Of the people, by the people, for the people

I wake up on a gloomy election morning and decide to be first in line when the polls open. I get ready as fast as I can and show up at the polling place. Not too many people in line. I eagerly wait for my turn. "Sorry ma'm, we can't find your name in our record. Are you sure you registered?", announces the poll worker. "Whaaaaaaaaaaaat, How could that be? I only double-checked about half a dozen times", but dizzy with shock, those words don't come out.

It is 7PM on election day, meeting at work shows no sign of wrapping up. "Sorry folks, I need to leave now, I haven't voted yet", I finally muster the courage to say. I rush home. It is raining and with the new day lights savings time in effect, traffic is really bad. I finally reach the polling place 15 minutes before time. There are about 50 people in line. After waiting for about half hour and 10 more people to go, "Sorry folks, the poll is now closed", declares the poll worker. I leave amidst moans and groans.

This time I wake up and with a bad cough. I walk down to the medicine cabinet to get some cough syrup, unable to believe that I am actually having nightmares about elections. This cold is making me delirious, I think. The clock read 2AM and our midnight visitor from the other room had already made herself comfortable in our bed. Unable to go back to sleep right away, I decide to do some soul searching...

I have lived in good democratic nations my whole life but never bothered to show any kind of interest in politics, let alone cast a ballot. My parents have been very conscientious citizens and I have never known them to miss a single election. My father is a voracious reader but never discussed politics openly with anyone. It has never been a dinner table conversation in our household. He would read up on all issues and instruct my mother which way to vote which my mom was very willing to do. She was the vocal one at home when it came to politics ( at least with us) and always held a very cynical view , always claiming it didn't matter who is in power, it would never make a difference to us. I turned 18 but then I was off to college in a different district. I am not even sure if my parents ever registered me to vote, so I was off for 4 years blisfully ignoring my civic duty every single time. The sad part is I never felt a twinge of guilt about it even once, may be at heart I held the same cynical view as my mother. I came to the US and did not have any voting rights (nor did I miss it) until last year when I became a US citizen. I never bothered to register to vote and coming to think of it, I cannot even remember if I actually had any intentions to vote. And then....The presidential races started. Can't really say what caught my eye with the elections, may be it is the media or the sincere citizens around me or the opportunity to see history in the making . All of a sudden, there was a force that pushed me into this frenzy and before I knew it, I was following all possible web sites, blogs and election reports. I followed the two party conventions, the presidential debates and even most of the interviews. I read up and had opinions on issues that I didn't even knew existed. Looking around me, I am clearly not alone. This election has energized and polarized the masses in ways that no one could have ever imagined. The candidate pool couldn't have been more different or diverse, whether it is age, race, gender or religion, there was something for everyone. There was more drama here than what the best of Hollywood could have conjured up. This may or may not be most important election of this century but to me, it was a turning point : a much needed wake up call. The cough medicine finally kicks in and I doze off...

I wake up (for real) on election day and it is in fact raining. I smile to myself thinking about my dreams (They don't seem like nightmares any more). P offers to drop the kids off since he had a meeting. I pack them off and call Malini to see if she wants to go with me. She couldn't as it was still drizzling and she didn't want to take Abhi in the rain. I went to the polling place clutching my driver's license and the voter registration card. There was no line. My name was located in seconds and the lady cheerfully handed out the ballot. I took it to the booth with the same eagerness I used to have taking a question paper for an exam, I was truly well prepared for. I took a look at the questions ( ballot) and yes, I was indeed well prepared, I had all the answers. I quickly marked them and handed it back with a great sense of pride. Yes, I did it!! I didn't feel like a citizen but for the first time felt like an adult...