What is With the System??

After intense nagging and a good dose of those Jaago Re ads, my parents consented to register for their voter IDs a couple of months ago. Though, of course, being MY parents, they conveniently forgot to inform me, so I continued nagging them till one fine morning, my dad woke up and yelled that he had already registered ages ago and that I should crawl into a dark place and shut up.

Well, I tried. But I just can't shut up.


Anyelectionnewsiskillingme, I found out that the reason my parents were so pissed at me in first place was because I made them run all around their parents' birthplaces to get their ration cards approved so they could register for their vote. Yep, regardless of what any website may tell you, you need your ration card to get your name into the voter list. And that too, you need to have a ration card in the district you're currently living in if you want the process to run smoothly, or there'll be some serious under-the-table cash exchange going around.

And all this nonsense even after my parents have two of the highest media of citizen identification in the country - the passport and the Pan card.


They have both. And they were denied. With all due respect, when your passport is handed to you it means the following things:

1) You were able to certify your date and place of birth.
2) Your parents were identified, as were your spouse and children.
3) Your education record was studied, in case your birth certificate was not issued.
4) Your criminal record is squeaky clean and there have been no registered cases of illegal activities, embezzlement, an FIR, or even a goddamn parking ticket.
5) You were able to provide a valid current address and also supply your previous addresses, if they were mentioned in earlier passports that were renewed.
6) Your entire traveling record is probed into and studied to make sure you didn't spend any time, any where, doing something stupid like maintaining a marijuana plantation is Malaysia.


In short, your entire life is stripped and searched, as shamelessly as a security check in an American airport if you sport a bushy beard. And if that doesn't qualify you as a law-abiding citizen (mostly) with a clean record, then I don't know what does.


And regardless, most people of middle classes and higher do not own ration cards anymore since:

(a) They have money now.
(b) They figured Big Bazaar sells more at sasta rates.
(c) The waiting lines are bloody murder.


So dearest Election Commission: grow up. We already have and you're really lagging behind.










And once again, my voice goes unheard, right?
share on: facebook