45. Suffrage

 45. Suffrage

Gilli was excited as he reached home that evening. “We are going to have our first class elections, next week” he told his parents.

 “Are you going to contest” asked his dad.

“No, Gokul, my friend & class topper will be our class representative”

“You know that anyone can contest, right?” asked mom.

“But better marks mean better leaders, right?”

“No dear, leadership is a completely different skillset. And marks alone don’t reflect intelligence.” said Dad.

“Then why were you hard on me for not coming first in the mid-term?” asked Gilli to no response.

 

The first time Gilli was exposed to any sort of election is two years back. They had started early to avoid any crowd. He wanted to have the black mark in his fingers like his parents. “Why can’t I vote?” he asked.

“You can, when you become adult” said dad.

“Don’t I belong to the same place?” asked Gilli unrelenting.

“It’s called adult franchise. People believe that only citizens above 18 years can think for themselves and vote” he said.

“Then why is mom asking you before voting? She can’t think for herself?”

 Mom brushed his head with a smile and said “Am just checking if Dad is making the right choice”. Dad just had a smug look on him. Gilli was not satisfied with both the responses.

 

He went to school, eager to know about the procedures for the election.

“They are not going to have finger marks for voting” Gilli came dejected from school.

“Since your teacher knows everyone in your class, and can ensure you vote only once, they might have done away with it.” said dad.

“Gokul was furious when I said anyone, not just the topper, can contest” he said.

“So he is unopposed?” asked mom.

“Raju, the Ko-Ko team captain is contesting. Since the entire team would vote for Raju, Gokul wants rest of us to support him.” He said

“What are his election promises” asked Dad.

“He is my friend, isn’t that enough?”

“You should look at what he is offering in that position. Your relationship & social responsibilities shouldn’t mix” said Dad.

 

“Gokul is promising an Ice-cream treat and maximum free periods” said Gilli next evening

“You should note a couple of things, firstly the ice-cream is not part of his representative duty, secondly he doesn’t have powers to get free periods.” said Dad. “And what about the other kid?”

“Raju said he’ll request management to provide better sports kits and more practical’s”

“Which one do you think is more useful & realistic” asked Dad.

“You want me to vote for Raju?”

“Choose needs & realistic things over gifts & far-fetched items” Dad advised.

 

Finally election day came. Gilli was still not sure whom to vote. He had his fingers crossed, since he didn’t want anyone to lose by a single vote. And the results were declared….

 

They had the local elections next month. Gilli was more keen on the happenings. “Whom will you vote Dad” he asked.

“Probably Jai Bhai, we are from the same place”

“Didn’t you say relationships & responsibilities shouldn’t be mixed?” Gilli asked

“His party is promising loan waiver, and is trying to regain our glory years”

“Didn’t you say to choose needs & realistic things over gifts & far-fetched items?” Gilli continued

“You are a kid, you can’t understand” his Dad shut him off

 

 His Grandfather had come back the next day after a long trip.

“I don’t understand why dad is not following his own advice” fumed Gokul. “Is advice only for kids and not parents?”

“You think he was a parent while advising you? All parents are speaking to their own younger version while interacting with their children, advising them to correct mistakes they made as a kid, and perform good deeds they did.”

“Your explanation is not helping me” said Gilli

“All grown-ups were once children, but only few of them remember it. All you have to do is to make him remember the kid in him” concluded Grandpa

 

They went to a nearby park that weekend. Grandpa was explaining Gilli how a remote locality years ago has turned into a residential colony. “How did it happen Grandpa” Gilli asked.

“Well, a group of friends got together and requested the authorities. Whenever the representatives came for campaigning, we asked for the amenities, It was hard initially, but we kept pushing for it.” said Grandpa.

“What motivated you Grandpa?”

“It was your dad. He was a kid then. He wanted a spacious play ground & park nearby, and always complained of muddy roads while walking to shops or school and the like” explained Grandpa  

“We still have some problems, rain water doesn’t drain properly. And it smells when the sewage tanker comes.” GilIi complained.

As they were on the way back home, dad said “I remember complaining a lot about bad road while I was a kid. Didn’t know that so much work was done from our end to improve it”

“You won’t mind it as work when you are doing it for your kids” said Grandpa

 

They stopped at a parlor to get some ice cream. Grandpa got newspapers. Along with the paper came all the manifestos of the candidates in their place. “Looks like only one of the candidates promises to do something about Gilli’s complaints” said Grandpa.

“Unfortunately, he’s not popular, may not win” said Dad.

As Gilli was browsing through the menu, the waiter said “Vanilla is the most popular flavour here”

“It’s ok, I like Pista” said Gilli nonchalantly.

Observing Gilli, Dad thought for a while and said “Maybe I’ll choose a candidate who promises what I really want. Even if he doesn’t win this time, more such candidates will come up based on the reception he gets.”

“Didn’t I tell you Gilli, All adults were once children, you only have to remind them.” said Grandpa gleefully

 

P.S: A girl named Neha won the class elections. “Since the vote among boys were split, she easily won” Gokul had explained the reason for his loss to Gilli. And he lost by one vote.