My kinda books...

Like they say, sometimes nothing but words alone can be that expressive! I, for one, love reading books - mystery, adventure, romance, science fiction or historical books. Here are a few of my favorites...

Anandmath - Rabindranath Tagore
Well, when I decided to write this blog, this book was the first thing that entered my head! I was quite surprised to realize that this story, which I read because it was my Non-Detailed reading in 8th Std, had left such deep imprints! It was the spirited narration, perhaps, that appealed most to me. To be completely honest, it also appealed to the women chauvinist part of me (kindled perhaps in the years I spent in my Girl's school in Banglore.) To this day, I vividly recall the strength of those women and derive my courage from their personalities...

One Night at the Call Centre - Chetan Bhagat
Another shock! This time totally unexpected! At least I knew I liked Anandmath..But this book!! I remember clearly telling my sister - "Oookay..!" and yet, it has wormed its way in to the second spot in my list! It took some introspection and this is what I think made me like it - To this day, most books I've read (by Indian authors) have dealt explicitly with history or myth. This was the first(that I read), that potrayed reality as it is today in India (and after all this it's supposed to be a supernatural story!!). It even awakened me - supposedly part of the youth of this country - to trends that have set in! What hit me on the face was how we've evolved to become a Westernish Indian bunch...

The complete collection of Hercule Poirot mysteries (Over 50 short Stories) - Agatha Christie
I know each story by-heart! Every character and every mystery. I adore this little Belgian detective who uses the "grey cells" in his little egg shaped head to solve mysteries ranging from finding a missing cook to serving royalty in their troubles! The logic, the mystery and the beautiful potrayal of this character ... But everytime I think, why not Sherlock Holmes?? The supposedly greatest detective of all time? I guess it is because in each of the Poirot mysteries, you have the material available to solve the mystery, which lends to it an extra thrill of guessing the correct suspect (unfortunately, never so!!)

Blue Horizon-Wilbur Smith
Simply, a gripping and wonderful narration! A fictitious story and characters all right, but so well sculpted over the vast expanse of Africa - I found it very hard to put the book down! Some scenes were so well narrated that I thought I was actually present and watching it live! Being a vegetarian, some scenes were quite gross (actually!) to read, but I learnt a lot about African cultures and practices. A must read if you are one for adventure...

The Twentieth Wife - Indu Sunderesan
Somehow, I like books by Indian authors! Even though most of the books I read are by foreigners, the ones I am able to recall after years are the Indian ones! This is one such book - but what appealed in this case was inability to recognize with anything at all! I was totally unaware of the actuality behind the splendor of the Mughal rule in India - some horrifying truths and some more splendor and luxury. But this knowledge is only secondary - the primary reason for this being one of my favorites is that it is a beautiful romantic story. It being narrated by a passionate author in a historical surrounding only made it even more appealing to the hopeless romantic that I am...

The Testament - John Grisham
Its a very boring book - take it from me. But I like it because of one reason - it made me realize the extent to which some people are involved in charity and that what we do is really small. I used to be so proud after donating blood - like I've accomplished a terrific feat and deserved an award for it - but reading about this missionary worker humbled me. I'll always remember this book and it is an inspiration for me to someday try to reach within the vicinity of the work this missionary did...

Bedtime Stories - Geetha
Quite unorthodox, yes, but definitely finds a mention in my all time favorites. Even though I'll soon be stepping out of my teens, every single night my mom ends my day with a "happy" story - and simply because of the peace that fills my heart at the end of her honest, simple and cute narration, I've placed it here...

At the S&T desk...

When I left for The Hindu office today, I was looking forward to interacting with Dr. Prasad, department head of the Science and Technology Desk. I had met up with Dr Prasad for about an hour yesterday but couldn't interact well with him given that his section of the paper would be appearing the next day. However today I got to talk to him quite a bit on how he structured and developed on his section of the paper.

The first thing I observed about him was that he was a voracious reader. He had several science magazines strewn on his desk and a hi-fi looking article was staring at me from his monitor. He first informed me about the various columns in his section of the paper - the most well-read Q&A column, where the readers asked questions about various scientific matters and received replies, a science column published from an international reputed paper like The Guardian, etc. , a journal article (usually an editorial) adopted from Nature, an article on Agriculture usually written by a member of the S&T desk after field research, two or three more articles depending on space availabilty written by columnists mostly dealing with scientific aspects of matters of latest interest and a few scientific titbits.

