A recent attempt to capture the sun rise At Besant nagar Beach - A photo blog

I finally got a much needed break on this weekend. I decided to do something productive and not sleep through the day. So, I finally picked up my camera which has been laying in my cupboard untouched ever since I reached Chennai. I asked a cousin who shares my enthusiasm in photography and we decided to go for a photo shoot of the sunrise at the nearby beach. We had been planning for this liaison for quite some time. So, at 5 in the morning we rode all the way to Besant Nagar beach on our bikes, hearts filled with excitement. It was still dark when we reached. With in minutes the first ray of the Sun fell on us and then gradually the light started scattering all through the sky in an Orangish hue. But, the ball of fire was not where to be seen. Meanwhile we tried a few portraits of the people who frequented the place for their walks and jogs. We also witnessed a band in the making practice their songs and playing their guitars.
Here are a few snaps:

We decided to turn back as we did not get to witness what we came for, the sun rise. As we were about to leave the Sun which was playing hide and seek decided not to trouble us any more and finally started to reveal itself from behind the cloud. This is how it looked. Hold your breath. I never knew the colour orange could be so beautiful.

With in a span of two minutes we got to capture more than what we anticipated. The sun rise, the light hitting off the sea waters as reflection with an Orange hue is a treat for every photographer (amateur, in my case). Here are a few clicks which I thought was worth sharing:

We also had a chance to capture a few boats carrying fishermen ready to set sail to fetch their catch.

This surely is one of the cleanest beach I have been to. Also, early morning hours gave us the advantage to get a suitable place to stand and capture. Here are a few general pictures:

I was satisfied with the shots , though not completely, and rode back home to process the pictures and write this photo blog. . Why not completely you ask? Because, there is always a scope for improvement.

Women's day - another futile tradition

 A LONG STORY ALERT!!

One of my colleagues(a male co worker) at work sent me wishes for Women's day and it said , "Happy Women's Day." I could not come up with one good reason on why this Women's day would be "Happy."

This day makes the least sense in India espcially. There have been multiple  incidents happening that aches the woman in me. One reason that tops the chart would be the Nirbhaya Rape case which came back to highlight lately. India has banned the documentary shot by BBC as it claims that it hurts the sentiments of "India's daughter." As a person who has personally watched it, I felt it was far less melodramatic than those news channels which aired shows under the name of "Breaking news" back then when the incident took place. The documentary was thoroughly balanced and was not biased either towards the victim nor towards the accused. It portrayed the (in)human nature stupendously with out having to highlight or raise fingers at  who was wrong and who was right. 

"Good girls dont go out to movies, bars and pub in the evenings. This should be a lesson to them."

"The girl should'nt have faught back, she should have let the rape happen. We would not have harmed her this cruelly."

"I saw him put his hands inside her and pull out some thing long.It must have been her intenstines."

"House work and house keeping is for girls and not roaming around the roads at night."

 These were some of the most gruesome things said by the accused during the interview. 

What left me flummoxed was that he did not show any sign of remorse while uttering these words. I am baffled as I donot know under what category these (in)humans would get classified.Animals have known to exhibit empathy and pain when their own race was under threat.

What irked me more were the things the lawyers fighting for the accused said during the interview.

"If you keep sweets on the street, then dogs will come and eat them. It was the parent's fault to let their daughter go with some boy at that time."

"We have the best culture.  In our culture there is no place for women." I am sure this would be same guy who would spend hours of time praying to the Godess Durga also called Durga Ma. Is this what his mother taught him?How can he claim to be learnt and well educated when he did not even flinch while making such atrocious accusations?

Another genious goes on to say on national and international media that he would burn his daughter alive in front of his family if she would get into pre marital hocus pocus.I simply don't get the nerve of these (in)human beings. 

How are these lawyers different from the rapists? They share similar ideas inspite of claiming to be educated. 

