Apathy at its Worst

41 - The figure left me astounded. No, that's not the reading on the weighing machine with me perched on it, hoping and praying for a higher reading (it reads 44 now!). Instead, that's the percentage of people residing in this maximum city who came out, braving the blazing Mumbai heat, and voted on Thursday. What about the remainder 59%? What did they do on election day? Some perhaps went on a 4-day long holiday; some must've thronged malls; the others must've visited clubs, restaurants, theatres and the remainder must've snoozed their way to (apparent) glory, lying prone on a hammock in their favorite Versace swimsuit, alongside the sun-kissed beaches of Goa. I'm willing to bet that most of these lethargic souls, on their way back home, must've whined-eloquent about Mumbai's traffic snarls, the pothole-infested roads they were traveling on or the crowded trains/buses that they are forced to commute in everyday. Tell you what, Mister/Miss you're-one-of-the-pathetic-59%: you have absolutely NO frigging right to complain. Tomorrow if your taps run dry, the power conks out or your children fail to get admission to schools, don't you dare place the blame squarely on the government-of-the-day. Cause you all had your chance to vote for someone who could probably address these issues. Seasoned cynics in their pressed-suits/summer spaghettis will mutter the done-to-death line: 'ALL politicians are the same!' But brother, if you are mighty pissed at the ruling government, you are given the freedom to choose among several others. If not vote for, atleast vote AGAINST someone. Even that could make a difference. My constituency had 23 candidates, spoiling me for choice. I would be fooling myself if I said all 23 were crooks, goons and criminals, having no regard whatsoever for the constituency they were representing.

Owing to these very dispassionate 59%, a majority of the other 41% being illiterate & poor (who vote on the basis of religion, caste and who-paid-them-more-this-year) have voted for the very same goons who will undoubtedly come back to power. Praise you Mr. Educated Banker who didn't vote in these elections. Perhaps you need 10 more Kasabs pumping bullets into you and your loved ones to awaken you from your listless stupor to come out and vote for a change, to put an end to reigning apathy and misery. Thanks to you, I will now have an inept and hopeless government ruling my country, again.

I came across another statistic that threw me aback with surprise. 60% of the world's population do not have the privilege to choose their governments. And here, this beautiful country of ours provides us with the very same prerogative, something that our forefathers fought for, even laying down their lives for it. We have become so accustomed to the freedom that has been handed down to us, that we take it for granted - if something is amiss somewhere, it is easily SEP: Somebody's Else's Problem. Maybe I am being preachy and dramatic, but the current state of affairs saddens me deeply. If we don't act now for the betterment of this country, I don't know when we will.

My vote