I Voted
I woke up fresh, nice and early on this Tuesday morning. It was a holiday – I can’t even call it a mid-week break because the week had just begun the previous day after a good weekend. am kicked about the day. It is election day! I leave home at 7.45 am and walk to the polling booth. There are just enough people to ensure that the administrative process is going on smoothly but hardly enough to call it ‘crowd’. I walk up to the counter at the gate and the person there politely shows me the way to the room where I am supposed to cast my vote. I enter the room and am greeted with the words “Good Morning” by one of the several polling officers/observers seated inside. I am pleasantly surprised but manage to murmur back a “Good Morning” along with a nod of my head. This is the last thing I expected to hear at a polling booth!! I move towards the first officer who checks my I-Card and asks me to sign on a register. I then proceed to the two more officers who carry out their administrative responsibilities in a co-coordinated manner. I then proceed to the EVM and a press a button….beeeeppppppppppp……..and am done.
I walk back in almost an exalted state of mind – the kind of happiness that can’t be described.

Happy because I voted….
Happy because I realize that I am very fortunate that I can vote freely for whom I want to…
Happy because I am not forced to accept someone to represent my constituency but have a chance to choose him/her…..
Happy because I realize that I am able to do this today because of the struggles for long periods against the British……
Happy because I have made voting as my fundamental duty and not just kept it as my fundamental right!
For those who still don’t realize the importance of democracy and keep cribbing that they don’t vote because all political parties are the same….blah….blah…. (arm-chair critics) – should spend a few years in North Korea or Zimbabwe…Maybe then they would realize the importance of the right to vote!