All through the inteview, my eyes were darting to find one tiny drop of tear or sign of regret. I was then hit by an epipheny, I was expecting emotions from perpetrators and monstors. Watching the news roll reiteratively and the documentary made me a hot head and I, like the others wanted capital punishment to be declared for these megre living creatures. But,on talking to a friend I realized that these "men" were not the disease but just the symptoms. Giving them one shot death is not even a punishment and many such men would spring up in the society in no time with more wrath as one of the accused rightly pointed out in the movie. My friend came up with an idea which I now completely concur. He said and I quote, I think their body parts should be auctioned while they are alive and should be donated to those in need of transplants and the money raised could be a part of "Nirbhaya fund."This would be an honor to those girls and women who died suffering. I plead the government to come up with a campaign named "Best out of waste" and use this technique to punish the monstors.

The story does not end here, being an unbiased femisnist, I fight for equal rights for men and women. Hence how can I not talk about women who cause the downfall of women. These women are not horridious criminals but are the simple house hold ones who have not evolved in thoughts. They need no weapons or ammunitions to create imbalance. Their tongues wagging is enough. I have personally witnessed/ heard incidents where women in the form of mothers/daughters/wives/mothers -in-law played chief roles in bringing their own down fall. How many incidents have we not seen or heard of about female feoticide? A new bride is given rules by the both her families and is asked to comply and adjust so that she can keep every one happy but not herself. Girls in India are brought up with the mind set of being sent to some else's home after marriage.We are brought up saying that we need some one round the clock for our support and protection!! So if that is the case, why are women made to adjust to everything when she goes to her in laws or at her own house while they were promised to be taken care of. Is this not hyporcrisy? The other day, I was jesting at my dinner table at my cousin's place about how my mom (back at Bangalore) took care of my guy cousins by doing a few things which she did neither to my brother or me. The instant reply I got(by another woman) was, "You are to go to another house, so you should not expect such gestures." This might seem to be a very simple thing which you may think that I am blowing out of proportion,but, it spinned my whole day off. I did not want to raise a quarrel as she was an elderly woman, but I did mention that these differences are the s seeds sown for the downfall of Women. Women take the age to their advantage and speak what ever comes to their mind to take control.  

Stigma and position in the soceity are the two main villians to a human life. Why are we creating these differences? Men and women are inter dependent, so how can one claim they are superior over the other?When we cannot change the mentality of our fellow women at home how can we go on to change the other women and men in this mammoth of a soceity? 

Will this soceity ever let go of the traditions which are passe' and change with time?

Will men and women understand that they are all peas of the same pod called soceity and nobody is above another?

Now tell me, will this still be a "Happy Women's day?"

My song of Fire and Ice

Let me start with Winterfell, a huge Castle at the centre up North
Seasons here change but winters roll back and forth.

The rulers here belong to the House of Stark
Whose rule was relatively just and hence was a bench mark.

The Lady is Catelyn and the Lord is Ned
Oh, how much I loved these characters but they ended up dead.

Rob gets killed, Sansa is clueless and  Arya is spunky
If Bran starts to fly as the three eyed Raven predicted, he would definitely be a hunky

It is now Jon Snow who has to do everything
But, Yegritte feels he knows nothing.

At the King's Landing we have Queen Cersi who is full of wrath
Her brother (ahem) Jamie  gets rid of every one who dare crosses their path.

The youngest most talented among them is Tyrion the Imp
Who is in a fix currently because of  Peter Beilish the Pimp. (excuse the expression)

Tyrion is smart, witty and demands every trial by combat
His strategies are stupendous making the enemies eat their hat.

Daenerys the Khaleesi is the mother of  dragons
Qarth, Yunkai, Astapor and Meeren are now in her wagon

Ramsay has turned Theon to Reek
His chances of revival seems quite bleak

Stannis is heavily influenced by Mellisandrae  and Lord of Light
His son is a shadow who makes  Sir Davos cower in fright.

