Tuesday, April 14, 2009

India Polling!

Has anyone been following the election campaigns back home?
Apart from the usual mud slinging and a bit of Gandhi Vs Gandhi, there are two really positive things that I noticed.
The first one is the candidacy of Ms. Meera Sanyal from South Mumbai. It is very heartening to see a banker give up her secure job and jump into politics. What is more reassuring is the fact that she knows she is the odd one out in a jungle of corruption yet is confident that she will win!
Another is Shashi Tharoor contesting from Kerala. He could have easily got into the Upper House (Rajya Sabha) through the Congress. However he chooses to be chosen by the people. Kudos!!
Politics everywhere is just as dirty but when explorers and travelers choose to turn to politics, it helps clear the detachment towards politics that people seem to be engulfed with! India is one of her kind when it comes to choosing leaders.
With 714 million registered voters, a total of 35 states and union territories, each having its own language, and 543 constituencies all over the nation it looks like a big elephant getting ready to salute his new king! There are 1055 political parties in India. I was trying to count just the communist parties the other day off the top of my head and I was surprised at how many communist flavors we have back home![1]
It is not just about numbers. The median age of my motherland is 25.1 years! That is just as old as me (actually a bit younger to be honest).[2]
So it is not just the world's largest democracy it is also one of the young countries of the world! All the dramas included, it is not such a bad place to be in! When the world's biggest (and working) democracy goes to polls, we must not forget that it is also the place for the world's biggest film industry! =)
Good Luck India!

PS: Thanks Gaya for this!

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hummm......
thik aahe.

"With 714 million ............543 constituencies all over the nation it looks like a big elephant getting ready to salute his new king!"

bad simile used here!!

Saee said...

@Anonymous...
Please sign your name!!
And thanks for the comment anyway.

मकरंद said...

Hey Saee, its me, i forgot to sign in while reading
:0

Zaphod Boozlebrox said...

I take this occasion to recommend Gratbong's (almost concurrent) article - http://greatbong.net/2009/04/12/silly-season/

;)

Saee said...

@ Charu
LOL..I wonder if anyone has written about the Varun Gandhi stunts. That would make a really funny story.
Thank you for the comment and the link.

शिरीष said...

Sai this time the usual flavour of campagning is conspicuously absent.Thanks to election commission!

The problem now is that of a clearcut mandate which is necessary for taking up core decessions related to economy. In my opinion the present govern ment should get a clear mandate but that is a wishful thinking. This time we are not in the voting list as our names have been missing from the list.

Raj said...

hmm can't say I am that excited about the elections. even new guys like Varun are only after cheap publicity. :-(