yay for democracy!
Here we go! I finally feel like a citizen and an adult. All the years I lived abroad and paid state and federal tax, I never got a say in the process. Now, finally, I feel like I actually belong. I had to fight for it ;D But I did vote!
So, you read about how I was sure they’d ripped up my application after I’d left when I went to register. I checked online but my name wasn’t on the list. My parents got their voter ID cards, I didn’t. But, with fingers crossed, I went to check the updated list at the polling station, anyway. And of course, they couldn’t find my name, so I had to go find the ‘building list’. After visiting seven local volunteer tables with their building lists, and a good darshan of the entire area, we located the list and my name wasn’t on it.
Enter my Knight on a Steel Horse – a volunteer went off on a motorcycle after making a few calls to actually get the ‘supplementary list’ of new registrants that all the booths were sharing. Twenty minutes later, he roared up to tell me I’d been registered as purush (male) but … I had a temporary voter ID! I could have hugged him!
I hightailed it to the polling station where the volunteers seemed genuinely happy I’d returned and could vote! Since I could prove with my presence and my state ID that I’m really not male, two hours, much sweat, lots of repetitive questions and only a few lines later, I had cast my first vote ever*. And it was such a high! I was psyched for hours after! If you haven’t voted before, I highly recommend it 😉
*I left India when I was 18. This is the first election since I’ve returned! Of course, the year I finally get to vote, they switch to inking the middle finger. I could have put in an obscene gesture but … eh, I’m more mature than that. 😉
Good to know your perseverance to vote !! Keep it up !
I dunno what to say. I thought I was the guy who said you could always influence political careers by not voting. You just influenced mine.
Yay for democracy, and yay to you for being an active participant! The process is only as good as the participation and involvement that it receives. Good job for doing your part!
[…] Subin and Chhavi share their experience of voting for the first […]
Cheers to your first vote ….!!
i just wonder why the mumbai folk were marked off on the mid finger…yay for democracy allright but quite a nookie for the electorate as well!
You are lucky, you could vote.
There are thousands of voters whose names still do not exist in the list.
Let’s hope their names appear in the next list.
So what there is always next time
Thanks.
http://www.iwrite2know.com/
Good! Every citizen matters! 🙂
By the way, you have got great nails! how I wish I could EVER grow my nails properly!
@Amit, @Arjun @Smriti @Gopal and @Ramya thanks 🙂
@Sushmit, I have no idea but it did make for good photo opps 😉
@iW2K – it wasn’t so much luck as persistence. I just refused to give up. Many, many people said “Oh, my name’s not on the list? Ok!” and went home. I don’t understand such behavior. Anyway, I hope these folks do have their names on the list next time.
An intresting website, can I ask what theme you are using? I have been looking for a good theme for quite a while now.
@Harry this theme was custom made for me by ekta paneri visit – ektz.in
the previous one was http://www.ndesign-studio.com/wp-themes/itheme
[…] pleased to be able to exercise my rights and do my civic duty. This time was MUCH easier than the last time in 2009. I’m still the wrong age, have the wrong name, and am listed in the wrong gender, but they […]