I have voted, have you?

Yes, I did manage to cast my vote (my first time ever) today morning. The polling booth was in a college right across the street from my apartment complex. We went around 7.45 AM to avoid crowds and the exercise took hardly 15 minutes. But of course there was a bit of drama - when I saw the voting machine & read all the names listed, I didn't find the name of the candidate who I had zeroed upon (after doing research through this very helpful website - http://www.smartvote.in/. Or for that matter names of any of the main candidates for Bangalore South. I must have appeared quite confused because the poll official told me twice - Press the blue button, madam. But the real question I had was - against whose name?? So I asked them - Why are the names of Bangalore South candidates not listed here? They told me that my Assembly Constituency is Bangalore South (#176) but my Parliamentary Constituency is Bangalore Rural. And all candidates from Bangalore Rural were indeed listed there. Why on earth do they have the same name for assembly and parliamentary constituencies!!! So much for all my research :(

Anyway, at least this time I made a progress from being a chronic non-voter. I wasn't very sure of inclusion of my name in the electoral rolls after submitting my application so late in the game. But fortunately things fell into place for me. Also, I saw a lot of awareness among the usually indifferent middle class - partly due to the awareness campaigns like Jaago Re, Lead India (and its antithesis Bleed India) and partly because we are tired of who we get as so-called leaders and in turn the country we live in. I am keeping my fingers crossed for a better India ..