On Voting Day . . .

You might have heard about the boons promised by our Chandra babu naidu. If he wins : the poor will get a colour TV , the unemployed will get a monthly payment of Rs.1000 and the women will get Rs.2000 deposited in their accounts by the end of every month.

When I came to know about these promises for the first time…I was taken aback. I could not figure out what happened to our pragmatic babu. I could not digest the fact that even our techie babu could promise the moon to garner votes. I was very averse to all the election-gimmicks played to get that most coveted position.."The Chief Minister".

One of my friends,Santhosh who is hard cored ,ardent fan of TDP and ChandraBabu ,when asked by me, though he also didn’t like those money-transfer-schemes ,told me “ mari emi chestadu kranthi , edinaa haami ivvakapothey votes padavu..anni partylu edo okati cheptunnayi…..kabatti ayanaki kooda thappadam ledu ” ani. But ..that ratiocination could not give me a satisfied answer and my detestation of babu continued.

The Voting-day:

I went to srpt with hari to cast our votes. I voted first and we (hari,santhosh and me) hurried to the other polling station to have hari cast his vote. Finding Hari’s name in the list was not an easy task. In that hot sunny afternoon, we moved from one polling station to the other to trace his exact voting-station.

In that journey….i came across an old lady…a lady which made me think form her viewpoint… shifting my previous viewpoint centered at chandra babu naidu. We three went to one place and hari and santhosh were checking the lists .I was feeling uneasy with all this aimless-wandering in that sultry weather and started observing people over there who came to cast vote. An old woman was talking to some people..and I focused my gaze in that direction.

Those people( 3 men)were wearing TDP scarfs…and that gave me a clear picture that they were wooing people make cast in favour of chandrababu’s mahakootami.They might have told that old lady that casting vote to babu would help u get money(quoting babu’s money-transfer-scheme). This lady, was innocent , illiterate, ….and may be, she was poor like millions of other indians who still believe that miracles would happen in their devastating lives….Their discussion suggested that she voted Babu and came back to them.

And this was the discussion ensued...and it was very heart-touching … made me so sad….I can still hear her voice…the way she was speaking…. with a quiver in voice.. I cant verbalize …I can never forget …

She asked them ” eppudu vasthayayya dabbulu…”

“vote vesava” ,they asked.

“ haa”

“ippudu kaadu oka nalugu nelala tarvatha vastayi..”

“naalugu nelala..???? “. She was disappointed.

“ aaa….neeku renduvelu vastayi…banklo vestaru..inko veyyi kooda vastayi....”

She was all ears…. listening to them in awe …with full concentration…. and her eyelids forgot to blink…. She didn’t want to miss a single word they were saying…

“koncham vachetattu choodandayya….” uttered sadly, though with a pinch of hope.

“votesavu kada..nuvvu intikellu…dabbulu vastayile”

“sarenayya…koncham choodandi vachetattu”..

Forget about chandrababu…forget about YSR….forget about the tricks…. and forget about the intentions( guileful or guileless) of politicians….when I saw that woman….i could do nothing but hope…hope that she would get that money…I didn’t think about the practicality of that scheme…I just thought how horrible and painful and miserable life they are leading…and how badly they need money….very pathetic……

I hope they will not be cheated…..i hope …..i hope…..

They should be happy…. And That lady…that lady who was in normal simple green saree....that lady who had wrinkles on her face…that lady who walked away sadly… should be happy….. I hope.