I am the common man

I am not a Hindu, Muslim, Sikh or Christian. I do not belong to the SC or ST category. I am not a North Indian or a Marathi manoos.

For me, Cauvery is a river which flows in India and it does not differentiate, depending on which state it flows in. For me, wearing jeans or having a drink in a pub is a personal choice and not trying to ape the west. For me, farmers across the country are people who pour their sweat and blood to produce food for us to eat and not the ones who, if given a chance, will ever depend on loan waiver schemes or will be a coward to commit suicides. For me public places like Palace Grounds in Bangalore or the gardens of India Gate in Delhi are places for people and families to visit and not places where political parties hold a rally, to put thousands of naïve people through inconvenience. I am not someone who wants ‘Z’ category security with black cat commandoes at my disposal, when the entire country is reeling under a terror threat. I am not someone who will block roads and streets because I want to get to the airport. I am not someone who pollutes the environment and increases my carbon emissions with a convoy of 10 vehicles. I am not someone who lives in a VIP area with no power cuts, when there are places in the country where electricity seems to be available like our so-called leaders in their respective constituencies (once in 4-5 years). I am not someone who has millions, billions, trillions and zillions of cash, stashed away in tax havens. I am not someone who will cast his vote, in favour of a person or party, who gives me a free colour TV or provides me with rice at Rs. 1 per kg.

Then who am I?

I am someone who is afraid to go out in public places as there is no security for my life. I am someone, who gets perturbed for the fear of failing to file tax returns by 31st July every year. I am someone who has paid taxes regularly, but seldom has got refunds in the same financial year as the returns. I am someone who has lost a lot of money in the servicing of government officials to get a passport or driving license; not because I am incapable to get one, but because if I do not pay, I will never get one. I am someone who respects a temple, mosque, church and gurudwara alike. I am someone who enjoys celebrating Holi, Diwali, Eid and Christmas with equal fervour. I am someone for whom August 15 and January 26 are more than just public holidays. These are days to celebrate being an Indian. I am someone who shudders, when the cops stop me on the road, to check documents, even when I know I have everything in order. I am someone, who is happy adopt the positive aspects from any culture. I am someone who has encountered hours of power cuts, in the hope that sometime I will see light at the end of the tunnel. I am someone who has got stuck in a traffic jam and missed his flight or train, for no fault of his. I am someone who is scared to meet any friend of the opposite sex on February 14, in a public place. I am someone who sees Slumdog Millionaire and salutes Danny Boyle for his audacity to capture the reality of the slums, unlike some other movie makers who show the slums as a beginning of a rag to riches story. I am someone who will always stand in a queue for 20 hours to get a decent darshan at Tirupati and not bypass the crowd through a VIP entrance. I am someone who wants to exercise his vote but cannot do so, as his name does not appear in the voters list, for reasons unknown. I could be a South Indian, who has always lived in North India, bought a house in Kolkata and currently works in Mumbai, along with my fellow Marathi manoos colleagues. So what ??????????? Isn’t it enough that I am Indian ???????

Yes, I am an Indian. I am a big fan of the dialogue from Chak De India, when the hockey coach asks the players to introduce themselves; only one of them says she is from India, while the others say they are from Tamil Nadu, Andhra, Mizoram or Punjab.

I am Indian who wants to exercise his vote this year. I want to vote for the leader of my choice. Someone, in whom I trust, will work for me. Someone who will provide me with clean drinking water, someone who will provide me with the same quality of rice from a ration shop, as what I get in a super market, someone who will ensure I have electricity when my children are studying for their exams or when mother nature is not too very kind with weather, someone who will provide me with decent quality of food articles, for which I pay through my nose, someone who will provide me with a decent road, on which I can drive my scooter, which I have paid for, through my hard earned money or someone who provides me with a reasonable public transportation system. Someone who will build roads and infrastructure to reduce (not avoid) traffic chaos. Someone, who will not question my attire and will respect my thoughts and believes, someone who will not ask me why I went to a pub and at the same time, I do not expect him to sit and enjoy a drink with me, if it is against his believes, in short someone one who will live and let live.

There’s some more

Someone who will not ask me which state I belong to as long as I am an Indian, someone who does not differentiate people on the basis of whether they go to a temple or a mosque, someone who will never call for a bandh for any reason, someone who will use public finances for public welfare and not swindle them into numbered accounts, someone who will genuinely favour or oppose the policies of the corporate sector and not purely because they fund the election coffers, someone who will ask for votes not because he belongs to my state, region, religion or caste, but because he wants to work for the welfare of society, someone who will not stop me from watching a Tamil film in Karnataka or a Kannada film in Tamil Nadu, someone who will not stop me from working in Mumbai because I am a North Indian, someone who will not instigate me to fight in Nandigram for his political motives, someone who provides me with a sense of security when I am in a crowded train or on a busy street, or in a shopping mall or at the airport or in a 5-star hotel, someone who works for the development and well being of people, irrespective of the rural - urban divide, someone who will pick up a sickle to support me in my farm and not hesitate to pick up a gun to protect me from extremism, someone who will take me into a college based on my marks and academic credentials and abilities and not because I belong to a particular religion or caste, someone who provides me with a job, so I can put food on the table for my family, someone who will have the police book me and make me pay a fine, if I break the law and not go around it, someone who will not have culprits play with the Indian judiciary system, someone who will be a constructive opposition, even if his party looses the election, someone who will not keep an eye of when a no-confidence motion can be passed and the government be voted out of power, someone who will not even think about diverting public finances for elections, more than once in 5 years, someone who will lure me with a achievable 5-year, growth driven plan and not bribe me with a TV or materialistic pleasures, to get my vote.

These are the things which I expect from my leader. When I look back at the enormous number of political parties and leaders in the fray, during the current elections, I cannot find my leader who remotely matches my expectations.

Am I asking for too much? Am being unreasonable. I am confused !!!! Who should I vote for? Or should I ???