Weddings are royal but it makes the audience dread
As it is in them the main characters always end up dead.

There is immense violence and the characters are intense and strong
Every character has a grey shade and nothing is right or wrong.

Arya is on her way to Bravos thanks to "Valar Morghulis"
She will turn into some one fine so do not give this season a miss.

Jon heads The Wall, Margerey becomes the Queen, Sir Jorah and Tyrion's life will be in peril
These are some of the teasers for the next season coming out this April.

                                                                   An honest attempt by an ardent GOT fan

A few lines from my heart

Terror strikes and ambush seems to hover
Peace looks like has gone under cover
Death and blood fill the streets vastly
Painting an image utterly ghastly
Humanity has become a euphemism
Owing to the acts of terrorism

No protoplasm is spared
Hope and faith are despaired
How can one look deep into the eyes of innocence and yet have the heart to open fire
Will they ever feel the wrath and devastating pain the kith and kin felt while lighting the pyre?

Pen is mightier than a sword they preached
The Paris attack has fortified this eventually letting their satire and humor get leached

Blasphemous acts and killing in the name of religion
Followed by cajoling the aftermath by pretentious feats, promising peace and releasing a pigeon
We fail to understand the true essence of RELIGION as we claim its archaic and weary
Then on what grounds do we argue and justify our understandings, is my query?

Oh! How many such horrifying incidents do I quote?
It is as vast as an ocean and deep enough to drown a large boat

Will we ever get to live in a peaceful state ?
Wiping out terror and hatred and start over as a clean slate
Do we have enough valor in us to even make an honest attempt
To come up with a solution and strive en masse sans any contempt
                                                                                                   
                                                                                                    Sandhya Shekar

From here and there and a Chennai trip with mixed feelings....