Dr Prasad has himself written articles (in matters relating especially to stem cell research) and so I was curious as to how he actually chose his topics and presented them to a laymen in an appealing and crisp manner. I learnt that to choose topics, he usually read through various editorials of reputed journals across the world like Nature, The Lancet, The British Journal,etc and when he observed something totally new or unconventional or related to recent topics of interest (for eg. Bird Flu) he would bookmark it. After having short-listed various topics, he would read up on them thoroughly - the paper itself, the references it made and the references' references (!) to get a clear picture of what was being talked about.

On second/third readings, he would make a note of all the major points raised in the article and priorotize them and then draw up his first draft, which usually would be thrice the length of the published article! It was in this way, he said that you could personalise the article.

To be frank, I was very curious to know how exactly does one personalise a scientific article!! I have tried on several occassions to formulate an impassive opinion on an established fact and almost always land heavily on the emotional side! As people and as Indians, we all have perceptions which alters to a great degree what we believe to be fact!

Dr Prasad beautifully put it that the only way to overcome this disadvantage is to read a lot and write all that you know! That way, as you try shortening the article, you will find yourself making several comparisons which ultimately leads to the formulation of an opinion. Well...that sounds awful!! So let me try and put it directly the way he said it:

"I am right now working on an article which reviews the way peer review is carried out in Nature. For this it is essential to first know what peer review is all about. Secondly, you should try and think why this particular procedure is being reviewed. This will itself generate sufficient material to penn your article - but if you are interested you could go ahead and check out the history of peer review and see how it came into being and so on.. The point is that now you have the fact - that the way peers review your scientific paper is going to change. And then you have sufficient material to prove why this change is "long pending" - that some papers earlier published were all farce! This way you have already given a personal touch!"

It was quite interesting to know and I, who upto that point was confident that I could write an article worthy of the Hindu suddenly realised the amount of effort that went into each article! Apart from the effort involved to stay informed, it was impertinant that I read up as much as available on the topic, from all angles to write an article. I learnt that day, what the difference was between reporting and writing!

There was the other section of the desk that I had completely not recognized - the agricultural section. It was here that "field research" in the true sense of the word was involved - and that too of a very different kind. I spoke to Mr Prabhu, who contributes almost every week to the section to get some insight.

Well, if it was possible, even more knowledge and information was required here. One had to keep abreast of activities in remote villages - and percieve any change in the scenario. And again, I bring in the context to explain myself. Mr Prabhu had just returned from a trip to Kancheepuram and he had visited a village nearby. He was surprised to know that many of the farmers were no longer cultivating the seasonal crops - instead they were opting for all-seasonal crops with less water requirement! This was a very very abrupt change, especially in a village which traditionally opted for seasonal crops. But knowledge of this fact only formed the basis for the article. It would take many more conversations and exploration to realise that such acts brought in more income than usual and that several agencies supplying seeds to farmers had already recognized this trend! In this case, Mr Prabhu said, all the information was available - you just had to know where to find it!

So having learnt over about a week the various activities of the various members of the desk and gaining revelations into the tricks of scientific journalism, I tried my hand at it over the next 2 weeks. I read up and wrote an article on "Flies Flight" and got it analysed by Dr. Prasad, who was quite pleased with it except for the fact that I had failed to give credit to the people concerned explicitly.

With that my 4 wonderful weeks at this desk came to an end and I will forever keep these memories close to my heart!

An interesting Chat...

When I got to spend an hour with a top editor who has been working with the newspaper for nearly 30 years!

When I left for The Hindu's office in Mount Road today, I was looking forward to being assigned to the section of the paper I had requested for - the S & T desk (Science and Technology section of the paper which appears in 2 pages of the daily every Thursday) I was to be assigned to the head of the desk - Dr Prasad, who apart from being the chief of the department also wrote articles himself for the section.

But when I arrived, I learnt that Dr Prasad was at a meeting and would be available in about an hour. I was wondering what to do, when Mr Mukund graciously offered to tell me about the technological history of the newspaper. I was most interested, especially as I was quite ignorant about printing technology!

Being a longstanding, top-level employee of The Hindu and having worked through all the "revolutions" personally, it was an opportunity not to be missed! But what made this session particularly interesting for me was that Mr Mukund was such a great speaker! His humility combined with his extensive knowledge and his great ability to lay out technical facts in a manner so easy to percieve, made this a memorable experience!

