My name is Vaibhav. I am 12 years old. I live in Mumbai. My best friends are Rajiv, Sai and Zubin. We all live in the same building and enjoy playing tennis ball cricket a lot.
It’s hot this summer. Mommy keeps making lemonade. Aam Panna For us. I love summer holidays. Usually we spend them at my grandparents’ house too. But this year everything has been different. My friends keep talking about how Mumbai Indians played badly in the IPL and how next year they might support KKR. I am confused who to support next. I am confused too. I am very scared.
(Thanks to Uncle Derek for the opportunity to not write a column this week and instead write this story.)
When Rajiv, Sai and Zubin talk about IPL, I stay quiet. This year, there is another topic everyone is talking about in our house – voting for 2024. All the adults are busy with this for the last three months. My friends don’t know much about it. They don’t really care. But I do. A lot.
I hear loud voices all around me. I turn on the TV and see angry people yelling at each other. I want this “Vote 2024” thing to end. I want all the flags to be taken down. I want the speeches to stop. Then maybe there will be cartoons and songs on all the channels. We won’t have to make loud noises and fights.
I hated the past three months. My mom told me not to worry, everything will be fine. She is always right and she loves me very much. But I can’t wait for the 2024 polls to go. Look, this time, my dad is going to vote. One day, my dad sat next to me and explained to me that he is a “candidate”. That means he is going to ask people to vote for him and his party. At first, I thought that was a good thing. He explained that if he won the polls, he would have a chance to do a lot of good things for the people, like fixing roads, fixing schools, making sure everyone has clean water. All of those are good things, right? Nana (my grandfather, now 71) has fought many elections and called for people to vote. And he says he works “for the people”.
I should have been happy, but I wasn’t. The day my friend Zubin told me that Papa and Nana were at each other’s throats, I was so shocked! They are the “candidates” of two different parties in the same region. They are asking the same people for votes for the same seat. It’s like they are the captains of two different rival teams. But while we kids fight and make up when we play, in the 2024 polls, no one is nice. All they want is to win, win, win. They don’t care how much you piss people off. They don’t care if you fight. They don’t care if you get hurt, even roads, schools, water. They don’t care. For me.
All this scared me. I told Mama that we were going to Nana-Nani’s house. With Nana’s loud laughter and Nani’s warm embrace, I would be okay. As I said this, Mama’s face crumpled up. Like when I crumple a piece of paper and open it? That’s what her face looked like. Lots of wrinkles. She just shook her head and pulled me towards her. Usually I don’t like long hugs. But this time I hugged her back tightly.
The next day, my mother bought me a book. It is about a great Indian man named Babasaheb Ambedkar. He drafted the Indian Constitution along with many others. I am reading the book now. It says that India is a democracy. Yes, my principal also said the same thing in the annual general meeting last year. I remember him saying, “India is a democracy and our home is the nation.”
Well, my home is the country.
(Derek O’Brien MP leads the Trinamool Congress in the Rajya Sabha)
Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author.
