zila Parishad elections. The colours of the slips were white & sea green respectively. After this, I was shown the exit door & asked never to come back again! Who would, anyway? I was happy after voting! I really felt like an active citizen of the nation. Felt like a responsible adult!

Votes are always like a get together. We all stay in the same locality but hardly meet each other. Busy bees you see! But during votes, we can meet so many people, get involved in chit chats & I just love this! It’s like another festival! While returning home, one Aunty said, the Zila Parishad slip was sky blue in colour. I asked, wasn’t that sea green? I wondered who was colour blind! But my mother acted very diplomatic & said that it was a shade in between sky blue & sea green! :x But I’m pretty sure that it was sea green. But for me, to be very frank, the main excitement of vote lies in the dot in the finger! That proves that I’ve actually voted! I love the dot! It’s very hot! :D

Lot of violence & blood shed took place this year during elections. I hope this never happen again. Ever! I hope the souls of the political victims rest in peace. The Panchayat election results came out yesterday. I found out that the dot is no more on my finger! What a co incidence! The results are not the usual. The ruling party couldn’t make it to a lot of areas. There has been a mix & match. Well, let’s welcome the change & see how things act for the next five years. Keeping my fingers crossed! :-)