Monday, April 20, 2009

The election and the middle class dreams

My name did not appear in the Voters’ list.
Disappointed!

I have never voted in my life and really wanted to do it this time. Submitted the forms through the VotedeIndia corporate initiatives. I think I selected the wrong constituency and ward no. in the form. I am crazy and I live in a crazier locality is my thinking. It is neither-here-nor-there kind of a place. Google map was a little dicey and it did not throw up the right constituency. I reconfirmed with my landlord and also the neighbor and both of them said that what I have selected is right. Apparently, it was not so. I am angry with the Landlord, the neighbor, myself and, everything else in between.

Humko Vote dena mangta!
I think I’ll go and simply stare at the voters or sing Tarzan Boy. Why? Simply! I like the tune.

Considering the recession, I bought a cheap pair of sandals for work. Now, let me first talk about my feet. Cheap footwear and my feet don’t go well. This has been since childhood. My feet look like those of a duck, very beautiful! Mom tried to make me wear some cheap shoes and after 3 months, the toes would pop out of the shoes, start smiling and greet her, “hello mommy, your daughter needs better shoes.”

I envy those people who can just slip on anything. There are a lot of foot wears for ladies that are quite cheap and stylish, the flip flops in all shades, the thin straps and so on.

I look at them longingly, but my feet can take only those that are strong hearted else, it will win and leave the sandals in tatters. If you ask me what I would do if I had lots of money, my answer would be,”I’d get a foot job done.” That is one reason why I don’t have lots of money. Now, you might think this is crazy, but I had a hostel mate who wanted to correct her toe nails with surgery if possible. We shook the hostel laughing, after hearing that.

Coming back to the point, I bought cheap footwear for work and after a week of running to the pick-up point, it started laughing. That is when I got angry and being fed up with recession, started the shopping spree.

I bought 3 pairs of really good sandals. Now, I have a rack full of foot wears. It’s a different thing that it has always been full. I also bought some formal shirts and finished it with a nice Kurti and a holiday with S to Wayanad, Kerala (holiday post coming up) to beat the recession to pulp.

It is not like we have not been affected. The flat did not happen as our salaries became unpredictable. I did all kinds of math, but realized they were just not adding up to what we require and it would be too risky to commit on huge EMIs now.

These are the dreams of a middle class. I cheer myself up by saying; “it is ok, this is what I am, I have never been anything else.”

I am going to do something now. Let the flat happen whenever it has to. For now, I’ll change the curtains of the current rented accommodation. Yes, I can do that.

11 comments:

AmitL said...

Hi,Arunima-hey,you can use my voter id, since I won't be there.:)Don't worry- if you're really keen to vote, go to one of the party's shakhas and tell them you want to vote for them but don't have an id...they'll give you the red carpet treatment,a pepsi and get you an id...at least,that's the way it works in Guj, since every vote counts.:)Or, write to one of your local papers.
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ROFL at the sandals saga...good luck with your sandals,honestly- I have similar problems-but,with shoes- a slight tight size and the corns jump up menacingly,making walking a nightmare.And,believe me,one good pair is cheaper than 3 cheap pairs,in the long run.:)
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Hey,that's the way-Be positive,beat the recession in your own ways!!I always say'The best things in life are free', starting with oxygen. The rest are all materialistic things,drawing you deeper into a black hole than anything else.:)Cheerio!

Anonymous said...

OH! Voting! Brought back my childhood memories! In LKG, there was this girl in our van who was very show-off. And during voting time, she had her finger marked with the mark that they put after voting and told everyone that she had voted. I came home and told that even I wanted to vote. So, my sister took out her ball pen and made the same mark on my finger too before going to school. Gosh! you had to look at the face of that girl when I showed that even I had voted :-) I was so damn happy!!

austere said...

:)
Good work lady, propping up the economy with one hand.

Sad abt the vote, but you can have mine, too.

What did you get? Metro/ Citywalk?

manuscrypts said...

erm, its fashionable to throw shoes as a form of protest... so, shoe away the recession, i like :)

Cynic in Wonderland said...

oi i have the same problem. all set to show the finger, and my name doesnt appear on the lists. i am very annoyed - especially since the spouses is there. figger will just trail with him and see if it magically comes up.

ditto shoes saga. we are sole mates you think?

also plssssss to send guest post on bhajifried. dont stint. send many. @cynicinwonderland@gmail.com.

Arunima said...

@manuscrypts: why didn't i gtet that idea before? That is the best way to use your worn out footwears.

@cynic: Runs to get the apron and cap. I shall do it.

Kunjal said...

sad that you will not be able to vote:(
shopping always helps no matter what stress it is:)

vivek said...

I really hope that you will go to the polling station and vote.There must be some procedure like provisional voting to let you vote and then determine at the time of counting about your eligibility.Sadly,lots of educated people do not vote in India and it got saddled with corrupt,selfish politicians.I was delighted to vote in Vizag when I was a student there, and could not wait to become American so that I could vote, and did in every presidential election.

Arunima said...

@venkat: yes, I would love to. Let me try that too.

Tys on Ice said...

man, i hve never voted...thts why i dont have much to say abt the way things are out there...but the truth is i wud have loved to vote this time...for the first time i think theres a candidate worth voting for...i think. Ideally,i wud have liked Shakeela chechi to stand for CM.

Arunima said...

@tys on ice: haha, your candidate is damn good.