Hindustan Times
Gave ‘Em The Finger!
I’ve got it. The little black mark on my finger that proudly proclaims I’m a Good Citizen because I cast my vote. (Or, as I’ve seen relentlessly in all newspapers over the last few days, the one I work for included, ‘caste’ my vote. Which, given the propensity of our political parties for vote banks, may actually be the mot juste.)
Unfortunately, the little black mark is neither little nor black. It’s blue indelible ink and it was very carefully stroked over half my finger from the second knuckle down to the tip of the nail, so my finger now looks as though it had been caught very painfully in a door. (And even though it hadn’t, I wince reflexively whenever I catch sight of it.)
The long blue stripe is not only wrong because it’s a long blue stripe rather than a little black mark. It’s also wrong because it was very carefully stroked over the wrong finger. Instead of the forefinger, which various celebrity-type people have been holding up for photos in a campaign that urged us to vote, my long blue stripe is on the middle finger of my left hand. So when I strolled back home after caste-ing my vote and ran into a bunch of neighbours who clamoured to know if I had voted, I cheerfully raised the middle finger - and realised I was being very, very rude.
So I laughed and said: “Go, give ‘em the finger!” And they laughed too and said, “Yes, yes, we will.”
I SMSed friends with that line all day: “Gave ‘em the finger! Have you?”
And then I wondered whom exactly I’d given the finger to.
I first voted when I was 19, which is exactly 20 years ago. Then, it felt like an incredibly grown-up thing to do. So grown-up in fact, that I voted just as my parents told me I should - I was terrified my political inexperience would cause disaster. Because I really, truly, believed my single vote had power.
It didn’t take me long believe exactly the opposite. But I always vote, regardless. (The only time I didn’t, it was because I was out of the city at the time.) I vote cynically, because I have no faith in any political party and any political candidate, so it’s usually a negative vote. But I vote.
It was the same this time. Post 26-11, I’ve become even more cynical than I ever was - and that’s really saying something. (My sister tells me my vision of life offers no hope for anyone or anything. I have to agree.) So I wasn’t enthusiastic about these elections in spite of all the campaigns that told me to vote for change. I voted because, well, I have a vote and if I don’t use it, then there’s a very real chance someone else will.
So what did I give the finger to?
Well.
I voted.
I have a vote. It’s mine, by right. No one can take it away from me.
My country is a democratic republic that gives me a chance to choose who will lead us.
All around my country are other countries that are not republics (or are brand new republics of a not very reputable / or tried and tested variety) or are not democracies in any even remotely meaningful way.
It’s true that democracy in the sense that all people are equal in the eyes of the law doesn’t really exist in my country. It’s true that that’s why so many of us ‘caste’ our votes rather than cast our votes.
But we all have votes and that makes us equal.
So what did I give the finger to?
The despots and dictators, both existing and wannabe, of the world.
The people who think power is theirs by right and they can use that power to do anything and get away with everything.
Our neighbours and their double-speak.
To them, I gave the finger. Because I can. Because it’s my right to. And isn’t that seriously incredible?
(6 votes, average: 5 out of 5)
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have they changed the finger. i got mine on the middle finger. hehehe i enjoy showing it to people who piss me off.. and then claim i was just showing them the ink for the polls.
http://mywriterkeeda.wordpress.com
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Kushal Reply:
May 1st, 2009 at 12:51 pm
Yes, they have Alec. It used to be the forefinger. Wonder whose idea the middle finger was and whether she or he knew what it means. (Our bureaucrats, however annoying they usually are, sometimes have a great sense of humour.)
We all just fell about laughing yesterday evening at the office when our news editor looked at the photos filed for the day and gasped, “Now I’ve seen everything!” It was a picture of a very aged woman giving the world the finger. Hilarious.
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Sujata Anandan Reply:
May 2nd, 2009 at 7:35 pm
Actually, even I would like to know which bureaucrat that was who thought up this finger-up unowhat idea!
