It’s been almost a month, since
the Lok Sabha elections have ended. The chanting of the NaMo mantra, countless
spoofs on RaGa, repeat videos of the infamous slaps Mr. Kejriwal had to suffer
and the voracious poll predictions, all of it has ended, thankfully.
A first-time voter(for the Lok
Sabha! – I have voted in Delhi elections though :P). I remember my dad commenting
the previous night of the elections about how I never wake up before 12 in the
noon on Sundays and holidays and how I sleep through most earthquakes. He kept
joking that this time I’d sleep through the entire Election Day and wake up the
next day after that, having missed my chance to vote. Well, that could have
been a possibility since I currently boast of a 24 hour sleep record. But
thankfully my dad’s predictions didn’t come true and I woke up and proudly went
to cast my vote.
My index finger still bears the indelible
sacred ink mark. Though these elections were nothing short of dramatic (as
expected!), but there was something I noticed and it left me baffled - most of
the people in my college did NOT vote!
And we’re talking about the
country’s best commerce college – a place filled with people who score more
than 97%! The best minds, the future generation, the so-called educated youth
of our country. And they did not vote. Clearly,
being educated and being literate are way different things. They can update
their Whatsapp statuses conveniently “Abki baar Modi Sarkar”, or “Har haath shakti, har haath tarakki” but
they don’t actually go out and vote. Meanwhile, people are stuffed in trucks
and taken to the voting booths. A bottle of liquor, a blanket, that’s all it
takes. Payment in kind. It seals the deal. And you know what, it’s just heart-wrenching.
I also agree with the fact that
most of the people in my college are outstation students, and a ticket to their
hometown, where they are enrolled as voters, will probably cost them a lot, especially
if they live in north-east India or south India. But what about those who live
in Chandigarh, Mathura, Agra , Sonepat or Rohtak? They comfortably catch a
train or bus back home, every month to see their family but they don’t go back
home to vote, once in 5 years. I know of people who live in really far-off
areas and who go and visit their ailing mothers, even if they have to catch a
flight, but they don’t go back home to vote. So much for the ailing country.
Next time you buy VIP tickets for
a David Guetta and Avicii concert or shell out money for the north-central stand
tickets of the IPL final, or take a Europe tour and slide a vodka shot down
your throat, remember that you didn’t save any money by not voting that day. You
were just being irresponsible and pathetic.
People don’t realize that by not
voting, they are probably subjecting themselves to a much greater cost in the
long run, both socially and financially. Think of it the next time your family
member has to slip a 500-rupee note for their monthly pension, when your
parents have to ‘buy’ a seat worth some lakhs in a B-grade engineering college
for your brother, and when your grandmother has to spend a bomb for her open-heart
surgery. Those moments will remind you of what you lost out on, by NOT voting.
Because another leader, another government might have done things differently,
something you wouldn’t have fathomed. Something which could have made your life
brighter. Something. But you’ll never know what that could have been, because
you just did not vote.
Oh, and if you think all parties
are just the same, and your vote wouldn’t have made much of a difference, then you
could have pressed NOTA – none of the above. Atleast that could have earned you
the ‘right to complain’. Yes, it is a right. And you have to earn it. So,
before you can even think of criticizing any political party, remind yourself
to zip your mouth shut. And remain like
that for the next 5 years, right until you vote in the next elections.
