FINGER TO THE DEMOGRACY..(in a legitimate way)

The first phase of assembly elections in Assam begins today for 62 out of 126 constituencies and I am proud to announce that today I had the opportunity to vote or put it in other words exercised my right to vote today for the first time. Now that i can see the mark on my finger, I can't help thinking of this incident as a significant rite of passage and a lesson in humility and a bit of megalomania. I know the combination of the two seems like opposite ends of the spectrum but thats just how it was. The time stipulated for casting our votes today was from 8:00 am to 3:00 pm. Being the lazy citizen that I am, i slept till 8:45 am. And I am the future of this great country, so god help us. Apart from that I reached the polling booth at about 9:00 am with my father. Our polling booth was the Jorhat Law college Campus, befitting of the occasion was the location in a sense. There I was standing at the voting Centre Number 27 waiting eagerly to get my shot at writing the destiny of our country, and forming a favoured government with all my fellow Jorhatians. I know it sounds a lot more grand than what it was. So I was basically waiting alone in the line to cast my vote underneath a surprisingly blazing sun (it had been pouring for a few days). I was alone because my father dropped me off at the polling booth and went back home to get my mother (two trips because he was using the bike). To me in those moments of absolutely awkward solitude the blazing sun shining down at us seemed like a sign from the high heavens that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Finally both my parents arrived and it turned out the I was supposed to cast my vote at the number 21 voting centre not 27. What else out from this line and into the other. Thankfully both were in the Law college premises. Finally I did see the light at the end of my tunnel(the line), in my case which was getting inside the voting centre, getting the ink on my finger, pressing that blue button of the EVM and hearing that long beep. The moment wasn't grandiose at all, I kept fumbling the whole time through my pocket to get my Identity proof out, the ink went in my nail crevices and it looks quite dirty now and i almost ran out after the beep as the beep happened to be really long one and I thought I broke the machine. Only outside did I realise what I had done, more correctly what I had participated in. I had just taken part in feeding the machinery of the World's largest democracy. Many people regard the condition of this country as an unlivable slum, but today I know that i am not alone in this mess, there are just so many with me... that the key to opening this "chicken coop" ( the term chicken coop is adopted from the novel The White Tiger authored by Arvind Adiga) lies within ourselves. And how lightly do we take this right to vote right now seems like a crime to me, we have the right we have the means, its about time the absolute power rests where it belongs, with us the people.

If any Indian citizen reads this blog then please don't throw your rights away. 67% votes were cast in the first phase of the assembly elections in Assam. So people with children, if you may or can, take them out with you to see what an election or voting is all about . As a child I remember accompanying my parents to the polling booths and after they had cast their votes it was almost ritualistically that I would hop on my father's bike and both of us would go around to see what all was happening at other centres, and till this day the ritual is intact. Let the future of the country understand what it takes to remain as the world's largest democracy. On a patriotic note this time, JAI HIND

http://www.indiainfoline.com/Markets/News/First-phase-of-assembly-polls-begins-in-Assam/3632885564
http://search.indiatimes.com/websearch.cms?type=0

for elections news check out the links.

Bleeding Blue And Loving It

After six weeks of cricket mania the whole carnival is comming to an end with the two sub-continental favourites India and Srilanka pitted against each other in the final. the two teams will be in an epic battle tomorrow in search of the ultimate cricketing glory, to win the holy grail- The World Cup. Please don't let my flair for dramatics scare you off. Its just that as we all know India hadn't had the strongest intial campaign comming into this world cup. The team defeated Bangladesh no doubt but only to pull up a draw against England,clawing their way out of trouble against Ireland and a loss against South Africa. Although the Men in Blue had to go through a period of serious blues they made and they made it to the final in style. They ousted Australia the team to have won the past three WC titles in 1999, 2003 and 2007. In the semis India took on arch rival Pakistan- a team to have suffered no loss till that point in the tournament only bring an end to their WC campaign.This match had had us fans screaming on top of our lugs and praying at the stretch of out faiths. But the God of Cricket blessed this team and here we are in the finals.

The next match is has a lot lying on the line for both the teams. For one India is playing on home ground and has the pleasure as well as the pressure to perform in front of us citizen. And Srilanka too as they are playing in a cricket crazy country which has its own team playing in the final. Sachin Tendulkar would be looking towards his 100th ODI 100 and the only piece of silverware missing from this repertoire- The WORLD CUP. And from the visitors bench we have Muttiah Muralidharan the bowler supremo. He has come overlooking an injury to play this match. He would end his International career after the world cup final. The gist is out the best bowler in all history to take on the Little Master tomorrow at the Wankhade Stadium Mumbai.All I have to say is that better be worth the popcorn. And speaking of worth, the ICC has had a heavy tax exemption of 43 cr rupees while making huge amounts of profit. However the ban on media placed by the ICC has been called off. Now since the tax payer has had to shell out 43 cr rupees for this world cup, TEAM INDIA had better bring us the WORLD CUP. Let the game begin.