I would like to share with you what I learned:

The first ever prinitng technology to be invented is attributed to Johannes Gutenberg (Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press with replaceable wooden/metal letters in 1436 ) This was the standard till almost the 20th century! The Hindu which started out in 1878, used this technology initially.

Then came the monotype and linotype. The original Monotype machine used 'hot metal' to form individual letters. But what was then considered "revolutionary" was the linotype. In contrast to the Monotype machine, the Linotype machine formed a complete line of type in one bar! This was more useful for quick printing and Mr Mukund iterated that there were several of these machines occupying a full level then in The Hindu's office building(installed from 1921- 1923)! The machines were big and employed thermal and electrical heating methods to keep the lead boiling hot. (Hence these are referred to as the 'hot type')

In the beginning of the 20th century, there were continual improvements being made - like using a typewriter style keyboard for entering the type. But editing was still a problem - if there was a mistake in a word, the entire line had to be redone and if the sentence ran into several lines, the entire paragraph had to be redone!

That was when The Hindu introduced VDT (Video Digital Technology) And to repeat, as Mr Mukund worded it beautifully, " The person who sat in the hot room, typing, could now sit in front of a terminal in an air conditioned environment!" What with the visual aids and the increased levels of personal comfort, the paper could now be even more productive!

I was, to be frank, amused to find out certain details - for example that The Hindu was the first Indian newspaper to print the editorial on the first page! Before that, it was traditional to have the first page dedicated completely to advertisements! The Hindu was already rising up to international styles and standards, as it was customary to have editorials printed on the first page in international dailies like The Tribune, etc.

When The Hindu started out, it operated initially only in Tamil Nadu. Later on, it moved on to Delhi, Banglore, Vishakapatnam, Thiruvananthapuram,etc. but all the printing was still done only in TN. So, The Hindu purchased its own aircrafts for the distribution of its papers - another first in India.

Later on, The Hindu also became the first newspaper in India to transmit by facsmille its copies to other printing centres.

While everyone was still gawking unbelievably at this 'too good to be true technology' there came the digital revolution! The Hindu was one of the first newspapers to operate in a completely computerized environment. In 1994, The Hindu purchased a software tailor-made to suit its specific needs. In 2005, it underwent the most comprehensive redesigning in the history of any Indian national newspaper to make the daily more reader friendly!

Overall, I learnt a lot about the printing history of this paper that boasts of 125+ years of tradition! It was a great experience.

And of course....

Thank You Mr Mukund!!

The First few days...

I got up in the morning all excited! Just yesterday I had received 2 calls!! Think I'm going nuts eh? Well...read on...

The first call was from Mr N Ram's secretary and the second from Mr. P.K.Subramanium(PKS) both informing me that my application for an internship at the Hindu was successful!

Let me fill you in. I am on a 3 month vacation after having completed successfully the first 2 semesters of my Electrical Engineering degree. I let the first month go by; you know just lazing about, eating good food and catching up with my family. But after the first month of my hols, I was bored. So I began planning how best to spend the next 2 months...And then my Dad came up with this great idea. He suggested that I do something which I have a passion for, something which at first glance seemed completely out of line - a writing job!

I was at first quite hesitant, but then the idea caught on: why not do an internship where I wouldn't have to sit like a dummy doing some old desk job? Why not do an internship which would help me write and present better throughout my life? Why not have a glimpse of the hectic life of a journalist?

And the slowly formed idea began taking roots. I penned down my first ever CV and coverling letter with my mom's help! Even though we all finally get tired of writing them (or so I've heard) the first time is always exciting! I applied for an internship at The Hindu which is India's No.1 daily for a job as an attache' to a regular writer. Being an engineering student I thought why not give a shot at the science and technology section - and so I did!

And yesterday afternoon I received these calls! No less than Mr PKS (Chief Editor of the daily) called up personally to inform me that my application was successful! I was jumping with joy throughout the day and nervously anticipating my next day's interview, when my dad came in and presented me with nothing less than a Mont Blanc pen!! Oh yes! You can imagine my joy at being presented with the world's best pen! But what really lit the day up was the happy and proud faces of my family.

And so today I went (with my lucky charm of course - ama - ) to The Hindu's office at around 2 45pm for my 3pm interview. I was led directly to Mr N Ram's secretary (He is the owner and Editor-In-Chief) of The Hindu. After about an hour of waiting, I finally went in. It was a huge, well furnished room with a computer console at one end, a large desk full of files and papers and the entire room was adorned with shelves and shelves of books. I was and still am quite amazed at the transperancy ,reflective I suppose, of a top class organization!

