Here are some comments I overheard about the upcoming elections:
“April 24 is a Thursday. It would’ve been better if the EC had scheduled the election on the 25th. We would’ve got an extended weekend,” said one of my colleagues.
“Only a few days left for us to get freebies,” said one of my neighbours.
“I’m excited about putting up the picture of my index finger with ink on it as the display picture in Facebook,” said a first-time voter.
Are elections just about getting a day off, freebies and posting a picture on a social networking site? I was amused and surprised at the strange perceptions of people about the elections. I looked up the statistics of the last general elections. Only 60 per cent of the eligible people turned out to vote! I don’t understand why some of us take elections so lightly and others ignore it completely. Is it because we have lost faith in politicians and the system? Have we stopped caring about our nation that we keep ourselves from participating in the country’s most important event because of some personal problems? Could it just be laziness?
Whatever the reason, it’s not just one of our fundamental rights. It’s one of our responsibilities to vote. It’s high time we understood the importance of our vote, which will bring about a lot of changes.
Manikandan is a working professional.
