My left hand middle finger

Election season used to mean sitting glued to NDTV 24x7, crib about those funny looking politicians whose long term vision didn't extend beyond their nose, fighting emotionally over political ideologies with friends for no reason, and what not. But this time, it's different. Today I voted.

I woke up early, took bath, ironed my T-shirt for a change, and went to the voting booth that was just 100 metres away from my home. The Q( Not Quattrochi) looked relaxed. There was no one trying to jump it. Standing there, waiting for my turn, I saw many youngsters; I saw a young girl vote and leave riding her Pulzar! Super cool. I hope they give 10 extra marks to her. I saw a happy young mother dressed like she was out on a Picnic with oversized glares. I couldn't see her eyes, but I still hope they give a 10% discount in Big Bazaar for her. I saw a balding and greying dad in a T-shirt, holding on to his bigset cellphone. I hope he gets 10% discount for hair-transplantation. Like this, I am sure there must have been millions of others, all across this country, who voted. All of them deserve a pat on their back, and some discount coupons. That's the least I can think of. 

What was nice to see was that all these people in the Q had a smile on their face. They might or might not be voting for the same candidate, but there was no animosity. In fact, the mood was celebratory. That gives me an idea. Like DLF has taken over the main sponsorship of IPL cricket making it DLF IPL, I suggest that the Election Commission get a sponsor for the India Elections. So if TATA group is the title sponsor, then we can have TATA INDIA ELECTIONS. You get the point. And EC can come out with a TV channel exclusive for them, and rake in more moolah. Why let private channels alone make money. During non-election days, the channel can have political discussions where politicians are allowed to discuss/debate on issues without time restrictions. Have political documentaries here. Political movies here. What not? 

I asked myself one question before voting. Am I voting for a particular candidate because of emotional reasons or because that candidate is efficient and non-corrupt. Am I voting for a particular party’s ideology or a particular PM? I have to say it was partly emotional, partly candidates background. As all these thoughts were crossing my mind, I saw an old lady, taking baby steps, being escorted into the booth. I saw others in the Q move out for her so that she can go forward. Felt good. Human values haven’t totally been forgotten in this beautiful country, whatever these TV channels say. For each positive story, there might be 1000 negative stories – stories of hatred, animosity, violence etc. So what? It is time that life-affirming stories be put in the Headlines of newspapers and TV channels. As I was getting closer to my turn in the Q to vote, I remember my mind asking me: Can’t a country of 1 billion humans(or consumers, depending on your world view) have a few thousand inspiring stories each day, and one of which surely can make the Headline. Does News have to be necessarily Negative. What is the one Good News you remember seeing in the TV channels lately? Standing in the line, I got another idea: Why can't there be a news channel that shows only good news. As a principle, they won't show any Bad News. Imagine a headline like " Modi and Sonia both drink Milk in the morning". Or something like "Advani and Karat agree that Carrot Juice is healthy". Imagine a breaking news like: "Manmohan-Karat-Advani disagree over Nuclear deal. Decide to discuss this over a game of Carrom Board tomorrow". 

Ah get serious Sandeep, but what's the harm in dreaming. 

Now that I voted, from hereon, I can’t blame anyone else for the problems facing my constituency or country. As a responsible adult, I have to take the share of the blame too. After all, my finger did press the Blue Button today, that probably will help one of these candidates win. I almost froze when I was about to press the Blue Button expecting a bomb going off somewhere if I press it too hard! Anyway, nothing happened, and I walked off with a broad smile. Done.

While growing up, political ideology didn't mean much. It had more to do with what your father said was right. If he was a congressman, the son became one. Or if he was Jan Sangh, then you become one too. Or left. During my adolescence, I ried to rebel and go through my share of ideologies which appealed to me. Today, I think I have covered the entire spectrum, right from far right to far left, except got to admit that never went through the "Dynastic Politics" ideology ever. 

Today, my political belief has grown beyond ideology. Now it is “candidate centric”. It involves supporting “Clean, Efficient, Sensible" Candidates in your constituency; be it from any party. BJP, Congress or Left. "Vote for the person, not the party" is my motto. That way each party will be forced to nominate sensible candidates in the future. Also I want a Prime Minister who understands the meaning of the word “Leadership”

Another observation. Whatever be the cynicism attached to elections, what I saw in the election booth was mighty impressive. The whole process of voting was super smooth. It took me 20 minutes to vote and come out.  As much as we complain about the slow moving Indian Systems, this institution, namely, the Election Commission has come a long way forward. Hats off to EC and all the hard working, honest government officials who man these election booths. Shows what we can achieve if there are no-nonsense Institutions. More the reasons why citizens should punish any party/candidate - whatever be their ideology, if they try to weaken institutions like the Judiciary, Election Commission, CBI/Law Enforcers, Press and such. I can think of few examples here. Congress trying to scuttle the CBI, Modi trying to scuttle the probe against him, Congress trying to scuttle the 1984 sikh riots case, not forgetting what Indira Gandhi did by announcing Emergency. But it's when we turn a blind eye towards these actions since it doesn't directly effect us, that we stop being good citizens. My view. 

This election for me is a small step forward. Despite the extremely personal campaigning with Sonia Gandhi calling Advani names, and Advani calling Manmohan names, and Manmohan calling Modi names and Karat calling Manmohan and Advani names, I see that they all seem to agree on one thing - all were talking of "Development". So that’s one plus from this election. In the future, I hope the debates will get more nuanced with better candidates who debate over “Human faced development" than “Mindless development”.  

In an ironic way, this year onwards, the Election Commission has started putting the indelible ink on the voters middle finger. While i am typing this right now, I can see that my left hand middle-finger is happy. After all, when was the last time my left hand middle finger had the potential to help India move forward.  

Go vote, feel de-stressed:)