It was what you'd call a once in a life-time experience I guess, but the top man's simplicity, his direct and open way of talking and his personalized attention - even if it were for a few minutes - made me feel comfortable. I was assigned to the supervision of Mr PKS and one Mr Mukund and would work under Dr Prasad who headed the science and technology section of the paper.

I then accompanied Mr Mukund who showed me around a part of the office. He showed me the pictures of the founders of the organization- which boasts proudly of a 128 year heritage. He then gave me an intro to the paper as such - 11 printing centres in prominent cities throughout the country, journalists and reporters in almost every district, each region to its own edition and suplements and different ads!

I learned that there were basically 2 parts to the office - the newsroom as they called it and a beaurau. The newsroom was the place where sub-editors and editors would select the articles and make any changes required, design the layout of the page and fit as many stories into it as possible.

over the next few days, I went to the newsroom where I was allowed to interact with different sub-editors in charge of various sections of the paper. I learnt that there were various 'bays' - one for the national news, one for the international section and one for the last page. These were basically sections of the paper which remained a constant in all printed editions.

I interacted with Mr Madhu, who was the leader of the "national news bay" and learnt about the intranet system that all the employees worked on. It was an excellent software by which the sub-editors had access to wired articles and reports. They could design the layout of their page from a set of standards, fit in articles and pictures in their allotted space, edit sections and forward them on for a final check.They had reports, alterations and corrections constantly flowing in from their various centres. It was an interesting learning experience.

I then moved on to meet the Photo sub-editor who introduced me to their photo portal. They worked on NICA which I was amazed by! It was an awe-inspiring software system by which they had perhaps millions of photos stacked! It was again very user friendly by which they could just search for pictures sent in by various agencies and select those appropriate to the tone of the news item. I was awestruck when I learnt that a total of 200 pictures were published, daily, in all editions printed throughout the country.

There was then the international section which I learnt about by interacting with one Mr Srinivasan, the leader of this bay. He told me about how they had to constantly monitor the international news channels - like Fox, CNN, BBC, etc. I was interested to learn that the international news published were mostly those which had an appeal for the average Indian - like news from Pakistan, Nepal, Iraq, London and SEA! I also learnt that pictures can sway the interest of the reader and so every page tried to have at least one horizontal and one vertical picture!

I must say it was exciting knowing tomorrow's news! I observed the complete formation of a page 22 (it was the only one finalised by 8 pm!!) I could connect with the work that was being done and the final layout. It was an interesting process.

It was time to leave at around 8pm but I noticed that the activity had just begun! News would flow in till 12 pm and the final layout would be released by 1 15pm. Each section of the paper had a deadline to meet and some sections were left blank until late for filling in any latest developments!

It was a unique, exciting and wonderful learning experience.

Internship Diary - Summer 2006

From June 2006, I was on an internship at The Hindu, Chennai.

The Hindu is a national daily with print editions in 11 prominent cities in India (headquarters in Chennai). Having been in business for 128 years, it is one of the most well read paper in India with nearly 11 million readers.

I got to meet up with the top columnists, editors and graphics speacalists. I have made a note of all that I learned during the process. Feel free to browse through the diary entries and post your comments to me.

The following 3 posts are a summary of the events...

A typical Sunday in my life...

My mom came in, carrying a hot plate of bajjis [mmmm...just writing about it makes my mouth water!] Me, my sister and my dad were at the table, banging on it and singing out loud - "suda suda bajji enga? suda suda ..." (where is the hot hot bajji!) She came in with that lovely smile which makes her look so beautiful; but I was too busy looking (rather greedily gawking) at the lovely bajjis! ( I still amaze at how I manage to push in 7-8 of those hot savouries down my throat in the parching summer heat of Chennai! )

Another of those sunday evening rituals I enjoy! They are probably the best days of my life! But I have to admit; maybe even they don't always begin very well! You see, we mostly try to make it to the saturday night show - and well you don't end up liking most movies! But again I have to rephrase that! You see, its a sort of taken-for-granted ritual that we discuss about the movie after its over (And if you've ever talked to my dad, you've probably realized what I'm going to say!) Anyways, we have this discussion about what each of us liked and disliked about the movie (FYI: my dad usually goes first or last ) and after an in-depth analysis of our thoughts we reach a conclusion. Now you may wonder what the whole 'dad' factor was about - well you see, he is an analytic and optimistic leader by character (or should I say personality.. :-D ) So he has a knack of picking up certain points about the movie which we all liked and puts it forth in a manner whereby we even manage to somehow change our view, sometimes opposite to what it previously was! Why all this by the way?? Ah..I have to rephrase that to - and well you don't end up liking all movies!

