My esteemed viewers would have easily guessed from the topic that this week\s Sunday Story should be a continuation of the subject that was dealt with on 18th of this month-“THREE D’s DAY IS TODAY”!
Yes, DEMOCRACY’s DEMAND is that every eligible voter must vote whether it is local elections or for the State Legislature or our Parliament.
It is really unfortunate that we do not take it us our sacred duty and democratic right to exercise our franchise.
Otherwise how can we justify just 67% voting in Tamilnadu?
Well many eligible voters are refused to vote as they do not find a place in the Electoral roll- is a different tale of woe!
There are many paradoxes in the voters’attitude I could witness though I complied with the DEMOCRACY’S DEMAND!
On the one hand I see a man aged 103 voting with pride and on the other youth not preferring to!!
103 year old Sri D. Seetharaman proudly shows his inked real finger after voting.
You find a couple at the top showing their inked fingers with pride after voting and they are in the same colony where I am.
On the other hand I came across a few couples having gone all the way to the correct voting booth had to return disappointed that their names are not found in the electoral roll! In those days parties as well as government will issue booth slips in advance and we used to go and vote without any hassles. This year the Government has banned the issue by the parties and in many many ares the Government has also NOT ISSUED resulting in a lot of hardships to the voters who were desirous of voting.
My experience I shared with my whatsapp friends on return:
“Started waiting in the que first at 6.30 am and successfully voted as the nth Person in the Meenakshi Mat. School and thus discharged my democratic duty and availed my democratic right!”
My inked finger photoed by Nivetha.
Voting percentage is a poor 71% to my expectation as a pure democrat This could have been improved with greater cohessive activities by the Government such as issuing the booth slips to all the votersw in all the areas in advance, better management of booths in the sense-I had to go from one to the other as my name was not in the list maintained at the one though the board outside indicated that is where I had to vote polling officials were better better trained and involved and so on. This is not to point out an accusing finger but earnest appeal of an interested patriotic citizen.
A good intentioned person in one of the party help desks near the voting station, asked me “whether I have voted in any of the previous elections?” I told him “yes friend I have been voting from my 22nd year of age in 1963 to this day 79th year of age without fail whether it is local body, state legislature or parliament “.
I do fully realize and appreciate the himalayan task involved in conducting the LOk sabha elections in our country so vast-from East to West and North to South. But we have enormous man and machine power to successfully accomplish this stupendous work periodically.
Today I am supposed two awards for my supposed literary work one at Kandaswamy College , Chennai in the morning where I present my poem in கொளுத்தும் வெய்யிலில் “சில்”லென ஒரு கவியரங்கத்தில் “நீர் மோர்” -In the Evening I am getting my Bharathi Award in Triplicane after presenting my Tamil poem on Bharathiyar.
On 5th may I am supposed to get my KAPILAR AWARD after presenting my poem on the NEW WORLD in Tamil.
Well thus we wind up our Sunday story and we shall continue our thoughts tomorrow. Till then GOOD BYE!