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Kushal Reply:
May 4th, 2009 at 1:03 pm
I know, he or she is probably dying of laughter.
See that’s the kind of thinking that will get you banished out into the forest. Kushal, your problem is you think! Not ‘too much’, ..just think.
In this whole new world where the young India is ‘waking’ up and making an effort to cast its vote, you are the first I have heard pointing out the futility of the process.
So whom do I vote for? The one with the least criminal cases and the least cash reserves of course! Its soo easy. You don’t need to waste time going through any meaningful agendas, verbal/non-violent debate on issues and views. No need to analyze educational achievements or past accomplishments( unless you consider ‘managed to clear 9th Std exams’ and ‘ability to work with international crime lords’ as a skill set).
This is really going to change our quality of life, the rainbow should be coming out anytime now.
So go give ‘em the finger, hopefully they won’t take it literally.
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Akeel Reply:
April 30th, 2009 at 9:02 pm
I correct myself.. Its not you, but me who is pointing out the futility of the process. But ya, atleast we aren’t Sri Lanka or China or some such. At least we have the lable of being Democratic, right?
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Kushal Reply:
May 1st, 2009 at 12:54 pm
Sheesh, Akeel, can you imagine being in Pakistan? They make even us look good!
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Well today in Allahabad edition of HT I saw John (Abraham) showing the same finger albeit with a “BLACK” dot
So it means you are not alone
Well you can show the finger to the leaders who selflessly waste the vote they have received…
Nice blog
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Kushal Reply:
May 1st, 2009 at 12:55 pm
Thanks, Aram. Really wish I knew whose idea the middle finger was. Did YOU give ‘em the finger, btw?
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Aram Reply:
May 2nd, 2009 at 5:33 am
College students suffering from end semesters at the election time hardly get the chance to give ‘em the finger!! Specially when you are in a college hostel :-/
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Kushal Reply:
May 2nd, 2009 at 1:07 pm
Exams are over, I hope?
The best best BEST thing about being old is: NO MORE EXAMS. Believe me, it’s worth all the creaking bones and falling teeth and white hair!
Lovely blog! I thought it captured what most young urban voters fee about voting. In spite of the cynicism (which I’m sure you aren’t alone in!), there’s a reason why you cast your vote. It’s the same reason why lakhs of people keep doing it. It’s simply because like you said we can. Whether one vote makes a difference or not is another point.
Voting, I feel is most symbolic of the fact that we are a free democracy. Democracy is not just about voting. It’s about feeling that we have a right to say something when things aren’t going well. Democracy means that the mess that we live in has not been foisted on us forcibly. Democracy means feeling that we have the right to complain! We might do that in the most cynical spirit, but at some level we are all conscious that we have the right to even express angst!
Of course, on the question of the choice of candidates available to us, I don’t agree with what many people say. They say we want to vote for the candidate who’s cleanest or the one who will do the most work or something to that effect. I just feel that national elections are not the occasion for local concerns. We have Assembly and Municipality elections for that. I feel that national elections are for the party - the one we want at the centre, irrespective of whether their particular candidate from my constituency is the best or not. MPs have very limited powers as it is with regard to their constituency, if the local governments aren’t from the same party. National elections I feel are about whose policies you want to see taking shape at the national level, and more importantly, who you don’t want to see in power.
At the Wagah border, when one crosses over to India from Pakistan, there is a sign which says, “Welcome to India, the biggest democracy in the world”. If anyone has come through those gates having spent any amount of time in Pakistan, they will realize that that one line means a lot! It gave me goosebumps, and I hadn’t even cast my first vote when I’d seen that sign!
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Kushal Reply:
May 1st, 2009 at 1:01 pm
Even lovelier response, D10. Everything you say is so true. I saw the ‘Welcome to India’ sign at Wagah in 2004. I had never felt so proud in my life.
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Saarthak Reply:
May 2nd, 2009 at 5:12 am
“Welcome to India, the biggest democracy in the world”
I didn’t know it said that, awesome!
