I have been waiting for this day ever since childhood. I remember those occasions when my parents would cast their votes and come home with an inked index finger. Meanwhile, I would have spilled blue ink all over my palms doing my homework. But the time has come to place the ink at the right place - the forefinger, that symbolizes the power of a citizen. Like me, it has been a long time dream of all the first time voters and this dream should be realized in this election.
With the election right at our doorsteps, the political parties are on the verge of completing their election campaigns, delivering their manifestos and pulling our votes towards them. News channels are filled with debates, opinion polls and speeches of political leaders, thereby playing the part of media, conveying the political parties' message to the people. Though the authenticity and reliability of media has always been questionable, there is one which is particularly unbiased and uninfluenced that we mustn't ignore - the election awareness advertisements insisting on 100% polling in the upcoming election.
Many in the society we live now portray hatred towards politics. It's a pity that in the process of losing political interest, people are also losing their political awareness.
We live in a democratic country and voting is our democratic duty. Democracy is a government by the people, for the people and of the people, and this line clearly explains the power of people in a democracy. The ultimate power given to us is the freedom in choosing the government which would rule over us. The sad thing is that some people don't come forward to perform this basic democratic duty of theirs. As a state we have reached only 75-80% turnout. So, in this election it is our duty to cast our votes and also promote the awareness among people to vote, in order to get a 100%.
Many in the society we live now portray hatred towards politics. It's a pity that in the process of losing political interest, people are also losing their political awareness. Political interest is subjective and depends on the individual but political awareness among people is essential in a democracy. Folks may not be interested in politics but it shouldn’t go to an extent where they try to avoid it altogether. All these ideologies lead us to think whether our single vote is enough to bring the change we want to see. We have asked this question at least once to ourselves at some point of time. The lack of political awareness is the root cause of the question and the lack of political ideologies has led to low examining skills of theories held by political parties. But this must not hold us from casting our votes. Instead, this demands more preparatory works that must be done before we cast our votes. We must be clear to whom we are voting and why we are voting. This period of election is very critical to everyone as we have to repeatedly examine ourselves and take the best decision as its consequences would not end in a day, but would last for five years.
We just can’t ignore politics and the government in a democracy. Only if we realize that they are a part of our daily life and have direct influence in our living will we become more cautious of our votes. We try to avoid the political system, but in a democracy, the political system wants us to be involved in it, as it repeatedly tries to make us understand that we are the emperors by making its political parties run behind us. It’s time to cast our votes and get inked in the forefinger, but with a foresight.
Liked this article? Here's another by the same author: http://guindytimes.com/articles/india-a-d-the-new-era
