A Confused Indian Voter

Vote for Narendra Modi! Oh! I am not convincing you to vote for one of the most successful chief ministers so far but many social media campaigns are running for Narendra Modi. I am not denying that he is one of the best. But does he really have solutions for all your problems? Shall we get rid of current situation if we ‘vote for Modi’? Such common question are coming in my mind.

When you read articles in newspapers, discuss local politics in trains and buses and try to become a responsible voter, you have to consider only one factor and that is ‘who is going to develop and maintain your electoral area’ without concentrating on national politics. But if we vote according to this criterion, the results can be different. Obviously there are voters belonging to minority groups and election candidates spend upto crores to distract them. But still your vote matters. Considering scams and various weird economical decisions, people seek a change in government. At least BJP core thinks like that. But what if people would have forgotten Suresh Kalmadi or A. Raja, we have to suffer one more term under these fake leaders where decisions are taken by one and they are represented by others.

So If I choose not to vote UPA and their allies, what options I have. I can vote for either NDA or third front or independent candidates. The major problem creators in congress or BJP government are their allies. All the allies have their specific group of voters and they only think for their development which is not wrong in a sense but it is affecting the growth of India. Again coming to the subject, if I really choose to vote for Modi then I have to vote for their ally in Mumbai, Maharashtra which is like hanging sword on my head. I really have spoken for this political party from my childhood, seeing their efforts for people of Maharashtra but when I think in broader way I see many faults and setbacks in development. Mumbai could be much better and maintained till now which is not. Considering first point of this discussion I can’t vote either UPA or NDA now.

We also have got a considerably   good option of abstain which can be chosen if you feel that no candidate is good for the betterment of your area. If you see the statistics, maximum 100 people go for this option and don’t get any results at the end. Electoral commission may not even consider these votes in front of thousands which are surely enough to win one of the not so eligible candidates. Again I cannot go for this option. So now I can vote for either third front or independent candidates. Very few, say 1 percent, independent candidates are really ready to wok and trustworthy. Others simply take their share to join the government, obviously if they manage to win. I am happy that I have reached at single option that is third front. Third front is very weird as it sounds. There is no bonding or construction of their alliance in third front. So If I consider that third front is going to win which is as impossible as the end of this world on 21^st December, 2012; I doubt they can manage to run their government for even six months. There is one more option which I did not include in the discussion knowingly, the rising Aam Aadmi party. Many months have passed since their formation but there is not a declaration of any strategy towards 2014. I consider that all these parties will come forward and will give a good reason to choose one of them next year.

She Was The One! : A Short Story

“Four”, I yelled out as I smashed the ball beyond boundary. We were playing at Bombay Gymkhana we were not allowed though. It was like my second home. I used to play all day at gymkhana. My twelve more friends used to accompany me all the time. I was around six then as I didn’t know my actual birthdate. We used to celebrate our birthday on 14^th of November every year. After all we were none other than so called orphans born somewhere and brought up at ‘Aarushi’ orphan house. There were many at ‘Aarushi’ who really cared for us. I used to ask Shilpa di, the chairperson of ‘Aarushi’, that where I came from and she used to ignore me by telling other stories. But one day she told me that she found me in unconscious state on one of the roads at ‘Dharavi’. In future when I learnt to operate computer and I just googled what Dharavi was and got shocked and froze on the chair.

So I was growing in a far better surrounding with twelve more children like me. Everyone had his own story to be in ‘Aarushi’. We were enrolled in nearby BMC School. So we were living a normal life on weekdays and were treated as different especially on Sundays. Because most of the couples used to find their time on Sundays to visit ‘Aarushi’ and get a son or a daughter. I used to get bored and feared at the same time of such sessions, I wanted a mother and father like other children though. Those couple never took effort to think before commenting on us loudly. At the age of six I had known every small defect in my body. But Shilpa di had told us that those sessions were only for our better future and I had believed her with my eyes closed.

On one Sunday morning I finished a match with breathless half century and a victory for our team. Then I went to Sundar chacha’s shop to have lemon juice. We used to go there for refreshments. But we never stole a penny for that. Shilpa di was our sponsor. Sundar chacha was a nice man. Many times he had offered us some chocolates. But that Sunday morning one lady offered us chocolates. My friends refused to take but I convinced them to accept her gift and Sundar chacha also said to do so. I had seen her many times at that shop. She used to come with her baby boy. I got more information about her when I asked to Sundar chacha. She was a qualified working woman living nearby. She was a nice lady and unlucky at the same time as her husband lost his life in an accident in very unfortunate way. I left the shop with sympathy for her.

On one another Sunday morning when I was getting ready for the ‘session’ one of our caretakers came to my room and informed me there was no ‘session’ that day. As I was about to jump he threw a shock bomb towards me. I was ordered to pack my bag because some Mrs Joshi had adopted me. I started crying and my friends came and joined me one by one. I never had thought to leave ‘Aarushi’. It was more than my actual parents. But I knew that Shilpa di would never give me in wrong hands. So I went to office room to meet my new mother ‘Mrs Joshi’. My head got shaken when I saw her because she was none other than that chocolate lady from Sundar chacha’s shop. Shilpa di congratulated me and introduced me to my new mother and brother. She was shilpa di’s school friend. Then I prepared my mind and left ‘Aarushi’ with teary farewell.

Today there was a passing out parade at NDA. It was around fifteen years ago when I left the orphan house. I got everything which every child deserves. My background taught me a lesson to serve for others and hence I chose an option to serve for our nation. My chest filled with confidence when I saw my mother in parents’ stand during parade. Today what I am is just because of her. I saw my other mates getting the stars on their shoulders by their parents after the convocation ceremony. And she was there waiting for me. My brother was watching me proudly. I handed her my stars without wasting a second. When she was pinning the stars on my shoulder we both got tears. And my heart spoke out loudly, ‘She was the one’!