Now all that movie watching and analysis is bound to take up energy! So we usually end up getting up at around 7 or 8 am. It being Sunday, the holiday, all of us somehow convince our health conscious (and slim- now I wonder how those two match??) mom that its the perfect day to take a stroll later in the evening instead of the routine early morning jog! Obviously, its a perfect beginning for lazy me!

But in my defense, I do utilize that time well! I make it a point to read all the columns of the newspaper that interest me (though it may be a little in fear of my well-informed sister starting a topic at dinner table and me blinking!) After that, its just time to sit around a bit and relax - I used to watch the Mahabarath series on T.V ,which was really different from the sops I usually watch, but then a story can only be so long! So now I watch some cartoons and travel series instead.

By this time, again from all the activities, my stomach would start conspiring with me and together, we'd rope in my sister and her stomach too! Together we'd try to steal into the kitchen (rather be lifted by the wonderous smell of lime rasam and potato roast!) only to encounter our mom! She'd put on a strict face - but with my mom's heart, you can never leave the kitchen without a bite of your favourite!!

After such a sumptous and delicious afternoon meal, comes the other important exercise of the day - HP! (Horizontal Position for you stay-afternoon-awake-people!) So after a cool retreat into an artificially created 21 degree temperature for about 3 hours, our energy levels high again (again? what am I talking about!! ), we'd go out to and enjoy a few games of badminton in the sun, sweating it all out!

That would ultimately bring me to the evening snack ritual I mentioned earlier. The rest of the evening would be spent in a relaxing manner -doing what each of us liked best - catching up with latest magazines, watching the news, listening to music, playing chess (my sister is damn good at it ) or just penning down memories like these!

Sundays always unfortunately end (and even more unfortunately usher in mondays), but there are always more such sundays to look forward to where you do the things you do do best in life - eat, sleep, relax and enjoy with the people you love!

The City of my dreams...

When I moved into this city in 2000, out of compulsion from my father's transfer, I was quite unhappy. Not only was there the initial shock of being uprooted from the garden city I was born and brought up in; the harsh weather conditions initially blew a dry impression of Chennai on me.

There were so many things I was unhappy about: missing my friends at home, going through the process of making new friends in a culturally different atmosphere in my awkward teens, the drinking water - which 'tasted' very different from the Cauvery water I was used to- and perhaps what first struck me as a very conservative environment.

Banglore will always have a special place in my heart, it being the place I was born. But nineteen years later (the last six of those in Chennai), today, if anyone asks me where my home is, pat will come the reply - Singara Chennai! This expanse of land (and maybe a little water) has an inherent beauty and culture, which not only acts as a repellent to the sometimes adverse weather conditions but smuggles into your heart a special place which can be replaced by none!

So what is it that Chennai has that takes your breath away? Thinking back, I believe that it was the beach which started re-sculpting my opinion of Chennai. It was here, under the influence of cooling breezes, that I began appreciating my surroundings. Viewing the sunset, with the famous 'sundal' (which by their very mention have the effect of causing salivation!) warming me to realization of the scenic setting I was witnessing and the very comfortable noise levels of people chattering, children playing, joggers puffing and the waves restrained by the soft sand, established my first link with this beautiful place I call home.

They say your company determines who you are. In Chennai then, you are in the midst of friendly, warm, talented and cultured people! I warmed up to this fact in my school where unlike in Banglore, the class ate lunch together and not in small groups, where my friends unbashedly opened, offered (!) and ate their curd rice daily and where the interaction at every level was open, topic oriented and challenging! After picking this up in school, I began observing this trend; and to my surprise, I found that it applied outside the school walls as well - whether I went shopping where the shopkeeper would engage in small talk while drawing up a list, or my mother bargaining with the fruits vendor or when I accompanied my grandmom to the silk store where she enquired about the place the silk came from!! Where else in the world can you discuss openly with your neighbour - "Didn't you get that free calender they promised with every purchase?"!!

