Election Turnout – A Cause for Concern

Indians continue to astonish me… Where else do we find citizens find every opportunity to scrutinize its government, yet seldom turn up for voting its new leaders? Too much corruption, slow government machine, too bad internal security, blah, blah, blah… But when push comes to shove, do we put our hands up and be counted? Honestly, I don’t think so. A glaring example for this is the 15^th Lok Sabha elections. Coming at the wake of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks & even such incidents & with so many campaigns urging people to exercise their right o vote, did we do justice to ourselves? 50% turnout in Delhi & Mumbai and 60% in Chennai. Are these good numbers for the world’s largest democracy? For those who treat Election Day as another holiday, you guys don’t deserve anything. I feel these democracy killers need to be stripped off their basic rights & deserve to be treated as 2^nd grade citizens. Pardon me if I sound like a dictator. I strongly believe that India needs an ambitious dictator like Singapore’s Lee-Kwan-U to change itself. If we closely observe, majority of the non-voting public are from the urban areas. Sure it’s not a matter of merely educating people to vote. I feel something is fundamentally wrong with the mindset of Indians, something the whole country should be ashamed of. You need something, you got to EARN it. Asking the government for aids in almost everything is equal to begging. Think about it.

Is this what we really want?

The booming IT, ITES, Automobile & various industries in the city is seen as a way forward. But in hindsight, think about what happened to the quality of life. Picture a software engineer in a city bus. He gets in, takes a seat, and switches his IPOD on until he gets to his place. The only time he turns his head is to get the ticket. All of this with lost looks on his face. No smile or interaction with fellow passengers. No looking beyond the windows at the city that teaches at least one lesson every day. Traffic signals are another joke. Respect for rules is the last thing that you expect. Even if you do, all you get is a heavy dose of strong words from the vehicle behind you. Work Tension, No time for children or elderly, untimely & junk food, bereft of good sleep and no time for sports & leisure. The only way to spend a weekend is to sleep. Friends staying in the same house barely have time to meet because of work timings. Is this what we really want? The other day I was rushing to office when I saw a blind man bound to a wheelchair stranded right in middle of a busy street. All I could do is watch in sympathy and pass him without a help. I didn’t have the time to stop, help him to a corner and carry on. Hmmm.. What to say?