Let the Ungli Olympics begin!

Couple of months ago, I saw an interesting ad on TV. The setting is a beauty parlor. A woman is having a manicure. She looks at the beautician. The girl is young and looks rustic. The woman wants to make fun of the girl in front of her friends. She asks her, 'What do you do to protect yourself?'

I was expecting the answer to be on lines of an app which provides the location or a pepper spray to defend against the offenders. 

The girls answers, 'I put a black tika'

The woman laughs, repeats loudly what the girl said, 'A black tika?'. She also looks at her friends who also smile at the stupidity of the girl.

The girl shows her forefinger which has the black tika (election ink). The woman and her friends will be ashamed. 

I am surprised by the amount of publicity  the elections have got and I am happy about that. Ads on TV and requests on radio, entreat the people to vote and make a difference. A vote can change our decrepit and corrupt political system. 91.8 tag line is, 'This is the radio station for fun, young and responsible Bangalore. Responsible Bangaloreans who vote. If you don't vote, you don't have the right to complain.' 93.5 Disha Oberoi says, 'On April 17th, we 74 lakh Bangaloreans, dabake bajayenge, 93.5 redfm bajathe raho'. The tagline I love the most is by Nishant and Raj from 93.5 red fm, they call it 'Ungli Olympics.' 

Every time, I listen to these ads, I feel a pang of guilt. Guilty of not being able to vote and participate in this historic election. Why? I applied for a voter id in Bangalore, not once but twice, once in 2013 and again in 2014. Bangalore Chief Electoral officer decided not to give me the right to vote. Since then, I have been going around, asking people at my work place, 'Can you vote?', If they say yes then I tell my sad story. If they say no, then also I will tell my sad story. We both empathize about our misfortune and decide to keep on applying for voter id until we get our fundamental right.  

There is election fever everywhere. There is a tug of war between the man who gets slapped left and right, a man who cannot deliver a few sentences without being made fun of and another who is promoting chai, and highlighting Gujarat to be the best state in the whole wide world. Given the credentials of the contenders, I must admit, I am also looking forward for the results. If you are one of the 74 lakh bangaloreans who have the right of vote, please do vote on April 17. Take picture of your finger with the black tika, post it on facebook, twitter and pinterest, and encourage others to vote. A proud act deserves to be publicized. Do yourself and the country a big favor, while I stew in my regret. Let the Ungli Olympics begin!