Who to vote for…

If you are an average citizen of India, like me, most of you probably are faced with this dilemma every time that you approach the prospect to exercise your democratic rights. And some of you will probably not vote to elect your leaders because either you cannot make up your mind or because you think that there is no point in voting! Nothing’s ever going to change, from the the way see things.

And I am guilty as charged. Most often I do not vote because I cannot make up my mind on who is the better of multiple evils. I promise that I spend time looking through my options and listening through the campaign build up but when it comes to the moment, I get serious cold feet. Because I have a criteria that I use to filter out the candidates and then more often than not, I am left with pretty much a shameful void at the end of the process. Here is how I judge and, this is not really a definite rule book but I think it does two things. One, it will provide an estimate of how bad the prospective leadership has become in this country and two, you may just get lucky and be able to make a decision. And when you do, it is just your laziness that is to blame for the adverse election results.

Sometimes, you expect a set of results and even take the initiative to vote, but the actual outcomes are, well look at where we are today. Here is how I decide and I leave it in the open to critique, abuse and maybe I get a fan following. My conscience is clean either ways…

The first step is to be able to appeal to your self and also to the patriotic personae in you (this might be buried under the  and reflect on the following questions…

1. What really matters to you? – there is no point in pretending to be selfless and self sacrificing because truthfully, at every level of thought, we are serving self interests – there is very little that really classifies as truly selfless.
2. What do you think are are the 3 things your immediate surrounding need for the betterment of everyone around you? – Now based on where you are and your life’s experiences on a day to day basis, this list might be the most difficult to come up with – not because you live in utopia but the list can tend to be infinitely long but must be limited to 3 and must be realistic. We all hope for low fuel prices and free food but that’s not happening anytime soon!
3. What do you think are are the 3 things this country needs for the betterment of everyone around you? – Now based on where you are and your life’s experiences on a day to day basis, this list might be the most difficult to come up with – not because you live in utopia but the list can tend to be infinitely long but must be limited to 3 and must be realistic. We all hope for low fuel prices and free food but that’s not happening anytime soon!
4. What are the kind of people you would like to be surrounded by? – This is a slightly indirect but I will get to it! Again, as before, don’t go for the idealistic or be misled by social conditioning. We’d all like to be surrounded by a fusion of character traits that do not really exist in one person. If you want to be surrounded by honest, selfless, funny, good looking, spiritual and articulate people then you were born in the wrong place, time and probably as the wrong kind of living organism.

This will take some time to achieve but you will get there after a few iterations. Depending on your level of patience and dedication to achieve the outcome, it will take from a 30 – 50 iterations! Don’t worry, you get better at it over time.

Now make a list of the potentials – the potential candidates. This list, typically will be in 3 layers. The lowest rungs will be comprised of the DOGS – people who do not deserve to even be in the consideration set. Not considering them is a no-brainer.

There are then the other two layers. Layer 1 will be based on your own political  and social affiliations and Layer 2 will be based on people you think have potential, agnostic of political or social affiliations. And Layer 1 and 2 may have the same candidates. 

The problem is that most often these will not be the people you will directly vote for! We can all think that Narendra Modi may be the person you would like to vote for but you need to understand that a great leader with a bad ground level machinery is not really a good leader at all. That’s not a reflection on the top guy but just that our democratic system is so complicated that it is often the case that the tail end may not be as great as the top guy.

This, in itself, will take some time – more often because we vote for the symbol and not the person hiding behind it – we are driven by a lot of symbolism as a country.

Once you get to this point where you have your thoughts listed out and your potential options consolidated, it is time to open the news channels, news paper and now the Social Media to look for information. Listen to the campaigns and compile as much information as you can get.

Then, GO TO VOTE.... Chances are you will have narrowed down to 2 or 3 possibilities. If you have followed the steps and been true to yourself, you would not have more than a couple. Hit the button!