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Kushal Reply:
May 2nd, 2009 at 1:08 pm
It does, Saarthak. And when you’re walking back to your vehicle from the border gates, it stuns you. It really does.
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So in this case you’ve given the finger to the one you havent voted for I guess (if we take the mark on the wrong finger into consideration):)
On a serious not, voting is our right as well as our duty, it may also stop most of us from cribbing all the time ..”they don’t perform their duties well”! Its time we begin performng our duties instead of just pointing at others!
Thanks for the gr8 post!
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Kushal Reply:
May 1st, 2009 at 1:02 pm
Sure, voting is our duty, Sana, but surely our duty doesn’t stop at that?
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All good points, D10 & K. Was a bit surprised to read about a low voter turnout. Are we getting more apathetic or don’t participate because there is no compelling reason?
Is it time for news media (yes, rabble rousing channels as well) to try and shake us out of an inertia? Not so much because we don’t care, but we’ve never had it so good - living standards wise, and hence couldn’t be bothered to act. Am talking about a cross-section of society, of course.
D10: your bit about the democracy rings true, even when you look at the 26/11 trial taking place. At least there is a democratic process in place.
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Kushal Reply:
May 1st, 2009 at 1:32 pm
Hey Harshal! Not sure if low voter turnout is a problem only in India (or more specifically, Bombay). Don’t you remember the surprise of commentators at the unusually high voter turnout in the US elections last year? It was unprecedented.
I guess apathy rules when things are going good. Or at least decent-ish. In this case, though, I guess apathy ruled because of the four-day weekend. Which journos don’t get (why, why?).
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D10 Reply:
May 1st, 2009 at 3:18 pm
I’m not sure low voter turnout is just due to apathy. There are a lot of factors involved. I don’t know how it is in Mumbai, but I can tell you the weather is Delhi is no picnic! I know it’s not a sufficient reason to not come out and vote, but not everyone feels the same way.
There was also something in HT today about regular problems with voting lists where people turn up to vote and don’t find their names on the rolls.
Also, I understand that the election holiday has come close to one or two other holidays and so many people have pushed that together for a long weekend and gone off on small holidays outside the city. I know people who did that - not completely apathetic people by the way. But I guess when kids throw a tantrum about a summer break, you gotta do what you gotta do!
I did feel a little surprised at the figures though. In Mumbai especially after the attacks one expected a stronger response. But I also suspect this voter turn reflects the proportion of urban upper middle class voices in the electorate. All said and done, the demographic which was part of the candlelight vigils probably constitutes a minority of the total electorate in Mumbai. The factors which motivate the rest to vote are probably very different.
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D10 Reply:
May 1st, 2009 at 3:21 pm
Oh and Harshal, the 26/11 trial is exactly the kind of thing I was talking about! Democracy is so much about the due process of the law. And I’m a lawyer by the way!
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Kushal Reply:
May 1st, 2009 at 3:40 pm
D10, as I said, I’ve grown even more cynical since 26-11, and so have many other people. So, in many cases, apathy continues and grows worse.
The candlelight vigil was a catharsis. It was a communal outpouring of anger and grief. But it’s over. If we’d had elections THEN, or even just a month after, I suspect there’d have been a greater voter turnout. As it is, this is Bombay. We move on fast (I’m not saying this in a sentimental Spirit of Mumbai sort of way, I’m saying this as a fact of life in a busy city that can’t afford to look back too much). And a 4-day weekend just strengthens the apathy. I know people who went on holiday after they voted at the crack of dawn. I also know people who didn’t even think of voting, even though their flights or trains or whatever left in the afternoon. And I also, alas, know people who rescheduled their summer holidays with the kids to accommodate election day - and found their names dropped from the list even though they’ve lived and voted from the same locality for 30 years. (No, it wasn’t delimitation.)
