Image: Sabita Chatterjee, 91, arrives at a polling booth in Jadavpur, south Kolkata
V-Day...The one day of 2009 I'll always regret...
I woke up at 9.30AM to be precise on the 13th of May, 2009 in my small little room of the 8th Block in Manipal Insitute of Technology.... Little had i realised how an important day it was for me. A day i couldn't afford to miss. A day that might change India's future.
It would have been the first vote i would have cast for my nation, the indelible ink on the left index finger, and the pressing of those white buttons representing the parties to be elected into power!
Although I must admit, I know these things because i have had this first hand experience of voting. I was just 9 years old then (2 terms back) when I had gone for the first time to an election booth with my parents. My brother being ineligible to vote at a young age stayed home. On reaching the booth, various procedures were carried out and since my father is a well known person in the area, the authorities did not hesitate in allowing me in too! So, I went in with my mother to the place where they put the indelible ink on the left index finger. I was so excited when the person sitting there applied the ink and smiled on looking at me (I sensed he read a better future on my face) ! Carrying on... I went holding hands with my mother to the hidden place behind the carton boxes where people vote for the candidates they think is the best ! I was quite pleased to see so many buttons having so many different kinds of signs, an elephant, a hand, a lotus, flowers n grass, lion and the famous maize and sickle ! Surprisingly my mother then asked me to press the third from the top button (I still remember it very fondly). The flash of red light on that white button, and a loud 'beep' symbolizing a cast vote !
That was the first time i cast a vote (in my mother's name on my mother's recommendation). Since then, 2 elections have gone by and I still haven't yet voted. This day, the 13th of May was my first legal n eligible voting opportunity, but i am here writing this post 2600+ kms away from my constituency in which i could have voted for the first time.
Looking at the two pictures I do feel really ashamed that I, an eager and enthusiastic youngster of my nation, have failed to cast a vote, wherein people who are more than 80 years elder to me believe in the democracy of this country. That might be because they have seen how the people of this country fought for the independence of it, the blood they bleed, the sacrifices they made, to see the golden bird fly into the glorious future where democracy will have its true meaning and where people will proudly say, its My Nation, My Country, My Pride, My Devotion, My Heaven, My Love............it's My India !
P.S. I sure will vote the next time elections are on!
Image: My cousin Grandfather (aged 92) all delighted after casting his vote (At Marine House, Hastings)... A man who believes in the democracy of this country !
