I was reading Zeba’s blog about how much she went through to get to the polling booth to be able to cast her first vote. Made me think… Indian youth is not at all a bunch of careless wanna be’s! They might be westernized cool dudes/dudettes on the surface, but within, they are responsible citizens of India. And I am proud of them.

I turned 18 five years ago. And how many times have I voted? Zero!

I was born and brought up in the capital city of India – New Delhi. While growing up, I used to count years to be able to go vote and get that ugly blue stamp on my finger nail. I used to be so jealous when my parents used to come home after voting, with that stamp on their fingers. I always wanted it on mine. It was like a tattoo of pride for me; Pride of being an Indian; Pride of being an adult. I just couldn’t wait…

Bless my luck, as soon as I turned 18 I moved out of my parents’ house - Left the city for studies. Never had a chance to get my voter’s card made. Because when the forms were out, I would always be away. And no one else ever bothered to fill that little form for me or at least save a copy for me so that when I return I could fill it out and submit it.

Then after my degree was over, I moved back to Delhi for some months. And before I could act towards that, I moved to the United States of America. And of course they don’t let me vote here. So all in all; I just don’t vote. I have no say in how my own country functions or how the country I stay in functions. That’s how important I am to the world!!

I am still waiting for the day when I cast my first ever vote… very eagerly.