I refused to VOTE!!

Yes, I refused to vote this general election. But that doesn't mean I stayed at home and enjoyed the holiday declared by the government so that people can exercise their electoral right. I went to the polling booth around 11 am but instead of casting my vote I declined to do so. I guess most of the people don't know about the section 49O of 1961 act of election law given in the statue. This section states that a voter after entering his/her name in the electoral role (Form 17A) can opt not to vote.

But why would anybody want to waste their vote. Well, I was frustrated with current political fraternity of this country. I am fed up with the petty politics being played by the so called National Leaders, who could have done a great job had they tried to use their energies and intelligence in the welfare of the country. Then we would have realized the dreams for our fore fathers of a free nations. For we are still enslaved by the poverty, illiteracy and corruption.

Nowadays every politician dreams about becoming PM of this country because they want rule this country not govern. But they have forgotten that after every 5 years its the common man who decides their fate. I also decided to vote sensibly this time. That's why I tried to know more about the candidates running from my constituency. I went through the manifestos of various parties, but none impressed me. Because these parties have been in power (on n off) for long time and still haven't helped in country's progress. Therefore, I decided to check out independent candidates. I went through their affidavits to know about these candidates. But to my disdain most of these candidates had their education only till secondary and higher secondary. Now how could such a person work towards issues of national interest or what could be their perceptions of these issues. I might sound prejudiced towards them but I can't help it. That's why I decided not to vote any candidate this time.

There is another school of thought that believes its no good wasting your vote in such a way, after all you get a chance to vote in 5 years. They advocate that one should vote keeping parties and their star performers/leaders in mind after all they only have a say in running the government. But this notion itself is against the spirit of Democracy. Because by this way we are encouraging autocracy with in that party, which will ultimately will be reflected in the governance. Instead there should be more freedom and free flow of ideas and more debates on issues within a party which would yield in good governance. That is why we should vote for individual candidates and we should vote them keeping their merits in mind.

Some people also told me that instead of wasting my vote I should have voted for a party which looks to be most competent to form a stable government at the Center for 5 years. But this would mean asking to opt between the devil and the deep sea. In a true democratic establishment such a situation cannot and shall not happen. I believe keeping this mind the section 49-O was introduced in the election statue way back in 1961. But this is not sufficient, as more and more people becoming disgruntled with the current political fraternity there is a dire need of another round of electoral reforms. Firstly, we should give meanings to 49-O clause. Votes caste under this clause should be considered while deciding the winner. Also, 49-O in its current form violates the secrecy of ballot and hence there should be a button for the None of The Above Candidates available (NOTA) in the EVMs.

These are the few small steps that should be taken immediately to reinvigorate the democracy and will attract people to participate in the electoral process. As a franchisee of this system it is our utmost duty that we should participate enthusiastically in the elections.

Billo rani

It’s a weird title for a topic but I couldn't think of any better at the time of writing this post. We recently bought an Air Conditioner but some how we couldn’t put away its carton immediately, so we left it in the balcony. It’s Saturday and I have an off, so my mum told me to put the carton in the garage. When I moved the carton to my surprise I found a little cat nursing her new born kitten. I believe she had baby some time early morning because she was looking tired when I had her first glimpse. Now that’s sound very cute… but not for me I was furious seeing this animal and the first thought that cross my mind was damn it! Now I can’t displace this carton nor will this animal allow me to fetch my morning news paper. Because nursing animals especially from the feline family becomes very protective and aggressive for their offspring. So the cat (from now onwards will be called billo rani) has encroached my balcony. And like all territorial animals it infuriates me seeing someone taking over my territory. So I took a long rod to provide me safe distance from the billo rani and started moving the carton towards my self. Suddenly, I heard a hissing noise and saw billo rani showing me her teeth as if threatening me to leave her alone. Now did I get scared?? Well yes... Because that reminds me one incident that happened long back with my cousin when she was attacked and scarred by a nursing cat. She had a very painful recovery. So finally I had to retrieve and all this commotion made my mum and my younger brother aware that something is happening in the balcony and they rushed to my help.

