It's voting day in Gujarat tomorrow and I am still not sure who I shall vote for. One thing is certain, though, I'll definitely cast my vote. Having voted twice in Mumbai - once for the national elections and once for the Assembly elections, I do enjoy the process of choice. It's not so much as the right to vote as it is the right to choose. I chose to wake up early in the morning, chose to queue up in the line, to choose the candidate I thought would make for a better leader. If I were given a choice, and heaven forbid if there were more elections in the year, I would have still exercised my choice. But this time, I don't know whom to choose. If the candidates in Mumbai were vaguely familiar, the ones in Vadodara are simply categorised as 'For Modi' or 'Against Modi'. And Modi's not even contesting from here! But I hope to make a choice before my turn comes up to punch a button on the electronic voting machine.
I asked my cook Rangaben who she would vote for tomorrow. She said she wouldn't vote - it was too much of a hassle. We manage to get her to promise that she would at least give it a shot. She agreed. When I asked her again who she'd vote for, she showed me her hand. "Hamesha se panja ko hi kiya hai. Indira ko." Indira??? I cried, "Indira toh hai hi nahin!" She said that she liked Indira and she knew that Indira had died a few years ago and that Indira's family still had something to do with the government.
I asked her why she wouldn't vote for the kamal (aka BJP). She said that she preferred the strength of the panja though most of her neighbours were keen that they vote the BJP in. She told me that if the BJP would come to power the price of one kilo of rice would be just Rs 5. "Aapko kaise pata chala?" "Arre, paper mein nikla hai," my unlettered cook told me. I asked her which paper. She said someone had told her it had come out in the paper. That's it! "And how much will rice cost f the Congress comes to power?" She had no clue. But if she votes, she'll vote for the hand for sure.
I asked my cook Rangaben who she would vote for tomorrow. She said she wouldn't vote - it was too much of a hassle. We manage to get her to promise that she would at least give it a shot. She agreed. When I asked her again who she'd vote for, she showed me her hand. "Hamesha se panja ko hi kiya hai. Indira ko." Indira??? I cried, "Indira toh hai hi nahin!" She said that she liked Indira and she knew that Indira had died a few years ago and that Indira's family still had something to do with the government.
I asked her why she wouldn't vote for the kamal (aka BJP). She said that she preferred the strength of the panja though most of her neighbours were keen that they vote the BJP in. She told me that if the BJP would come to power the price of one kilo of rice would be just Rs 5. "Aapko kaise pata chala?" "Arre, paper mein nikla hai," my unlettered cook told me. I asked her which paper. She said someone had told her it had come out in the paper. That's it! "And how much will rice cost f the Congress comes to power?" She had no clue. But if she votes, she'll vote for the hand for sure.
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