Tina VOTES!

I saw Bangalore sunrise today. Usually, no matter how hard I try, holiday time I cannot wake up early because I invariably end up sleeping late but anyway today was different. Today is Voting Day!I voted for the first time in my life today. The very evening I reached Bangalore this holiday I went to the electoral office and registered. They told me I wouldn't be able to get my voter's ID but as long as my name came on the electoral list, I would be able to vote - I just had to show some identity. Okay. I took it with a pinch of salt, prayed that this would in fact happen and then life went on...My parents, who lived in Africa for almost twenty years also had to get theirs done and went through a lot of hell to make it happen. In fact, till yesterday my dad wasn't sure if his name was on the list even though he has a Voter's ID card! Anyway, you can read more about that over at his blog.
So this morning, we woke up bright and early to head to the polls. My dad and I wore our "Lead India '09" t-shirts which is a Times Of India initiative. He won a quiz over at their website and so they sent him a nifty t-shirt a few weeks ago and then yesterday for some odd reason they sent another one, a size smaller so I got it!I knew that voting was important for a long time but when it really kicked in was after 26/11 in Mumbai. That disaster of a terrorist attack that will remain etched in my mind forever. Suddenly the Big City was ebbing with anger, finger-pointing, protests, endless debates and discussions and then one of our professors put us all to shame one day. It went something like this...

Prof: "So let me ask you, how many of you are registered voters?"

A few scattered hands go up in class.

Prof: "Sorry to be blunt, but you shouldn't even be talking about this incident. You have no right to complain."

And then she gives you that look that makes you feel like the smallest thing on earth.

I'm not going to lie to you. Although I felt good about the fact that I actually got off my ass and took a little responsibility for my country and casted my vote today, I still don't feel completely optimistic about the fact that my vote actually counts for much. Why? Because it's a mess. Absolute mess. The whole freaking system is a mess. We have an age-old system of government given to us by the British that doesn't work for us anymore. And no, don't start pointing the finger at the British for this as well because come on, we've had more than sixty years of independence, can you really tell me that nobody has realised that we need a change yet!?!

Our polling station was at a govt. school about a 10 minute walk away from home. We reached there before much of the crowd but it still took us much more time than it really should have taken. Why? Because the booths are manned by illiterate fools. Sorry to be harsh, but it's the truth. I'm pretty sure that the man who was checking for our names on the list did not know how to read anything beyond numbers. He looked at me and asked me if the name written in my passport was in fact PRIYANKA NANDI! Room for rigging? Oh there's a-plenty!

Secondly, they had absolutely no IDEA what they were doing. You'd think that since now India is growing at 9%blahblahblah, and we have Electronic Voting Systemsblahblahblah, they'd atleast have LAPTOPS to deal with 700million eligible voters?! Oh nooooooooo, that's too much to ask. Instead they were writing things down on a million scrap pieces of paper. Okay, fine. How hard can it be to cross off numbers and keep a tally of the numbers of males and females coming to vote, right? You'd be surprised.

Thirdly, NOBODY there is willing to take responsibility for the obvious mistakes and nobody does anything to correct their mistakes either. They just smile, pretend that they're listening, tell you to keep calm, ask you if you were able to vote and then look at you like, "So what are you complaining about?? If you got your vote, move on!"

Fourthly, there are OBVIOUS dubious practices going on around the place, and the police (see picture below, need I say more?!?)... There was this one man outside the polling booth who kept stopping people, smiling at them and giving them instructions what to do inside. I stood there giving him the stink-eye for a while and made sure that he saw me doing that and then I shook my head in disgust and started walking away. Now, I was wearing my nifty "Lead India" t-shirt and so I think the guy got a little scared that I was from the press or some official or something as small as I may be so he came over to me to try and convince me that his intentions were not wrong and he blabbered some things like, "Madam, please don't misunderstand me, I am giving breakfast coupons to my workers..."

(Yeah sure, you corrupt idiot. I know exactly what that means!!)

He actually had a piece of paper on which he was showing people which button exactly to press when they went into to the polling booths. I'm telling you, DO NOT VOTE FOR PEOPLE WHO TRY TO BUY YOUR VOTE!!

ARRRGH.

So if you're an Indian and you're above 18 and you live in India and you're registered. The experience is not great but YOU HAVE TO VOTE. Why? Because it sure as hell will make LESS of a difference if you DON'T! Atleast let these assholes know that you're smarter than them and that you CANNOT BE BOUGHT by their petty games. It's a whisper in the darkness I know, but why keep your mouth shut!?

Here are a few voter tips:

1. You CAN still VOTE even if you don't have your voter's ID. Just make sure your name is on the electoral list and take some photo identity (passport, driver's licence, PAN card, etc...) with you when you go to the polls.

2. BE PREPARED. You have to do all the work. Do not rely on the idiots at the polling centres. Go on the electoral websites/go to the electoral offices/check the papers/call them and find out ALL THE DETAILS like your "Part Number", "Serial Number", etc. It makes the whole process much faster.

3. Go EARLY. Booths opened here at 7am and I'm guessing it will be similar in all places. Like I keep saying, the people manning these booths are idiots, so the later you go, the more confused they will be and the slower the process will get so go early, get out early.

4. Stand your ground. If you've checked that your name is on the list but they can't find it, don't give up! They couldn't find mine the first time... Just take as much information with you and dig in and look through the papers with the guy behind the desk searching for your name. Also, decide who you're going to vote for before hand and don't let anyone sway your decision.

5. Don't get your mark on the hand that you eat with! :D

6. BLOG about it! :D

p.s. If you see DUBIOUS BUSINESS, give them the stink-eye :D and ask them what they're doing. Chances are they'll continue whatever they're doing but atleast give them a little run for their money.