A Day Not to Remember...

I am generally one of the biggest advocates of Mumbai as the best place in India to live in.. rather, one of the best places in World to live in... but today, probably for the first time in almost 25 years of my lifetime, I was disappointed with way she behaved.. Today was the third phase of the 13th lok sabha general elections and the voter turnout in almost all the constituencies in Mumbai was abysmal... and being a Gujarati, I am associated with Gujarat too... so it was even more disheartening for me as Gujarat too showed lacklustre voter turnout with only 50% of voters reaching out to election booths...

This election was the most impressive when it comes to use of media and marketing to urge people to participate in this biggest democracy of world... I was of the feeling that Mumbai being high tech with majority of people having access to Television, Internet, Newspapers, etc., would break all the records.. News in morning said 10% voting till 10 AM.. I tried to be positive, and I felt like shouting out loud 'Mumbai, 7 more hours to go. Get out. Get your nails painted blue' .. I waited and waited, but it was in vain... Mumbai didn't respond to my cry..
I did try to make a difference by volunteering for Jaago Re movement (by ever responsible Tata group), and persuading people to VOTE.. This was the first time in last 6 months that I woke up at 7 in the morning.. so that I could vote and then get along with related work! ... I am also happy that my society and areas surrounding had a hefty turnout.. I feel proud to be a member of the society* in which I live :) .. but Mumbai as a whole did let me down big time... especially the youngsters... It really keeps me thinking what should we do to make youngsters vote as youngsters were the ones who did not turn up... I got reason that it was a long weekend (today, 30th... 1st may being a labour day... 2nd and 3rd being weekend), so people went out on a 4 day trip!... Guys, booth starts at 7 AM... you could have easily voted and then gone for the 'still left 4 days' for a trip... then second reason was hot weather.. hmm.. youngsters sweating out in mumbai sun for hardly 30 minutes will dehydrate them, make them fall sick?!!... losers!...

Mumbai was vociferous, out on streets when terrorists attack happened... now when time to do something that really matters... to vote in someone who obviates the need of those candle light morchas.. nothing happened! ... but i think mumbai has no right to do that now... ignorance and short term memory loss at its best..

Well, the biggest rival of Mumbai as a city in India is Delhi, when it comes to argument of best cities... and I want Mumbai to win in all aspects.. but in this case, I really want Delhi to win... Delhi has got its voting day on 7th May,... so Delhi, go out and vote.. you got golden opportunity to beat Mumbai here... you won't get it often! ;) ... and for a change make me proud by doing that...

Politics is not a swear word.. VOTE!

India is the biggest democracy in world by far and we surely don't take a back seat in talking about that, but when it comes to being a part of that record, you say 'mujhse akele se kya fark padta hai'.. we can'tt get any more cynical than that.. well, I am not asking you to go out and fight for elections... that is not as easy... but at least 'VOTE', my friends.... people refrain from voting by saying 'NO CANDIDATE in my constituency was good enough to get my vote.. '.. we say that very boastfully, trying to portray ourselves as smart, but in my view, we are simply irresponsible... as most of us never tried to know the candidates just because we wanted to sleep on a holiday (i.e a voting day) .. if we ever took pains to know, we can at least go and vote for the better amongst the candidates, rather than none.. at least we will make it a point that whoever comes into lok sabha/vidhan sabha will do less harm than others will, if not good...

Chandrababu Naidu said this when he was at his peak in politics during NDA rule, "Politics need not be a swear word. Politicians can be good for people. Politicians can be business managers. Running the state like it is a company. Where change is a number that has to be achieved. A politician can know how to use a computer and turn a backwater into a technology and an industry hub. He can be a fanatic, but about the common man's prosperity; Stay in power by the surrender of power; By representing people, not ruling. Politics and governance can be transparent. People will be able to hold a politician responsible for his actions. Starting now, politicians should stop asking for people's support. They should support people. politics should not come in people's way. It should be, the way."

This is possible only if we participate in democracy. We can raise voice to our representative only if we have participated in electing 

him.

I know that most of us and especially the fairer sex have 'Ignore' state of mind whenever they hear anything distantly in relation to politics. We love to hate politics and blame everything on politicians. Its fashionable to curse the politicians. But we hardly realise that we are actually cursing ourselves as we are the ones who elect the politics. And at the same time, if we are not participating in the democracy by not voting, we are also proving that we are stupid.

I remember this saying by George Bernard Shaw .. "Democracy is a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve" ... Its only us who is responsible for whatever things that politicians do, because they are OUR representatives.

Note : 

1. Please vist http://www.jaagore.com and register.. They take up various initiatives (elecotral registration, voicing grievances, etc)

2. One more interesting website, http://www.politicalcompass.org/test ... test what kind of political ideology you possess... so that you know which political party's ideology matches yours