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By Suruchi Gomes
This is the case of the missing name and the whole of India seems to be reeling from its incidence. And Goa is not far behind with nearly 50,000 people lining up to cast their vote, only to be frustrated. And there is no reprieve. Francis Fernandes voted last elections from Taligao, yet this time round neither was his name there nor was his wifes! He is disillusioned in this already disenchanted world, �We were supposed to vote at the government school but our names were not there. They asked us to try somewhere else,� and even this did not deter his purpose, so and his wife Victoria trudged to three other polling booths where after an expectant search, the conclusion was like what eminent personalities like Adi Godrej in Mumbai were forced to do, sit idle and shut that feeling of being a part of a democracy for another five years. Francis laments today, �How can we vote now?�
Belinda D�Sa,
a housemaid from Sangolda quips, �My family has been living in Goa for eight years yet, my husband and I have not been registered as a voters though we have a ration card. Anyway, what difference does it make if you vote or don�t � only if we work, we�ll eat. Without work we�ll perish irrespective of who�s ruling us� Another doctor in GMC was also privy to same �name� game. So you begin to ask the pertinent question � when most of the people are not really keen on voting and the ones that do, ever so patriotically, are sent back without a backward glance, where did these names go? Or rather who out of the over 50 per cent that voted in Goa really did exercise their right?
Then there are those who prefer to be onlookers of this recurring game. Ask Rita Kuncolienkar who is a teacher in Ponda when she last voted, she just grunts, �What is the use of voting? They come to our village and offer them food, drink and money, load them up to exercise their �coerced� vote.� Ok, so
lets ask Praveen Lolitkar, a student of third year degree, �I have never voted and the one time I went, my name was not there. I still have not seen any of these people really coming forward for the people who need it, who are living without water, electricity and basic infrastructure.�
So we trudge along this arduous road of a �democratic� India to another aspiring doctor chose to stay away. This Med student says, �What is the use? Do you think people do not know that votes are faked, people are bought and good candidates are swept under the rut of it all?�
�So far we all have voted, yet you don�t really see the fruits of putting your trust in someone. The politicians seem to fending for themselves. I think for most of us, it is the choice of the known devils and the unknown ones. The scenario makes it seems so immaterial to vote or not. What of all the people that gave democracy a chance and were sent back as their name were not on the list?� Suzette Advani, a
designer, who did vote but questions its practicality.
Is there a light at the end of this tunnel? Mull over this question as responsible citizens get sent back, filmstars join politics (some of them might even do some good) and criminals get tickets and various permutations and combinations are made to get the right status to balance the �rueful� equation.
It is a shame really to be privy to the games politicians play� and then there are some who have voted, though they add in mirth, �I had voted for someone who has shifted so many parties and changed so many agendas, I am sure even he would be confused on what his ideal is?� says Candida Da Costa, a housewife.
What we have here are people that believe in this Utopian democratic system and their desires are thwarted and those who did not even venture close enough. Is it the case of electing a spokesman of(f) the people, f(a)r the people and by(pass) the people? Life in a democracy never reeked of soap
opera clich�s so much!
So, let�s take all our objections of cine stars joining and dynasties forming and coalitions budding and even likening this to the cricket series where fates were sealed even before the kukoburra touched the arid pitch and put them in our grimaces-laden bag of woes, and learn to live this life of deceit, sycophancy and rock-bottom values. Let�s have some concrete answers to the missing names and even larger missing lists and pray that the new day will bring with it a resolve to change for the better that evolves into someone who will paint this landscape with hope again!
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