TOP 10 Reasons Why I'll VOTE

A few reasons that inspired me to register to VOTE this year.

10) Cos something within me says strongly I should.

9) I stood in line on the last day of the voter registration in Pune and braved a suffocating room, edgy impatient crowds, a yelling policeman, people breaking the line, being nudged by several sweaty arms etc. to register. I am not gonna let all that go waste now - am I :)

8) The ability to vote in a democracy is a right. Right means power. Power implies responsibility. So its my responsibility to vote.

7) I am eager to practice what the Civics books preached back in high school. All that stuff about democracy and why voting is **essential** to its success - nay survival - needs to now be practiced.

6) I firmly believe MY Vote has the power to change India. In the Art Of Living, we believe that the power of good intention combined with responsible action DOES result in manifestation.

5) I am a member of the vast educated middle classes that have given up on voting and consequently democracy and consequently this country. Such cynicism has become the bane of the democratic process in India. Now the politician does not even CARE as he/she knows that all he/she needs is about 20% of the vote which can be bought with liquor, sarees, lungis, shawls, 100 rupee notes, coercion, bogus voting, just belonging to a particular caste etc. I want this to change.

4) The Bhagavad Gita says that one must not be attached to inaction. Inaction is also action. If I don't vote thinking that nobody deserves my vote, someone else casts my vote for the wrong guy and by not acting, I have actually acted in the wrong fashion. So this time the least of the evils gets my vote.

3) Being the Change ! If I don't vote, I have no right to complain when I get a paunchy, raunchy, rude, pan chewing, insolent, selfish, creepy pseudo-secular politician as my representative for the next 5 years. Even if I vote, this individual may show up, but at least I did my bit.

2) I refuse to be taken for granted. I believe in secularism provided it is defined right. Democracy has been defined as the rule of the majority combined with rights of the minority. In India it has of late become "Rule of the Minority and the Majority be damned" As a member of the majority community in this country, I believe I deserve respect and equality. Not more than anyone else in this country - but certainly NOT less.

1) Guruji said so.

JAI HIND !

Jai Guru Dev,