Powerless Power

Posted by Sharvari on 28/04/2009

You have the power in your hands-Your vote

I wonder if we really do? How can u make your vote count, if all the candidates contesting are not competent? By non-competency I mean... some are criminals, some are uneducated and some are both. Will you be able to live with yourself if you vote for a criminal? If your answer is yes, then suppose in the future you become a victim of any such criminal activities, can you firmly ask for justice? What right have you got to claim justice, when you yourself have fostered such activities by voting in a criminal. If you vote for an uneducated, what example are u setting for the world? Picture this. India- one of the BRIC countries has a PM who is not even matric pass. What a shame! If the representative of your country is uneducated, what attitude will the outside world will have towards you. I am not saying that illiterate people cannot make good leaders. Sure they can. People mob politicians, whenever they are on a visit. But is leadership defined by the number of people you can pull to your rallies? Some might say they will exercise Rule 49-O of the Indian constitution, which empowers the elector to cast a no-vote. A hoax has been circulating which claims that if the '49-O' votes more than those of the winning candidate, then that poll will be canceled and will have to be re-polled. Furthermore, it claims that the contestants will be banned and they cannot contest the re-polling for their life time. (courtesy:  wikipedia). Lack of proper voter turnout is also one of the major issues that concerns the true and fair elections. Majority of the casted votes are either of the people in the rural areas or of slum dwellers. These people again due to lack of education function by hearts and not by their minds. For eg:- If some fatass(sorry for the word)  goes and distributes cash in Dharavi, he/she is upheld as their leader and it is obvious that he is going to win. The root of the problem lies in the mindset of the educated middle class. Here is an example how most of the non-voters think.... As it is this region is the stronghold of some XYZ party. It is going to win whether I vote or not. My vote will not make a difference. And those who vote think.... This XYZ party is strong here. Even if I vote for a clean candidate from an ABC party, he is not going to win. I would rather vote for XYZ than let my vote go waste.  Can we move forward with this mindset? If you believe in a certain candidate is it not your duty to vote for him and assure him victory? Even if a thousand think like this it will make a huge difference. Even if a clean candidate loses, he would be encouraged by a thousand votes and contest more rigorously next time. It is not important, whether the candidate you vote for wins or loses. It is important that you cast your vote for the right person. I hope better sense prevails this election and power does not prove powerless anymore!

Anxious eyes...

Picture this... On a rainy day a 16yr old and a gentleman presumably her father enter a suburban college to inquire about forms for the current academic year. The girl's hands are in her father's. There is some strange kind of emotion in her eyes. It could be a combined expression of joy of being just out of school and the fear of the day when her father will have to let go her hand. She will no more be secured or constantly under a strict vigil of her teachers. She will be free to behave in the way she wants to. She can choose to be impervious to everything around her. A new life awaits her. Or is it a rude shock??? Only time will tell!
Flashback:
Looking back at the journey that began 4 yrs ago and will be soon coming to an end in another 10 months, I wonder what I have achieved. I am not the same kid I was 4 yrs ago. Change is the only thing that remains constant. These 4 yrs gave me the biggest lessons I could have ever got. I faltered and I learnt to mend my mistakes. I fell down and I learnt to pick up the pieces and walk. I saw things I could not change and I learnt to accept them the way they are. I may not have stopped cribbing, but I have definitely learnt to take life cheerfully in its own stride.

Learning to love 'love'

Does anything called true love really exist? Don't we conveniently disguise our desire as love? How do you decide that a particular person is your prince charming, so that you allow him to sweep you off your feet?(romantic, eh?)Man! I am(was rather) dead practical. I read a book called 'Eleven Minutes' by Paulo Coelho and it has changed my perception of love by a fraction.(I am not fully convinced yet). Though the book is very explicit, it took to me a different world altogether. According to the book man was first a bisexual animal with a different set of sexual organs, with 2 faces and walking on four legs. The animal was sturdy, intelligent and was easily a threat to other living beings as it was independent. Hence to weaken this being the Greek Gods cut the animal into 2 parts and that's how man and woman were born. So one's true love is the other half of your body which exists somewhere in the world. This is only a myth. I wonder, when a husband beats up or insults his wife or vice-a-versa, are they really with their lost halves? Was or is the marriage a total mismatch. My friend once said that when he saw a boy and girl hand in hand, he thought there was a story. The story is not like the one above. It is story of their past, present and future. This story goes beyond physical desires. It is about being there when your soulmate needs you the most. This story does not require words. It is conveyed through the language of eyes- the language of concern, the language of tears. The book says and I quote,'Desire of the soul and not the body is true love.' That's the most apt definition of love, I have ever come across.