With a walking stick in hand and her brother's grandson holding her for support, Muniamma Kathavarayan, a ninety-six-year-old voter in the Ariankuppam constituency, walked slowly towards the polling booth in Veerampattinam. One of the earliest voters to reach the polling station, she proudly showcased the indelible ink in her finger to the reporters outside and smiled for the photographs after casting her vote.
“I have never missed a single election since I became eligible for voting,” she said and resumed her slow walk back to her house in the next street. A number of such elderly voters across several constituencies reached the polling booths early in the morning. Other voters who were standing in the long queues were more than happy let such persons go in front, thereby saving them from the inconvenience of waiting for their turn.
Krishnaveni, a ninety-year-old voter at Thattanchavady, said that the reason for coming early to the booth was to escape the summer heat. “They always hold elections only in summer. Elderly persons like me cannot take the heat and we need rest in the afternoon,” she said. Some even accompanied their grandsons and granddaughters who were first time voters.
V. Srijith, who was voting for the first time at the Raj Bhavan constituency, said that his grandmother, Kalyani, who was eighty-four-years-old, was more enthusiastic about voting then he was.
“She had asked us to keep the voter slips ready last night itself and checked everything in the morning. She told me that voting is part of growing up,” said Srijith, who had come from Chennai where he was studying. When asked why she took the effort to come all the way to vote, Ms. Kalyani quipped: “When people elder than me can become Chief Ministers, why should I not come and vote.”