hmm its been quite some isn't it?? Months I am sure.. So guys, its a long story alert. Ill try to keep it interesting.I was all over the place packing up as I was shifting back to my roots, (ahem ahem) Hyderabad (refer to my previous blog to get a clarity on my ethnicity) I finally got hired at India Vision Institute for the position of a Project Manager. I was filled with mixed feelings surprisingly. It hit as an epiphany that I actually had fallen completely and irrevocably in love with Bangalore. The city, the roads(I truly miss the civic sense of driving), parents, uncles,aunts and the fun of staying with three brothers. But then I had a journey ahead that I was destined which I am hoping would unfold and nurture my passion. Waving my byes to the family I marched towards "our" very own Kachiguda express, which I have boarded for years now that we might as well own some of their stakes. 4 am... I reached Hyderabad all covered in a jacket. I got down drenched in my own sweat!! Ouch Hyderabad was hotter than I expected !! At least at 4 am in October.  I knew I had to endure another extended summer. The 1st set of words I uttered were " Oh My God, its fucking hot!" That was my 1 and a half year old Bangalorean side kicking in. Checking into Hotel Mahavir stirred up a lot of childhood memories. My very first Hyderabad trip, we stayed at the same hotel. We were all over the place, running around in the corridors, playing the "lift game" and getting stuck in the elevator,yelling out to the people at the top of my voice, scaring mom and dad,meeting with an accident on the roads of Charminar and lot more. It was like returning to the scene of crime after 17 years. After a brief breakfast I reached my work place.. And there it was, beyond all my imaginations. A red bricked, elite bunglow. It was a "House" that was remodeled into an office setting. I walk in and there are hardly people. It felt different as it was going to be a very unique experience and totally unlike what I actually had in mind. I spent two days doing absolutely nothing.. trust me it felt like 4 days of simply sitting in a place. I started doubting my decisions on taking up this job.I had this instinct to run away from the place because of the boredom. The consolations were indoor work and youngsters which were the only things I missed in my former job. But, then my inkling and my gut asked me to hold on and take a deep breath. Then came the proposal of travelling to Chennai to meet the BOSS and get tuned. That kind of cheered me up. I have a bunch of cousins and grandparents who live in Chennai. It always was fun to visit Chennai even if it was for a day. The city is always welcoming. Dragging my suitcase I boarded another familiar train "The chennai express." This welcomed a lot of mocking at office. All of them spoke only about Deepika Padukone and SRK and my mind voice was just asking me to calm down. I generally pick a book during travel and this time I was torn between few good books. Out of the blue, I some how wanted to read "the half girlfriend." But the back cover blurb was not very enthralling and sounded like a 2nd grade Bollywood movie. I was somehow allured to Devdutt Pattanaik's works after reading "Sita" and wanted to explore his other books. On not finding any of his books I then asked for crime novels which were my forte and suddenly my hands ran into this book called "Am I a Hindu?" It did sound interesting and so did its back cover blurb. This book was the only thing that kept me awake through out the most boring journey I was about to encounter. It was a well maintained 2 AC bogie and was as neat as a pin. That totally blew me away and I got myself very comfortable tucked under the blanket with this amazing book in hand. It kept me quite occupied for about half hour when this loud mouthed - big ass white dress guy (politician) sat next to me. He was t(y)elling his colleagues about his sudden change of plans over the phone which made me wonder why he had a phone in the first place. He was so damn loud. After a couple of phone calls and a bit of showing off he was pulled out of my bogie and was asked to go back to his original seat in another compartment by the very able TTE. We co passengers breathed a sigh of relief. On reaching Chennai, I was duped into paying 500 bucks to reach my office. Cursing my self and my dwindling abilities and enthusiasm to bargain I got down and faced a beautiful multi -storied building facing the serene and a clean Tiruvanmayur beach.It felt so royal. It was an office cum guest house on the top. It sounds poetic, I get it.. but with a  great beach scenery comes great humidity (ok, grammar nazis, the sentence is reframed for puns)I had hot and humid air blowing across my face and hair constantly. I had to shower multiple times through out the day to stay alive.(I am not being hyperbolic here)Changing 3 different climates in a week completely drained up all my energies. After meeting the BOSS and getting acclimatized with my work I got a hang of what my role was. I was glad that I had something to do once I came back to Hyderabad. Meanwhile I made plans to watch the "conjuring" sequel ANNABELLE with Chan (my cousin). It was a perfect co incidence as we had watched Conjuring together. It was like MEANT TO BE!! Atleast that's what we called it :P All through the movie, there was one thought constantly bothering me, "Who the hell buys such an ugly and a ghastly looking doll and make a set out of it??" On the other hand, its fun watching horror movies in halls, more an irony I must say as all of us ended up laughing our hearts out for every scary scene. After the movie we planned to crash at Chan's house. Who would actually sleep when the 3 most garrulous cousins get together..We spent the whole night chatting away to glory.Starting off with movies then moving on politics and finally the love life.. I was given dating tips for about an hour... I was strictly asked to pretend to like girly conversations and take interest in gooy stuff!! Man that sounds like a lot of work!! I finally realized why I repelled guys.. Well, like Ted says, nothing good comes after 2 am. We finally hit the sack at 4:30 am. This was the one and only interesting incident in my whole Chennai trip.Life has taken so many turns and I realized that I have lost my mojo.This was the major learning from the entire trip. I finally decided that I should get back to my long last hobbies and keep myself busy and bring some spark into my life.. Well, those plans are kick starting from tomorrow..With this I officially end this relatively boring, lengthy and not very happening post here assuring that my next post which is definitely in the offing would be interesting as LIFE IN LIMBO has ended and I have begun a new life with new hopes and courage to face new challenges to bring back spark in my life..
WISH ME LUCK.......... :)

Growing up the Tam Brahm way...

