My First Vote : Reminiscing the election that mattered to me…

It was finally the year, the one I mattered officially… by getting one more year older I earned the right to choose my next leader for the highest office. I was excited, a sense of fresh hope in my veins, a sense of participation in a bigger cause. It’s akin to when you make your first rupee and bring it home and mom glows like you have just cleared the family debt. The feeling of power, after all, I am someone who influences who can lead and represent going forward….

In my early teens, I was a goofball, too much sports, studies when exams were around the corner, wander the streets to play with any other kids a game of cricket. All that appealed to me, where the 3 make shift stumps we came up with either by drawing them on a wall or by unraveling a thick broom and planting them on a soil bank, we had improvised every possible means to come up with stumps, another favorite was any home that had vertical beams in its gates. I wouldn’t call myself a hopeless nomad, but my father figured it out that I need to be reigned in, it was time to put some culture, some science, some discipline and time managements and efficiency in me. But he was careful about it, he didn’t approach me and say “Son, pack the stumps and bats, get the books rolling, or come over here let me teach accounting and ledgers or here let me teach you the nuances of a budget”.

He simply came over and said, “did you check out what Kapil Dev had to say”, I was curious, pre-Sachin, he was my favorite cricketer. I figured there will be something in it that makes sense to me. I don’t remember the contents of it, but I remember not regretting reading the article. My dad continued “Look, the newspaper is a cool thing. It has something interesting and useful for all ages and keeps you informed. It could be trivial or huge… it could tell you what’s going on in Delhi or your next street. I don’t want you to read everything, but read the sports section, you will be hooked onto this thing soon.” I didn’t think ‘Whatever Dad’… but I did think ‘I am not sure this will work’. But it did and I haven’t stopped thanking my dad for getting me hooked on the newspaper.

What started as a fetish for sports columns soon became a monster. I realized soon enough that they ain’t writing about cricket everyday. I slowly browsed other sections and soon enough I used it as a daily morsel for my information craving.

This was all perfect timing, by the time I became an avid fan of the newspaper, I was hooked on the politics section and the coming election. I knew my state’s political parties, their symbols, their partners, their achievements, their letdowns and their history. I even knew who was running for office in the 5 closest constituencies, I was absorbed and knee deep in the vagaries of that election. I was prepared.

As the Election Day approached the heightened tenor of partisan attacks and political wringing were beginning to nauseate me. I started to imagine, what it would be to be an operative, guys who organize the stuff for their leaders, don’t they ever get numb by the process. There was quite a bit of improvisation mixed in along the way, your favorite filmy numbers would be manipulated to sing in the praises of the candidates, when it wasn’t boring or causing a headache it was entertaining and funny.

Election day, it was as if I was taking a finals exam, I had an unease and tension about me, though about a month prior I had finalized on the candidate I was voting for, I had now started rooting for the candidate, the person symbolized a hope I had for the next 5 years, the hope of realizing the policies that were promised over the last 5 months, the ones that appealed to me and the ones that I related to and even yearned for. The moment of reckoning came, I exercised the power that I had, I voted, I am now part of the process that’s going to elect the candidate for the highest office.

Along came the results, the candidate I had voted for lost, but his party won the overall majority. I wasn’t sure whether to be happy or not, I didn’t vote based on which party he was in, but what my research of the candidate, the convictions and the promises that were made by the individual. I was not sure now, that despite his party winning the overall election, my constituency was going to be helped much. So I felt a little weird.

The next morning, back to my old saddle, the sofa and the corner of the sofa that I liked, the newspaper back in my hand and a strong cup of coffee, I was in my comfort zone. I took a moment to think of the journey I had been on, it was like a roller coaster, from not knowing much about politics or caring about the government to researching on candidates I hadn’t known and furthering that effort and participating in a cause that made sense.

As exciting as it was to be part of the process, I soon realized nothing much changed around me over the next several months, the streets were the same, the potholes were still there, there was still that ugly unfenced statue in the middle of a 6 road intersection, there was still that rusty taste in my water, that same frequency or lack of local buses, the same level of crime and burglary. There was still that wine shop in front of that temple, there was still the same old city. The election that took me on a ride of hope let me down on its results. We the people of my constituency were still the same and we faced the same issues. Lack of governance or lack of caring by my elected officials had left my home district as ugly as it ever was….