They were excited to see the billo rani but they were scared too because as I have told you that nursing cats are very dangerous animals. We couldn’t decide what to do in such a situation. Finally, we left the cat alone and hoped that it will leave soon. After this I went for a nap. But I was still furious about the cat. By the time I wake up I was calm and my temper was down. I was feeling sad and ashamed of my actions after all it was just a nursing cat and like all nursing mother it need some shelter and rest and probably some food too. With this guilt feeling I went to the balcony to see the cat. What I saw made me feel guiltier about my actions; all that commotion in the afternoon had left the cat very stressed up and weak. She was now looking even more fatigued but vigilant. I called up my mum and asked her what do with the cat and we came to the conclusion that we will keep this cat till it moves to some other place or its offspring grow up to become independent. We also provided some milk to the cat, to reinvigorate it. This somehow lessened my burden of guilt. But I still feel sorry and ashamed for my actions that I acted like a selfish person. After all we are not the only creation of the almighty, he has created many others and allowed them all to flourish on this earth then who are we to harm them.

A paradise lost

Disclaimer: This is a short story based on my conversation with one of my friend sometime back.  I have added some of my own ideas before presenting it to you people.

 

My name is Kanchan and I am 21 years old, I am returning to my hometown Simla for my summer vacations. And while traveling in this luxurious A/c coach I am lost in my thoughts. Since my early childhood I remember summer vacations as the most enjoyable time of the year. It is that time of year when I don't have to worry about homework or exams neither there are any teachers who will try to push all the bookish knowledge into my already tired brain which is not eager to take anymore of this rot. Summer vacation is a carefree time to be with oneself and to play. 

Our house used to be situated at the outskirts of the Simla, far away from the crowded locality of the main city. It is surrounded by hills and was enveloped by serene atmosphere. We have been living here since my birth. The hills have an easy climb and were lush green with woods; some of these woods were as ancient as the human memory remembers. Running on the hills and playing hide and seek in the woods was a daily ritual after the school. These woods were my true friends, they always shared my joy and sorrows. During summer vacation I tend to explore beyond the nearby hills. I was always surprised to find another hill after exploring the new one. It took me sometime or rather a few years in school to realize that the whole world is not covered with hills and valleys and woods and springs. But now I wish it to be true so that everybody could have enjoyed the nature’s beauty hidden in these mountains. Then they wouldn’t have ruined it. 

It all started a decade ago, when people started earning more money. Traditionally Simla used to be a tourist hotspot. And in the new economic scenario more tourists started flowing into Simla and with them cash started flowing in. Suddenly the hills were abuzz with economic activity. Banks were giving loans and with this new purchasing power people started consuming and wasting more. Because of the economic boom in the hills people from nearby district started coming into the city in search of livelihood and soon the city begun to expand. New housing societies were built in the outskirts of the city and soon I saw the woods being replaced by the concrete jungle. The hills now stand naked in front of my eyes; they were robbed of their woods and I was aggrieved to loose my ancient friends. For those who are not being hewed stand in a pitiable condition. Now whenever I hike across these hills I find the same scene of destruction everywhere. Either there are ugly concrete structures or the crops being grown on the hills, but there are no trees. 

For past few years I have been observing a change in the climate, the weather cycle has changed, winters start late summer stays longer, less snow and more monsoon showers.. People say it’s because of the Global Warming, they say that excess quantity of CO2 traps the sunlight and heats the atmosphere. The changes in the weather system are its repercussion. We all have been taught in the schools that it is trees that recycle CO2 in to oxygen and helps sustaining life on earth. If it is true then why do we fall trees? Why are we ruining our paradise? Our greed is so strong that it has blinded us and pushing us to our doom. Still I believe all is not lost yet and we can still save what ever is left with us. Because if we fail to do so, then we will rob our coming generations of the pleasure of walking on grass and playing in a running stream. Being the intelligent species of this planet the onus is on us to preserve it.....

Dev D and the emosonal attyachar

Dated 14^th Feb. 2009

Friends first of all I would like to apologize for a misleading title for this post. It is not about the critique of the recently released Bollywood flick Dev D but it’s about the issue of break ups and its aftermath. But friends it’s not just another agony aunt post but about my observations on the vicious circle of break-ups and the emosonal attyachar involved…

 Love as we all know is the most amazing emotion a person experience in his/her life. It’s the most beautiful bond that binds two persons. It teaches us about sharing and caring for each other. It completes a person and gives him/her a sense of belonging. If it is blissful to be in love it is equally devastating to be left heart broken. After all it’s very difficult to fill the void that is created when the person whom you love and trust left/ditch/dump you. Whatever could be the reason behind the break up; it’s always agonizing to be left alone after a brief blissful period of togetherness. 