Every child grows up in a pattern which remains common among that generation, for instance the 90s kids. Growing up in a Tam Brahm house also has a pattern and am sure every other Tam Brahm will empathize, sympathize and laugh out loud in agreement.
There are typical Tambrahm instances  for every phase of an individual's life, be it your mother scaring you with "Puchandi mama's name" if you were making a fuss while eating or paatu, dance class etc during your childhood days. Right from childhood kids are put in paatu/dance class(carnatic music class) which is more a mandatory chore for a girl and if it is a boy, then he gets to learn to play an instrument if not interested in vocals. I had the chance of learning carnatic music some 5 different times. As we were on transfers during my childhood, all my teachers insisted that I learn from sarali swaras all the time and this pissed me off. Evalavu tharavu than Sa Re Ga Ma ve padarthu(my mind voice).
Mornings used to begin with MS Subrabatham ,Vishnu Sahasranamam and other songs. There used to be a sigh of relief when we hear Vanamali Gadishangi in Vishnu sahasranamam for 2 different reasons.One,the sloka was coming to an end and two, neiveidyam(prasad) was in nearsight. As kids we attended a lot of weddings and functions at friends' and relative's place as we had loads of kids to play with.Cousins, friends and their friends and we never concentrated on the existing mamis and mamas. Little did we know that they would attend all the family functions when we grow up and ask us, Enna nyabagam irruko??(do you remember me??)It is that awkward moment when you fumble and say "o, neenga andha onnu utta periamma thaane" or some made up relation which is better than confessing that you dint know them.Trust me, this works. I have tried it. The word "onnu utta " always makes me giggle... hhaha.. Another Tam brahm trait is to be excellent at academics which includes science and maths majorly. 10th,11th and 12th stds are night mares for every kid and its even worse in Tam Brahm houses. Every relative who always forgets to wish you on  your birthday never forgets to call up on your result day to find out whether pullaiandar(kid) scored "centum"(100%) in maths or not.
Summer vacation was super fun. Travelling to paati and tatha's house(grand parent's house) where the entire batalion of cousins were present, grandma telling us stories while feeding us vetha kozhambu sadam, rasam sadam with appalam and vadam, playing all through the day and sleeping like hibernating animals till late in the morning was the best part of the year.Menu for the travel always involved puliyansadam/chapathi, tayir sadam(Curd rice) and urlakazhangu curry.(potato curry). Unlike a typical Tam Brahm I was not a perennial tayir saadam eater as I did not like the taste. I ate only during summers to combat the effects of hot sun and it was only then amma made avakai pickle and other mango pickles.

Adolescent and youth phases are the most rebelistic phases. This is when you try to be all cool and oppose to all the practices and customs and get to listen to all the "typical Tambrahm dialogues and curses.Paatis and mothers always come up with the best lines.Try playing MTV during mornings.You will hear this same dialogue in the same tone in every tambrahm house."Kalangarthala anda MTV la aadra paatu thevaya, Podigai vai , perumal kumbhabishekam Kaamikara."( Are those obscene songs playing on MTV necessary early in the morning?? Play Podigai, they are broadcasting some deity's kumbhabishekam.)Girls leaving their hair open just gets on to the elder's nerve. Anda thalaya endi ippidi virundu irrukai.. poi edavudu clip a podavendi thane. I am so sick of listening to this dialogue all through my teens. Now, I have made them got used to it. Tumbler a yechhal pannama kudikardu had become a herculean task. Imagine drinking hot filter kaapi with out yecchal pannifying. Water was ok, but coffee and other drinks are really difficult.Girls getting up late in the morning were always rebuked followed by "ni kalyanum anapprom romba kashta pada porai paathukooo."
When a girl's cooking venture goes hay wire her amma says."Na ponna poranda madri irrukku!!"
Coming to the girl quirks during nombu:
1. Amma, can I please take this manja kayyar off my neck. my friends are making fun of it. Amma's reply,"illa, minimum 3 nalavudu kaatikanom." seri atleast can I wear it around my wrist?? Amma: no!!
2. Atleast innikavudu potta ozhunga vechiko di.. (Why dont you wear a big bindi today atleast.)
3. Kazhuda vayasu achu innum podava katta teriyada??( you are donkey years old and still cannot drape a saree) and many more...