But what began as a love affair became much more serious (!) after I lived through the festivals in my first year here! Be it getting up early in the morning (at about 4am !!) to see 'mamis' singing bajans in groups during margazhi masam (the month of december), trying my hand at coming up with creative 'kolams' inspired by the extensive and colourful ones of my neighbours, going to a vendor in a locality a few kilometers away to purchase four plantain leaves (!!), or just wondering at the variety, activity and din at 5am at the local markets! These were certain aspects I never associated with festivals, but which are now an integral part of my life!

But don't conclude that 'utsavams', the amazing 'kutcheris' or the traditional dramas make Chennai a city of the past, becuase that is not true. Why, the food available itself is evidence enough! Be it the delicious South Indian Cuisine of dosas, idlis and the plantain meals or the hot Tandoori dishes of Northern India or Italian, Malaysian cuisines or even the fast food junctions famous in America, you can enjoy all of them in Chennai! Being a foodie myself, I believe that the way to a person's heart is the stomach. What more can I say than that Chennai is here in my heart!!

I could ramble on and on about shopping, places to hang out, theatres to go to and local parks (oh yes! there are a few), but that you can find in any local guide book too! What you wouldn't know perhaps is that a very beautiful place in Chennai is the IIT campus where you can enjoy the experience of waiting on the road for the deer to cross or that if you are lucky enough to witness rains in Chennai, you witness nothing short of a miracle, what with the enticing smell of the wet earth and the visual of the raindrops splashing against the parched ground!

All said and done (almost), I compell myself to conclude with a final word: (though there can't actually be any) Chennai is AWESOME!!

A complete voting experience!

A first time voter's views on the 2006 Assembly Elections - Tamil Nadu, India

Born in 1987, my first chance to vote came on 8th May, 2006. Living in the largest multi-party democracy in the world and existing in an age where everything is hyped up by the media, the run up to the elections, the actual voting process, the post analysis and finally the results naturally fascinated me.

Being a teenager whose fickle mind is susceptible to a variety of factors, many of them trivial at times, my decision was based on the following reasons. To begin with, I was influenced by a recent Hindi movie, Rang De Basanti, which potrayed the rise of today's youth in Indian politics. Moreover, the knowledge that this time, a group of IITians (students of the Indian Institute of Technology, perhaps the most reputed and sought after educational institution in India) would contest impressed upon me the importance of us, students, expressing our views. In addition to this, the views of my parents and grandmother (who have never missed voting in an election) and the mini political debates and discussions we had, made me realize that as a citizen it is my responsibility to participate in not only criticizing my government but also actually choosing it. It made me realize that my single vote counted, even in the midst of a few million others!!

Secondly, it was again the media; this time the small screen. I watched various analysts on several news channels scrutinize the performance of the government in power, follow leaders on their campaigns, talk to various candidates, discuss the manifesto of various parties and rope in the general views of various sections of the public. I learnt how to critically view the current government's actions against its promises five years ago, the accountability of the leader/party and the feasibility of actual execution of various promises!! Obviously, a factor that also weighed upon me was the extent to which I would personally be affected by the proposed agenda of the concerned party.

Thirdly, the realization that this time around the elections were no longer centered around 'personalities' but the actual public and the people, deeply affected me. The very fact that each party was vying to be the one to promise the most benefits proved this! It made me understand that we - the people - were important; no longer were past achievements of famous predecessors sufficient!

Lastly perhaps, it was the knowledge that after exercising my franchise, I had the right to remain silent and keep my vote a secret, which empowered me as a citizen of my country, that sealed my decision to vote!!

I must say though that I was perhaps part of the most organized elections ever held!! (These impressions I got from talking to various elders in and around my apartments). Personally, I was extremely satisfied with the voting process (held in a single phase throughout the state!! ) and even a little excited about being among the first to vote electronically in India!

About my actual voting decision, I must say that I was quite confused. I was undecided as to whether I should vote for the party of my choice (who I hoped would come to power ultimately) , or whether I should vote for the candidate of my choice in my constituency. I decided upon the former after much self debate - rather self consideration as to which move would benefit me more personally.

I thought the exciting part was over...But no! I must confess that it was on the counting day that I was most enthusiastic! I was on the edge of my seat, with my fingers constantly on the remote, toggling between various channels, eager to know who would form the next government! The fact that these elections were close, made this process all the more exciting and it was nearly an hour to the finish when finally the trends became decisive.

All in all, I must say that my first participation in an election was an exciting learning experience!

May, 2006