Value of My Vote

The beauty of democracy lies in the fact that it bestows the mandatory responsibility of electing the best of the worst candidates, which is misconstrued as a right. Most often people confuse between rights and responsibilities. In my humble opinion, the relationship between the voter and votee (person who receives vote) is as sacred as the one between disciple and teacher, devotee and God, spectator and cricketer or a movie goer and film star. It is too private to disclose but gap of well over three decades should be fair enough to voluntarily disclose the relationship, to use the catchword in the air.

In the post-emergency era, I got my first chance to vote and elect Dr. Subramanian Swamy from Chembur in the then Bombay (North East) constituency. Given the conditions prevailing in those days, it was a fair choice on my part; not that my vote made any difference. During that particular elections, anyone and everyone who stood against the ruling party won. My single vote, even if I had not cast or voted for the ruling party, would not have made iota of difference; it was such a historic election and perhaps the only one in the history of India in which voters understood and asserted their rights en masse. Being a virtual first timer, as my name did not figure in the earlier voter list (somehow bogus voters do not encounter such situations and their name appears enough times to vote as time permits), I was particularly enthusiastic in voting for a Harvard educated young man with a naive view that he will somehow understand my idealist view of the world and live up to it. Alas, it was not the case and he soon proved me utterly wrong.

All the subsequent elections proved to be a personal fiasco. After my initial success, which is not entirely attributable to my vote, every subsequent election proved a disaster for me. Not a single candidate of mine had ever won any election. People may think that it is too humiliating and that is the reason why I never even disclosed this secret aspect of my life to my wife. The fact is I am not afraid of accepting my failures to vote the winning candidates. It is a historically proven fact, that now onwards whoever gets my vote is sure to lose his/her deposit. What I am afraid is that politicians will lineup in front of my house during elections with a request to cast my vote to their opponent and offer me a hefty bribe.