Guy quirks:
1. Guys when compared to girls are not put through or bound by many customs. But, one main task is doing Gayatri Japam. This is the only time of the year they are made to wake up early in the morning, take bath and chant Gayatri mantra 1008 times.And every house hold tatha says,"daily ozhunga sandhya vandanam pannariyo illiyo, innikavudu ozhunga pannu da."
I have seen my brother do this in 3 different stages.
the 1st 300 times - the saint way
the next 300- God Speed
the last 400- Harlem shake.
2. reciting abhivadaye with out shuffling gotrams with sutrams becomes a task.
3. reciting mantrams during one's weddings. I witnessed a cousin who accidently  "kottified" vadhiyar's temples when he was supposed to "kottify" his own temples. That awkward face palm moment for that maplai!!

Attending weddings becomes a scary affair for Gen Y especially the girls as every  mami comes around and drops that bomb to the girl's parents .Those 3 horrified words,"ponnuku jaadagam eduthacha??" or coming upto you and saying, "aduthadu nee thanee??" I get really irked at this comment. I dont go and ask the same paati "aduthadu ni thaane" in a funeral. Another important aspect in a wedding, more supreme than the ritual  is" Kaapi nariya irrukono??"

Now coming to the instances common to both the genders:
1. Starting a day with reading Hindu paper as others are considered kandraavi.
2.stealing semi dried "jevvarisi vadam" from terrace in amma's absence.
3. Discussing the extents of quirks with other tam brahm friends saying, unga aathula yavudu parava illa, enga aathlaaa....
4. you are frowned upon , if you cannot identify atleast 4 songs along with ragams and atleast 5-6 musicians in the Tyagaraja aradhana telecasted  on Podigai every year.
5. Checking out guys/girls during common friend's wedding or temples and hoping they dont belong to the same gothram.

Things your elders do that makes your palms meet your face:
1. Making you collect paal (milk) covers which is washed thoroughly and making them stick on the kitchen wall above the sink.
2. Your paati denying to get rid of an old odanjupona (broken) saaman and quoting,"Vechirru, eppovavudu use agum."( dont discard it, it might come of use some day.)
3.Keeping petti(suitcase) outside the house before raahu kalam starts.
4. Recycling blouse piece during navaratri and varalakshmi poojai.
5. Hearing to them constantly abusing pizza.. Enna kandravi Pissa vo..
6. Making every girl learn atleast "Sri Chakra Radha" and "Bhagyada Lakshmi baramma" as they claimit comes handy for every occasion.
7. Relatives wishing each other after every wedding,"Mapla vandacha... Naatu ponnu vandachaa."
8. All the paatis and mamis striving hard in making Raamar Kovil a Rumor Kovil.
9. amma constantly yelling at you to tilt your tumbler and wash your hands with that drop of water before touching non -pathu items on the table while eating
10.Making you pay exam fees before rahu kaalm starts or crib on why they have reopened school or college on Tuesdays.
11. Grandparents rooting for Ravi Chandran Ashwin and Vishy Anand specifically after Krishnamachari Srikkanth and Sadagopan Ramesh..

AAh, the list is endless. On a little serious note, one can notice that in spite of all these customs and rituals we have our own fun in our own ways and although we( I mean the Gen Y) keep cribbing about these customs, we cannot live with out them either, atleast in some way or the other. For instance, I am so used to pathu and yechhal that I myself frown  upon people and complain to my mom saying , amma, ava aathula yechhal pathu lam pakamata polarku." It runs deep in our blood and is carried forward  to the next generation by every chromosome.
So next time you meet a Tam brahm you will definitely have a lot of jests to hear about.
Also remember, 108 is a magical number and thayir saadam is the secret of our energy.
Abhistoo is the favourite cuss word among the elders, although the Gen Y has many more to add.(would be unparliamentary to mention them here)

P.S. This particular blog is written in a lighter sense and not to hurt any body's sentiment( I mean the periyavaa)I am as proud to be a Tam Brahm as you are..
I could not stop myself from uploading this pic...

