I did not Vote- The pangs and pain of a non voter

I can hear some of you saying...” shame on you”, “this was not expected of you”, “I knew it- she is not patriotic” ,”lazy bum”, “ don’t crib for the next five years now- you have no right to”.... and blah and blah and blah. In the so called democratic revolution I feel like the outcast. There is so much information fed to me each day about every hopeful candidate for the Prime Ministership. My friends are divided in their loyalty towards these candidates and do not hesitate to share links and updates about how good their choice of candidate is and how hopeless the others are. Thanks to the social media.... these ‘Men of Honour’ have their own mini campaigners spread across the length and breadth of facebook, twitter, whatsapp and the likes. Then why didn’t I vote?

I ask this question to myself a number of times during the day- and this is the first time I am feeling less of an Indian than my neighbour with an ink marked finger selfie on his facebook page. I am a breed that is stuck between the patriots who saw the march of independence and the revolutionaries who want to see a change in independence. Don’t get me wrong- I know my history well and I know the price for democracy and freedom that was paid by our brave fighters. I also know my present well where campaigns and dharnas yield results that are immediate but  interim with no follow up.... it is like we give up halfway and get busy with another “happening “ campaign. Every strive is forgotten too soon.... such is the impact of the information , tech savvy age.... there is too much of information on too many finger tips. I am the confused non voter!

There must be many like me who read the news paper everyday, watch the news on tv everyday, open up links and web pages about every party campaign, about the hidden wife, the mama’s boy, the slapper and the slapee, the offender, the offensive,  the bureaucrat, the campaign lunches , the money spinner, the mute , the talker, the stalker, the religious bender, the blanket and sari for a vote- giver, the taker...... and ohhhh I am confused!! And then I decide to be the outsider, the bystander, the R.K.Laxman ‘Common Man’ who didn’t exercise the right to vote .I will walk the streets  with my dazed wide-eyed look at everything wrong that will(not might) happen in the next five years, coz I didn’t believe that my vote counted and the man chosen to lead the largest democratic nation would have been the not so tainted man from the not so tainted party that I would have chosen.

 There  is a famous saying that my father  had written somewhere – “ In the kingdom of blind , the one eyed man is the king”. It holds true in our kingdom.... the one eyed man gets to be  king, in five years he becomes mute, add another five years he becomes totally blind. Notwithstanding, we have a new  set of one –eyed men ready to replace him and are campaigning hard. I made the mistake of not voting and I chose to remain blind, but these men show potential  as leaders of the masses and if you vote , your man might just be the one who opens up your eyes and makes you see the new world, creates opportunity, empowers the youth ,stabilizes the economy, bridges the gap between the rich and the poor, the rural and the urban, shuns bureaucracy, gets rid of the middle men, walks the walk and talks the talk.There is hope if you vote, and there are pangs of guilt if you don’t.Take that Step .... Vote!!!