Indian Voting Experience

The day finally dawned. The fifth phase of the Indian Lok Sabha Elections 2014, special for multiple reasons.

Firstly, probably never before has the country ever been this politically active since independence. Everybody is eager to exercise their Franchise. Everybody believes that they can make a difference and hope for a better country.
By the trending and popular choice, it seems that BJP is out to form the government and Narendra Modi to be the next Prime Minister of India.

Secondly, it happens to be the first time I shall be voting. It's probably hard to describe and might seem exaggerated but the feeling of casting a vote is something else.
But what gave me true happiness was to see the number of people who have turned out to vote this time. The sheer number just speaks volumes of how people are taking an active interest in deciding their leaders. It's happiness to see that people no longer posses the air of ignorance that one used to exist towards voting.
Its thought provoking to see what actually triggered this uproar of people suddenly becoming so active.
Four reasons come to my mind.
A. The power of Education.
B. The White Knights Rises.
C. Tired and fed up citizens.
D. The wow factor.

A. The Power of Education.

This is probably one of the spear heads in creating socially and politically aware and responsible citizens. Ever since I have studied about Universal Adult Franchise and political science as part of curriculum, voting has always been something that students look forward too. This clearly translates into these students becoming citizens who are aware and believe that they have the power, and this flows into my next point.

B. The White Knights Rises.
(Disclaimer : Title used just for fun and not debate about whether the below mentioned people are really white knights or not)

The recent times have seen people without initial political agenda enter into politics to "Clean" the system and make India a better country. The special impact this has had is that it's broken the monotonous trend in politics. People do not view these candidates as another contender but as a game changer, they do not think of them as a person in the race by profession but by choice, i.e he is there because he wants to bring about a change in the system. They seem him as different, a saviour or messiah, one to solve their problems.
The examples of them have been many, but some impactful people have been Arvind Kejriwal, Nandan Nilekani and many more.
And maybe people are right in placing their hopes on these people as by popular choice we have seen these people making issue based campaigns or showing ways to circumvent policy paralysis.
No surprise at all if Nandan Nilekani upsets Incumbent MP Ananth Kumar.

C.  Tired and Fed Up Citizens.

Clearly this is known to everyone. People are fed up, they no longer are keeping quiet about them being denied rights they were initially promised. And this mixed with thought provoking leaders and educated citizens we now have a voter pool who is not as prone to the false promises of the candidates.

D. The WOW factor.

Lastly, the wow factor that exists among the youth. They find it cool to vote and exercise their rights. Probably this is the section which is becoming more aware and some do take an active interest to research on the candidates.

So finally, this has been probably the only time when standing in line and in the sun has not been a pain but moreover a source of happiness.

My vote has been cast. All the best BJP, All the best Narendra Modi.