Finding his wife opposing his political views, V M SASIDHAR goes all out to prevent her from casting her vote to the ‘other’ party
Sometimes, I wonder why elections have to be so loud. Why can’t political parties and candidates simply state their objectives or priorities in the form of ‘Manifestoes’ and leave the rest to the voters. Besides, shouldn’t the ruling party present their balance sheet of earlier promises and performances, based on verifiable facts?
But my wishes have remained ‘Utopian’.
This time, my complaint is more personal than altruistic. The loud TV debates during the elections months would often spill over into our drawing rooms and dining tables, sometimes depriving me of my favorite dishes for days together after our heated discussions. Yes, I was at loggerheads with my wife, and we would find ourselves at the opposite sides of the political spectrum. Our debates would show that they may end up with a win for either of us, but at the dining table, I was always the loser.
We had shifted our residence a few years ago, but the old location remained our voting constituency. Hence, we needed to travel to the other side of the city to cast our valuable vote. I had a more practical one, or let me say, a numerical problem to consider. I knew that as we shall naturally be voting for the opposite factions, so even though we would be going to the polling booth as a couple, we would be casting our vote as individuals for the opposing candidates, thereby nullifying each other. This issue had been bothering me for quite some time, without a tangible solution.
After a lot of thought, I strategised and as a first step, stopped arguing with my wife, not only on the political front, but on all fronts. In fact, I started to be nicest to her, ever since our honeymoon. Being astute and moreover, of the female species, she suspected that something was amiss, but could not lay her finger on it.
As luck would have it, we had recently sold our car, and we were yet to buy a new car. I hit upon an idea and told her that spending on Uber, just to cast a vote, may not be a great idea. I told her that, if I were to travel alone, I might be able to use public transport and thus save a lot of money. Normally, she is thrifty in money matters and I thought I had hit the nail on the head. But, she would have none of it. She was ready for public transport or was okay spending a few hundreds more. Having failed in my attempt at dissuading her to cast her vote, I was only hoping that she would make a mistake while voting in the EVM, as it was the first time she would be using it.
Then, one day, as I was casually going through the guidelines by the Election Commission of India, an important rule caught my attention. We cannot take mobiles inside the polling booths. It was sweet music for me. I know that my wife can stay without food and water, but the mobile is another matter. I decided to make another attempt. I explained to her that we would have to be without mobiles for a few hours.
“What?” she snarled and recovering her composure, said, “I’m sure there must be some arrangements like lockers at polling booths.” I tried dissuading her, saying there would be a big queue for depositing the mobiles and retrieving them back, even if there were some arrangements for depositing them. She remained silent and there were no further exchanges on the subject. Come Election Day, and my wife while scrolling through her mobile, stoically declared that she would not come for voting after all and asked me to proceed. I was overjoyed, but did not wish to show my emotions. Instead, I looked at her sympathetically, and even offered to stay back. She asked me to proceed, and asked if I was going to be okay without a mobile for so long. I thanked my stars and told her that I would manage for a few hours. I did not want to give her much time to rethink and hurriedly rushed out. Having cast the vote, triumphantly, I ate lunch and took a bus back home. As I closed my eyes, a feeling of emptiness and guilt gnawed at me.
I had deliberately worked to prevent my wife from exercising her right! I was so guilty that I couldn’t sleep in the long bus journey back home.
I reached home and quietly let myself in and slumped on the sofa, the guilt pangs, still hurting. I took my mobile and noticed three missed calls from my wife. I was surprised – had she forgotten that I had left the phone at home? I rushed to the bedroom to find her sleeping. I wondered about the missed calls.
Later, I asked her about the missed calls. She responded, ”Oh! Yes, I wanted to tell you that you have forgotten your diabetes medicine and wanted you to buy them before your lunch. But, I heard the phone ring here itself, and realised you had left the mobile home.” Why three calls, I persisted. She explained, ”Whenever I remembered about your medicine, I involuntarily dialed your number, forgetting that you hadn’t carried your phone!” Her concern brought tears to my eyes.
My deep pangs of remorse were now physically hurting me. She asked about the voting. I told her that I should have persuaded her more forcefully, making an attempt to reduce my guilt and feel better. She nodded affirmatively and said, “Your party has lost one valuable vote”. Surprised, I asked how, and she said that though she was arguing with me on certain viewpoints, she had made up her mind to vote for my party, partly due to my reasoning and mainly due to our relationship. “I know how passionate you are on your political beliefs and convictions, and how could I let you down”, she said, as she passed the freshly brewed coffee to me.
Even after casting my vote, I felt so downcast!
VM Sasidhar, a Civil Engineer worked for four decades with Indian Oil Corporation, before retiring as Chief General Manager. He now stays in Navi Mumbai with his loving wife and daughter. His many interests include reading, Hollywood, and road travel. He has another daughter who is married and lives in New York.
Featured photo courtesy: ec.gov.in photo gallery