Birth mark

Suddenly it is the most glamorous accessory in town. This week Mumbai8217;s beautiful folks filed into polling booths for that touch of indelible ink. Some emerged gleaming, holding out their left hands as proof of participation in the world8217;s largest democratic exercise. Others were fuming. Why, for instance, yelled Kajol, were the names of her family members excised from voting lists? It is a simple truth of citizenship: Casting one8217;s vote is as much an entitlement as it is a duty. If the financial capital8217;s leading residents are celebrating election day, you may well ask, what is the big deal?

Plenty, as it happens. Democracy is, in a sense, an inscrutable process. It demolishes certitudes of those in high office, it creates a space for contested visions, it interrogates those in power and those in Opposition. But it is extremely susceptible to cynicism. As India gets younger, as it reaps the benefits of economic reform, some threats have been discerned. For one, the rich and powerful could be seceding. Look at them, goes the lament, look at urban India8217;s successful, they have stopped engaging with the rest of India. There they are in their gated communities, with their back-up sources of power and water. They pull weight in the decision-making processes that impact the lives of so many others, but they have no notion of how the rest live. It is, at best, a stereotype. But it voices a legitimate concern. Election day is when an entire people keep faith by each other. In weighing the pros and cons of the candidatures on offer, in sorting out their responses to the issues raised during the campaign, voters inevitably attempt a reconciliation of the personal and the political. It is by its very nature a process that nurtures empathy. When industrialists and artistes vote, they pledge responsive cooperation.

Elections, however, involve such large numbers that the cry, what does one vote matter, assails everyone, especially young initiates. Role models of the youth are diverse. They include cricketers and actors. Their power to attract first-time voters to the EVMs 8212; and to scrutinise candidates and concerns 8212; can be invaluable. The participation of Mumbai8217;s image makers in Monday8217;s elections, then, was not just a pretty feature, it was a important episode in Elections 2004. And, yes, that ink mark does look stunning.