A break up not only shatters one’s heart but also hurts one’s ego. This is especially true for the guys. That’s why they are relatively at disadvantage as compared to the fairer sex and takes more time to recover from it. After all break up in principle is a setback, the only thing that makes it difficult to over come, is our emotions attached with it. The easily we let it go the earliest we can recover from it. If love provides us with the positive energy of life, the emotional turmoil followed by breakup causes negative emotion/energy that further aggravates one’s suffering. Dev Das's end in the Sarat Chandra's novel is the manifestation of the same negative emotion. One should first learn to accept the setback and then only he/she would be able to channelize this negative energy to one's use.

 

Dated 26^th Feb. 2009 

Its 4 am in the morning and it’s been 4 hrs since I have finished watching Dev D, boy what a movie it was.. such was the influence of it that I am still wandering the bylanes of my memory, sometime reliving the pain and sorrow and sometime laughing at my naivety. Yes I was able to identify with the Dev D’s character. But now I just want to praise the work of Anurag Kashayp. Some people may not like the audacity of the characters and the ‘on your face’ kind of dialogs. But all these things made the story more gripping. Apart from the strong performances of the actors I believe the real hero of the movie was its music which is beautifully intertwined with the story. Such is the effect of the music that you will be lost in the flow of the story and will come back only when show ends.

 Apart from the movie, I was thrilled with my late night outing with my friends.. I used to have night out with friends in Hyderabad but it was my first such experience in Delhi. Though I have been born and brought up in Delhi, still I never had late night outings. But then I was just a kid and never had any income to spend away

 The only thing that I would like to add in the end that it was no emosonal attyachar to watch Dev D but it was pure fun…. :D

Floating Thoughts

Hi people… it’s been a long time since I opened my account at blogspot and I should now start writing my blog, I couldn’t find any exciting topic to start with that is why I am writing down the ideas and thoughts that are currently occupying my mind.

First of all I am disappointed and sad that I couldn’t make it to IIMs this time also (this was my third attempt). Though I got 94%ile in CAT this time, I know that there is still scope for improvement in it. I am planning to give it another try this year. But before setting out for another vicious circle of preparation and anticipation I would like to enjoy myself in coming few weeks and want to do some introspection about what went wrong in my last attempt. So that I could come up with a better strategy to get into IIMs.

Another issue that is occupying my mind for past few days in radicalization of our society and I am shaken by the images of the thrashing of women in a pub in Mangalore and that too in the name of saving our culture. I would like to ask Mr. Pramod Muttalik, who spearheaded this assault with his bunch of hooligans that what culture are they trying to protect/preserve and from whom? Is thrashing people and especially women is what they call culture? I beg to differ because their action suggests that it’s an act of male chauvinism. After all culture is not a rigid social phenomenon it is dynamic one and every new generation comes up with their own culture. It can’t be forced upon but it’s a matter of choice that an individual exercise. India is already facing threat from the radicals from neighboring country and we don’t want another set of homegrown Taliban to push her back into the Dark Age. 

Amidst global recession the fears of job loss is taking its toll on all of us. It’s a very scary scenario to see someone getting pink slip, I have faced this last October when my team was reduced to half. Gosh! I had few sleepless nights after that and it took me sometime to recover from this shock. Though India hasn’t faced recession but just a slowdown in economy, even a 1% drop in annual growth rate is a great cause of concern. I have recently collected some data on the impact of the economic slowdown and its adverse effect on the suitability of IT pros as grooms. And the conclusion of the study is that NRI and IT professionals are least preferred grooms by the parents. But I strongly believe that this shall pass too. (hehehe) And IT pros will be again at the top of the list of prospective grooms. 

People, I am back to the kitchen now. Since ma and pa are holidaying I am the boss at home and poor Vipul (my younger brother) has to bear my constant badgering hehehe.  But the positive aspect of this is that we both have learned to work as a team ;) so it is good in a way. 

I must admit that there is nothing more satisfying than cooking a good meal. And I have now realized how painful it is for a working woman to come home from work and cook meal. Boy! It takes extra ordinary enthusiasm and energy to prepare meal and a tiring day at work. Hats off to all working women!! And I have now decided to help mum with meal on weekends (at least one meal during the weekend).