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D10 Reply:
May 2nd, 2009 at 12:03 pm
You are probably right about the ’spirit’ of Mumbai, though I suspect that it’s true for most urban centres like Delhi, Bangalore etc. as well. As for the effect of 26/11, I still believe that its effects were limited to a very small section of the electorate - the upper middle class. The media make a big deal about the effects of 26/11 because classes which were hitherto isolated from the impact of terrorist activities were hit in their own backyard. I’m not trying to say that what happened was not horrifying, but it wasn’t the first time that there were such blase attacks on civilians. 26/11’s impact in terms of arousing public awareness and participation was very limited. I do agree with you about the apathy too because there is no class as apathetic as the urban middle class, which talks a lot but does precious little!
Just out of curiosity, with the famous middle finger you voted ‘in’ the candidate or ‘out’ ? Another example of vibrant democracy. We can show the world that we elected the parliamentarians with our middle finger !!
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Kushal Reply:
May 1st, 2009 at 1:36 pm
Good question, Nutsure. Hmm. Would you believe I voted someone IN? Or rather, voted what his party stands for (for whatever it’s worth) in.
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Nutsure Reply:
May 3rd, 2009 at 8:11 pm
I was reading Ugly Indian by Mukul K. I wouldn’t mind Index finger. Almost every Indian knows where all it has travelled daily during the waking hours of our life !! Double thumbs up for your blog.
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Kushal Reply:
May 4th, 2009 at 12:45 pm
Giggle.
For D10: (Since after a point, the reply thread seems to stop!) I agree, the response to the 26-11 attack was primarily from the upper middle class (so many SoBo people I know were completely shattered). But the attack itself was different.
For instance. I usually travel by train. So the train blasts in July 2006 were terrifying. If it hadn’t been for the fact that they happened on Tuesday, which is the day Brunch usually goes to press and I work late into the night, I would have been at Mahim station at exactly the time the bombs went off. I can’t explain to you how the world changed for me and so many lakhs of commuters that day.
26-11 was different because it wasn’t a series of blasts that happened and ended. It was a siege. It continued for FIVE days. It was more than a terrorist attack, it was war. Right in the leading commercial district of our country’s commercial capital.
Believe me, much more than the urban upper middle class was affected.
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D10 Reply:
May 3rd, 2009 at 8:59 am
I think we started the discussion on 26/11 in terms of how the response to it failed to reflect in the voter turn out. I don’t for a moment deny the impact of the attacks. It was a terrifying time, which left everyone feeling more vulnerable than they have ever felt. As someone who didn’t experience it as closely as the locals did, I probably can’t imagine exactly what people went through. My only point was that the kind of people affected by the attack have been traditionally very apathetic in terms of participation in the political processes. It is disappointing that even something like 26/11 could not rouse people out of their indifference, but it’s not entirely surprising. I suppose it is this apathy which allows people to prioritize other factors (like the much-cursed weekend getaway!) over exercising their franchise! I think we’ve substantially digressed from your blog… but this was an interesting discussion!
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Kushal Reply:
May 4th, 2009 at 12:41 pm
Yep, but I was trying to explain how it’s made some people more cynical than ever, so they stayed away from the polls.
Gautam has an interesting post on voting at http://blogs.hindustantimes.com/cutting-the-edge/ I think you’ll enjoy it.
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Ishmart Alec Reply:
May 5th, 2009 at 11:19 am
i think people are smarter than cynical. i mean honestly, all the rhetoric aside, do you really believe your singular vote matters. the real deal is that there is no participation and thats why people dont care. all we do is vote once in 5 years. other than that people have no say in any decision making process, except for state objections, which itself is a joke coz the judge and the jury is the government itself. so if people dont have a say in day to day activities (governance), how does it matter if they vote or not. MPs, MLAs are for legislation. We cannot choose our collector, municipal commissioner. Corpporators are just politicians trying to say that local level governance is there. The real democracy is at the grass roots in the village panchayat system.
If people have no say in deciding if a road is to be made hawking or not, or if water is to be privatised or not then voting doesnt make sense. Remember, I am saying that citizen participation should be active and not just tokenism.. like the right to submit objections….if i know that my views are not going to be taken seriously then why would i care to vote. ….