My first Vote..

Although I am 26, I never had an opportunity to vote as I was shuttling between Hyderabad, Goa and Bangalore for education and job and did not reside at one place which made it difficult to apply for an ID. After shifting to Bangalore I now finally got my ID made. There was a sudden rush of excitement as the election dates were approaching. Besides the excitement I also faced confusion as to whom to cast my vote for. There was a problem of plenty. Every Tom,"DICK"(pun intended) and Harry had his/her own party. All of a sudden every minister tried  pulling a Vivekananda or a Martin Luther King in their campaigns.I put myself through great stress by listening to some of them so that it would ease my decision.All I saw was mockery of the entire system and one another's party.It made no sense even remotely to make a decision based on this.According to me no party deserved even a bleak chance based on their campaigns.Coming to the advertisement campaigns of these parties. Advertisements on "Ab ki bar Modi sarkar" and "Congress ke karyakartha" and the viral jokes on them on the internet only made it worse. Rahul Gandhi's women empowerment and other blah blah being shown in video format only made me reach for a glass of water.Being new to this state I barely knew about the local candidates and their deeds. All I knew were a couple of candidates as they were "famous" and were, not because of their good deeds. I then googled about how much each of them actually executed from their proclamations, weighed my options and finally arrived at a decision.The decision I made  was merely a compromise as none seemed like a perfect PM candidate to me. So at that particular moment I had to pick the less worse from the bag of horrible.So after a lot of political mumbo jumbo I narrowed down to three options one being "None of the above." some how "None of the above" was ringing loudly in my mind. So I decided Ill let my gut guide me at that moment.I hit the bed with no thoughts in my mind. The next day we decided to hit the booth a little early to avoid the rush.I marched towards the booth with great excitement. I was expecting to see a lengthy line of people holding out their IDs and cursing the long line,wiping their sweat out because of the scorching heat or  rubbing their stomachs because of hunger pangs.But, there was none. There were hardly 4 people.There was this archaic building resting on its final pillar. I sometimes wonder how the government officials manage to find the most archaic building for their jobs.Inside the building were the government officials seated in 2 rows and were pondering over the papers placed in front of them. It still aches to see that the government folks don't master at their work in spite of their reiterative training.Every detail these days are available on our phones as apps and so were our electoral details as a message. As usual they were unaware of the features of these new advancements and did not even bother to learn in spite of us explaining to them. Then, finally a guy came along and made them understand about the new advancements. We were then directed towards the booth to cast our votes. To my surprise there were 5 more independent parties added to my list to elevate my confusion levels in that limited time. I had to act fast.I finally narrowed down to one final decision and pressed the button for the party of my interest. I then went to another department to get my finger inked. We finally came out and did what?? Selfie ofcourse!!...It really was a tough decision and I was not happy the way it opened up. I sincerely feel the local politicians should do a lot of home work to promote their parties and save people from this sort of confusion.It was sad to note that Bangalore this year had a very low turn up of voters. People  here, especially the youth  raised their voices and drew throngs for causes like the Nirbhaya rape case, LGBT rights and for some petty, megre crap like valentine's day celebrations or keeping the bars open till 1 am but just shunned themselves when they had to execute a right. It is because of them we need to endure some idiot whom I fear  might rule us for the next five years.I hope there is some solution to all this. Better systems, better facilities or setting the date that does not coincide with a long weekend etc etc. can make this experience a wonderful and a worthy one.

                                                                                                                   sincerely
                                                                                            a very unsatisfied voter.