I didn’t know what exactly we could do anymore, they say the people have the power to change things and that change is by voting for change. I am not sure I saw those symptoms in my district or my state or my country. My vote was just another number that the voting officials counted and reported. Those tins of papers not only held millions of my countrymen’s choice but also their hope, not only did they held their anger towards indifference but also their quest for change and now along with so many other generations of folks my vote stood there… united with others in it’s despair, pain, longing. My vote now is a piece of paper that will be shredded or fed to the cows. It is as important as that piece of rust on that garbage can in my street.

Obama Nation

Nov 4 was a red letter day. Simple. Sweet. Refreshing. I think for the first time in a million years the voting denizens and the onlooking political voyeurs look forward with hope and trepedity the oncoming change. Never before has the world stopped in awe and wondered aloud what one nation is teaching the others... change the eventual constant can happen anywhere. Can change be instant, is change the begining or the end. Is Change a destination or a pitstop.. is change a game-changer or is it a curveball/googly.

Change is what we want it to be. In an economy that seems to crack a little bit more each day, that seems to enjoy its own masochist orgy.. change is welcome. The only caveat is that we hope this change is for the better.

Minorities everywhere believe one thing, they are disadvantaged and cant win. Well a minority candidate won. The one shocking thing this is that it took so long even in the US of A. Is the American vote a reflection of the desire for unity or a vote for policy. I would love to believe that the vote for President-elect Barack Obama is a vote for mere unity. I would really love to. But, I believe its a convenient by-product. It's his policy that garnered the votes and thats the best part. We dont want a winner because we have sympathy for his melanin content, that would be cruel. I bet none of us want to win a victory thats conceded to us due to lack of competition or sympathy. Thankfully Obama won it, he wasnt given the presidency, McCain didnt concede it or lose it, Obama won it .

Obama won because he appeared articulate, knowledgable, coached, simple and mostly because he came across as someone who gets it. Oh the constant blaming of the Oil companies and the multi-millionaires didnt hurt.

Lets get one thing straight, he is not one of us. He was one among us who didnt deserve to be just another number in the population. He claims to be one among us, he just happens to be from among us.. now he is really in his league. Democracy or not.. Joe the plumber or Pat the soccer-mom cant get more than 15 minutes of fame.

It shows the guts of the American denizens to vote for a man who was recluse until one fine spring day a couple of years back when he provided the response to President Bush's budget. Obama represents a chance not a change. It will become a change if something really does change. Until then he is an opportunity, he is the dawn, let dusk come before we declare something changed during daylight.

Obama couldnt walk into a more complex chaos, its more pungent than a Pei-Wei exhaust, its as numbing as losing large toe. This economic climate is complex. We got out of one rut with some bandaid in the name of homeloans to an even more complex canyon. The thing that we cant afford to do is espouse another old wine of a policy, more often than not these policies of the past are sour milk.

I couldnt tell you how this is going to end up, i cannot fathom a chance that this will resolve in months. It doesnt matter who supported Obama or not, it doesnt matter who voted for him or not, it doesnt matter whether you like him or not, it doesnt matter if you think he can or not, it matters you provide him the chance. It matters you remain confidant in the choice of the majority, it matters you trust democracy and its fruits, it matters you contribute from the benches, it matters you provide him your voice of support, it matters you trust we stand to gain from this. Some people may not like him because of his skin, but lets find out whether we should rather shun him based on his results.

I am ready to follow the steps of the President-elect in the hope that he uses this chance to bring in change. Change didnt stop on the day he got elected, change just got born the day he got elected, change can die a quick death if he is not ready or is incompeteant... but lets wait, lets wait to see what he does with the chance. In the meantime make solid decisions for your life, your bank accounts and community. Think, Act, Work Hard and we will all thrive.

Lets hope Obama does that too, for we all need that change from up-top.