I think what was really hilarious was how all the ad campaigns kept showing the forefinger. No one bothered doing their research or even changing the campaigns after the first phase of elections
such fun
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Kushal Reply:
May 5th, 2009 at 2:22 pm
There HAS to be some bureaucrat sitting in her or his office somewhere, falling about laughing.
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Hey Bunny, good going! I am writing, however, because a friend (Kavita Pande) wants to get in touch with Rupa. Cld you please mail me her number to: namita.bhandare@gmail.com
thanks!!
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For Alec: Sure, there are a lot of citizen involvement groups these days, working with the municipal corporations and local authorities on local issues, but how many people are members of these groups? Most of us would rather someone else did the work, and crib if the work isn’t done in the way we want it to be done. Apathy again.
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Ishmart Alec Reply:
May 5th, 2009 at 6:21 pm
people will crib. even if you make them the president of India. And i think the citizen involvement group is largely (and i mean largely not wholly) restricted amongst the rich sections or the upper middle class society that has the time and money to spare. I am skeptical of most such groups because its more about getting an outlet to show leadership rather than work towards improving things…
that is not to take away some genuine efforts.
But i feel that such groups are more of a bargaining power groups.. its like raising one devil to kill another. example - peddar road residents couldn’t take one day of repair… i am sure they didn’t use the citizen plea to bargain…. most of the poeple there are directly or indirectly connected to mantralaya. so plan was changed faster. in contrast you ll find debris from last years road work lying around, suddenly roads are dug up.. even in monsoons….
i know im not making that much sense.sorry just came back from office.
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Kushal Reply:
May 6th, 2009 at 3:08 am
I understand completely Alec, but having met some truly tireless involved citizens, I can’t agree with your generalisation.
That said, I agree with you totally about Peddar Road power.
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Ishmart Alec Reply:
May 7th, 2009 at 11:56 am
if its true then may their tribe flourish. but seriously, if we are expecting larger public involvement it has to be meaningful. so far the only outlet i have seen is either coercing the govt to work through courts or filing objections. other than that there is little we can do.
unrelated - there are some tricks that politicians are employing to capture open lands. They will first turn it into a garden and then slowly introduce shops and hawkers. Or they will open a “sports complex/club” to encourage sports…the trick is that they give it a consumer or public friendly objective and then sell it off commercially.
one library in my area which is state govt run is slowly beginning to feel the heat. the building has a large ground in front of it. Gold, considering that it is located in andheri east near the station. the library is the only one cheap and big enough in almost all of andheri east. but there have been several sneaky attempts to turn it into another commercial venture.
Maybe i am going overboard with my skepticism. but i think the citizens movement is largely restricted within south mumbai.
http://mywriterkeeda.wordpress.com
emerging Reply:
May 8th, 2009 at 5:25 pm
Well Mr.Alec,when you talk about people’s participation,kindly demonstrate a process where large number of citizens can activately participate & raise their voice ,When i say citizen i mean everyone including tech illiterate who cannot reveal their allegations & therefore approach courts for final verdict . Truly agreed youth should be given a real voice in party leadership, but the message to the youth must be that anyone can make it, not just those who have access and connections.
The last national and state elections saw me giving the protest vote. It felt good. But this time I had made up my mind that I’d vote for a party.
I know it’s a question of choosing among the lesser evils but if we don’t we won’t have a government. What we will have are the stream of Deve Gowdas, Sitaram Kesris (god, I can’t forget that pix of him lying on a charpai stroking his dog!), and the rest. And god forbid yet another election!
This was my way of showing ‘em the finger.
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Kushal Reply:
May 6th, 2009 at 3:12 am
Hmm, yes Subs, this time I actually voted for, not against, myself.
Hopefully it will be justified.
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Ms Gulab,
One can always opt for Option 47. I have been opting for it or equivalent in every election after the disappointment of the Post Emergency era election.
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