Ballot Fest : A Harbinger to Daydreaming

Devinder Singh
Bugle has blown to awake us from the daily hectic chores and raise our nuts to not so reality and switch to thinking of someone who will never think of us in future. The machinery is at work to bring our wisdom into a transition phase and makes it fall prey to the promise of Utopia. Even the layers of bitter experience from past could not shield our fingers from getting inked for a person whose conscience betrays even before the ink on my finger fades.
The beauty of campaigning is so solid that all your sense organs start feeling the festival harbinger. when an iota or call it the mango man will start having importance, more appropriately it is the auction of his finger to fake promises in the fest. The bid might start from smart cities,loan waiver and what not, gold instead of potatoes. Is my finger worth inked for such people. This ink on my finger is evidence to sane conscience of choosing a right man.This ink has a price to pay for if you want in your ballot it is your hard work, dedication,management,moreover loyalty towards your constituency than your bank account
It was Sunday morning I didn’t know who booked it for someone whose identity is a subject to study or lost in the Thars of my mind.Sitting quietly I was watching TV and speakers were heated with hooting of those panelist who were about to break my TV screen.In between these screamings and chest thumping, calling bell intervened and signalled my departure from the chair. I went outside to open the door.After a long, I saw someone folding his hand and standing in front of me,his traditional kurta was so white looks like someone dropped from the advertisement of tide and I was zapped in the similar fashion. The doldrum between to ask about his performance in the constituency and decency of his stature has all expressions of smilies of my keyboard if it had a face.
Stature of iota has been inflated temporarily to many degrees in this fest.Just to hide what they could not do during this term and will promise a moon for next. Seeing their plight on ground I find iota more closer to NOTA.As my culture taught me athithi devo bhav. I reciprocated with same folding hands and a smile from other side depicts asking for assurance of my inclination to their party. The crow feet closer to his eyes drenched in sweat were reminder of my locality potholes filled with water which I daily have to face while going to office.He still feels his white kurta has that charm to buy my conscience.
Seeing on the roads, are those colourful flags and the cavalcade of supporters of a party. Just made me dwell on image again and again, thinking a little deeper I could see the money
which I paid as taxes is being used for the campaigning of a party They shell out money from multiple sources legal, illegal even more precisely they used money from my pocket to convince me to vote for them, bit hilarious but a reality of today’s politics.
Dear politicians, whenever you come for campaigning you wave hands to general public I don’t know what it symbolises to you but for me it symbolises that you owe me something i.e development in return of my vote. Just a food for thought,my dear politician If you think the money which you saved for all the five years to convince many like me to secure your seat for the next tenure then you are catching a fish wrong way. If you ponder for a while and expand chambers of your heart let the honesty with some sense runs through your cholesterol rich veins and reach your high held head.The money being spent in extravaganza fake festival of campaigning is a bad idea.Had it been used for the constituency which is your own where your neighbours, people who know you,admire you, feel happy seeing you on TV resides in that constituency it would have been a different society,it is their money and they deserve more than anyone else.
Have the courage to do this, we would be more impressed. Instead of you walking till my doorstep begging for a vote I would love to stand in front of your house with the placard saying yes my vote is for you I hope it will make you less guilt conscious in this profession. I know no one will do it, it has lot many things at stake, needs courage to adopt such reforms. It will be unfair to expect from a person who has joined the party after spending so many bucks now if he loses with this simpleton idea how he will get back his ill investment.
The bottom line of problem lies with the mindsets which favour shortcuts ,tricks to gain votes over simple governance. if we weigh pros and cons in all the facets simple governance wins over it.Let’s see different resources used for campaigning, manpower, traffic clogging vehicles,convoys, cavalcades waving flags.The finances behind this concept are drained out in one go which were meant for development.Then we ask even after decades that party has done nothing,the phrase will not retire from our mouth so soon, if we don’t shun the idea of nothingness.
My dear Neta ji, your tireless speeches with no rest for last one month, 24×7 into election mode, it is actually applaudable.I have one suggestion try spending same amount of time energy or even 30% of what you are doing nowadays you might not have to do all the campaigning and toil hard to garner votes.Public support will come to your door step.
Actually it is us who allow this to happen, they will do what we ask from them in return of votes. You asked war hysteria, freebies, loan waivers they addicted to the weed which supplies them vote. Now our priorities have been few days of heated debate and munching the crib of one party to win over other but how many times we have acted to set timelines for development projects for votes. Never did nor happened because nation or my locality was never my priority it was my caste or religion or views which aligned with mine to give temporary solace to my ego. Britishers didn’t bestow us the trait of asking questions to authority neither we are interested to move out of comfort zone.A culture has to be inculcated to ask the politician his performance, to make him accountable for each and every word he utters.
I have an idea if Election Commission can just think over it, to announce election dates just one week prior to elections, without letting parties do any campaigning it is feasible and can save good amount of currency being wasted on a big fat wedding of incompetent groom.
This is a threshold once crossed by few, will pave the way for many and in today’s information century it will embark a change.
Let’s get inked for a purpose
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