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Here is a major festival of India! The general elections. The colourful party flags , festoons and the exciting travels of the top leaders across the country make it one. Chennai is not far behind!

As I walk down an important street, famous as the Chief Minister’s party office road, I see huge posters of the Chief Minister Jayalalithaa adorn the sides. ‘Amma’a’ posters adorn many of the important highways of the city too! The party flags of the ruling AIADMK catch my eye above my head as they are strung amidst high poles. I can see a small thatched shed on the corner of the road with party men sitting and standing exchanging pleasantries or at their favourite past time, criticising the opposition! Records of the Tamil hits of MGR at full blast.

The DMK, another major party is not far behind. The dramatic speeches published in the papers and the huge crowds shown on television strike me with awe. Leaders have started addressing important meetings at nooks and corners banking on their appeal to the lesser educated and illiterate. The colourful photos of my constituency (AIADMK) candidate catch my eye in the paper and I update myself on her activities. There are colourful splashes of other leaders and sensational headlines at the sides. The only change is in the past it occurred once in five years only, whereas now it is a once in three or four and half year affair. They have come and gone but with no absolute returns to the common man.

One day in the last elections a popular candidate was doing the rounds. An election buff nudged his friend “look he is going… the satirical smiling reply was “next year also he will be doing the same thing.”!

Now the thought crosses my mind…Have the elections become stale? Or have we as citizens lost sense of our duty?

The former seems to be a more apt answer. This has in turn slackened our interest (can we say)?

The elections have become a monotonous show of the might of wealth. Anybody who has the money to throw can get himself a ticket whatever may be his other qualifications. This has brought into the arena many candidates who might never be the choice of the common man. The spearheading of such persons has turned the voter weary. We can hear the poorer lot mumble “what does it matter who comes, nobody is going to do anything for us”...

To top it all the elections are collaborated with daily events like water problem, petrol and gas! As I wait for the water lorry to bring us water I hear the sarcastic comments like, “till the elections, water will come!…No Problem!" Of course this statement is given a silent assent is obvious by the meaningful exchange of smiles.

However the weariness exists only in the eyes of the voter. The candidates are brisk and busy trying innovative methods of campaigning as is one of our constituency candidates. He took time off to shake hands and introduce himself to the walkers at the beach in the early morning hours!

Not to say the least my personal interest in the elections do continue and I do not fail to grab the paper in the mornings and immediately read through a sensational item which catches my eye be it about the BJP or Congress or even the Bofors!

I wait with baited breath guessing all the while who it is to be, Vajpayee or Sonia?

I think the election excitement still continues deep inside us unawares and will continue too for times to come..

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