Secret Ballot

Long long ago.. Not so long ago ... I was an NDTV fan.I worshiped Rajdeep Sardesai.Never missed The Big Fight.
Also those were the days when I woke up before the sun came up.When I used to call Radha at 7 in the morning everyday to discuss politics,Cinebuzz,last page Hindu and Metro Plus .
Those were the days when I was busy with exams and practical .

But Ah .. Slowly I lost all the interest. No Newspaers.No NDTV.Not even Sudoku.
No news was captivating enough to keep me engrossed for more than 2 minutes. Not the "Happening TN Politics"..Not the Gossips in the page 3... Not the "Mahajan Trajegy"... Not the "Narmada drama" ... Not the " Reservation Hangama"... Absolutely Nothing.

A week before the elections I sat "Mum" for 20 full minutes vowing to lack of interest and information when a group of friends chatted endlessly about the "amma vs kalaingnar" . I was not aware of the affirmations made by both the parties or the ads in the TV.

On the day before election I felt the guilt rushing within me.
21 year old , supposedly educated girl not even knowlegeble about the various manifestos. I got the newspaper ( touched it after many many days) and read the list of promises made by the two strong state parties. Browsed the net. read Lok Paritran's Candidate profile and their manifesto.{ Listened to their party song .. Nice one by O2 }

equipped with the basic knowledge of party and candidate names and a gist of their manifesto I was ready to cast my first "vote" in the Indian democracy in 2006 State elections voting procedures in the civics book came alive in front of me. The school. Security Secret ballot polling Officer party agents voter's list.ID card.The a small queue.

Myself and amma waited in the queue . A separate voting machine was provided for each street allotted to that polling both it was a multiple server , infinite capacity, multiple FIFO queue .Phew.Actually well organized. They allowed my grand father and few other old people to bypass the queue I was thrilled surprising the auto wala agreed to drop us at the school for just 10Rs... last time some auto wala took 10Rs was when I was 10 years old.

Since appa was out of station , we told the lady there checking the names that he was my father and would not come to vote ..With all the ID checking the impersonation has reduced .. still I believed it was my responsibility to tell them irrespective of whether they wanted to listen or not.Democracy.

Then on the way back home my amma told me stories .
It was decades back when my mom was a little girl and my granddad was the polling officer in a sensitive area in Blore.
Then one lady had come to vote... but actually it was a case of impersonation.
And my granddad had a doubt and cross examined her and asked her husband's name.
The agents got agitated and claimed that it was offensive and embarrassing to ask a lady her husband's name !!!!
My grandfather apologized to them and told them he was not aware of their sentiments. And hence asked her different questions.
Like her neighbor's name, Her home address, her family members etc.
And that person's answer was not satisfactory and was sent back !!!!
My grandfather is a brave man and always abides by the rules ...

Overall it was a brilliant first voting experience. Except for an extralarge ugly ink mark on my finger.