Thoughts of sadness and new experiences

Woke up and was thinking while brushing, at about the exact moment, 6:10
marks one month to the day and minute that changed my surviving family's
life. One of those numb moments you pass through in a sense of stupor,
yet tinged with sadness.
Today was also the first time I exercised my franchise as a voter.
Why? Your conscience feels lighter -- you perceive yourself making a
difference, even if the difference is only to your conscience.
As a city bred I partake in the belief that most politicos are corrupt
and hold a bandicoot-like image of them looting public funds in
collusion with public works contractors -- of whom I also hold a
particular dislike.
I also believe that it is the masses - uneducated and morally unsteady -
who hold a sway over who wins. Of these I hold particular disdain for
the lower middle class mentality of seeking personal favours from
locally elected representatives, of the 'jumping the queue' kind. This
is symbolic of a lack of vision where people vote for narrow regional
interests, rather than keeping in mind which party or manifesto can best
provide stability, economic progress and national development -- and I'm
not citing names.
About the experience, what surprised me was the absence of queues.

The booth opened at 7 and I was there at 7:10. My polling station had 4
booths, with just one vote cast before me at my assigned booth.
I walked in and a person I suppose under duty of the Election
Commission, first checked my name in the voters list (there were 4
others - presumably observers representing contesting candidates - doing
the same). He verified my name against the central government photo ID
proof I was carrying (my passport), and announced both presumably for
the benefit of the party observers. Then he made my entry in the list of
people who voted at the booth, against which I signed. And finally I was
motioned to the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM), to which the on duty
officer had released a single ballot using the control unit.
Here's the only part I didn't like. With so many contestants (usually
around 16), there really should be prominent displays of the ballot
sheet so you can scrutinize it and locate your nominee before entering
the private ballot area. I didn't find such. Maybe there was one and I
didn't notice it as there was no waiting time, but nobody pointed it
out.
So when I reached the EVM I was stumped looking for my nominee. Took a
few seconds but I found them.
Pressed the button, and an LED next to the nominee went red and a loud
beep sounded as promised, and there my vote was cast.
I was happy with the ease of the process and the lack of queue.
Here's an educative link to the differences between the American
(Diebold) version of the EVM and our homegrown EVM. Don't know how much
of the Diebold version is true, but it seems we have a far more elegant
solution -- great endorsement for indigenously developed technology that
fits like a glove.
http://techaos.blogspot.com/2004/05/indian-evm-compared-with-diebold.htm
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