Thursday 30 April 2009

Voting experience


One of my strong desires has been to get my name see in the voters list and be a 'jimmedar' shahari of the nation. Watching the election affairs from across the fence was like, what I thought, tasting the coffee from a table away from the coffee pot placed on another table.

But it appeared to me so cumbersome a process that, frankly speaking, I shuddered in taking a pro-active step in getting myself enrolled till I had a helping hand from senior journalist and politician Ratan Dixit in Allahabad to get the journalists in Allahabad to get their voter ID cards and get their names added to the voters list.

Gleefully, many a journalist including myself lined up to get ourselves photographed at the Public Relations Office, Allahabad, the thing specially arranged for us. Certainly a big smile was on our faces, for we were soon going to be proud owner of voters I Card which was to remind us for long in future of our duties of a 'jimmedar shahri' to the nation. I kept on waiting for the I-card. Months passed and so the years. I inquired about the same but the card never came.

Frankly admitting I was at fault too as I did not take a pro-active step in pursuing the authorities and obtaining the card. The reason being, which may be dubbed as a lame excuse as well, I had to move regularly to rural areas first for coverage of elections at the time of almost every election.

When I came to Bhopal the urge of being a jimmedar shahari in me once again called me upon to get my wife and my name enrolled as voters. One of my office colleagues and myself once even went to the collectorate too to inquire how to get forms and where to be submitted. We got forms from there also which were to be filled at the time of voters lists revision.

Not to let the chance go this time I took two forms from the government perosonnel who came in my colony for survey. My wife and I filled the forms and submitted it to the office concerned by the specified time. We were on the cloud nine when we received our voter ID Cards. Obviously, my joy and excitement had no bounds. But soon the taste of the sweetness turned sour. There were mistakes galore in the cards. I had become 'Rajat Kumar' in place of 'Ranjan Kumar'. Address was wrongly mentioned too.

Unflinching in my commitment in being the proud owner of the voter I-card I was ready to go extra miles. I obtained the forms for correction of mistakes, filled it up and submitted it. We received our new cards. I cannot explain in words how privileged we felt in standing in the queue for casting our votes at the time of assembly elections in November, 2008. After casting our votes we thought we performed our duties of responsible citizens after a long time. This gave a sense of relief and pride in us.

In the same mood we proceeded again to cast our 'valuable' votes in Lok Sabha elections this year. Exuding confidence I asked the political party workers to give our voters slips, at a party's voters assistance booth. After putting in some effort they succeeded in finding my wife's name along with her blurred photo. But much to my surprise, my name was missing, not to say of my photograph. I was at fault again that I relied too much on the government machinery and got relaxed. I should have checked the voters list to see if my name was still there.

Though I missed the opportunity of casting my vote I still have the sense of satisfaction that my card is there with me. At least my wife could cast her vote. For which party????? Why should I tell you?

Team work


I never had an iota of doubt that a team work can do wonders particularly in a crisis situation. My belief came true and the impact of teamwork was reflected in full measure when a crisis hit my colleague Manish Dixit. He hardly knew and so did we, all his colleagues, that his life was in peril when he was admitted to Parul Hospital in Bhopal in an ailing condition. Soon we found, much to our disbelief, that he was battling for his life.

It was Manish's frantic voice in a timely call to our colleague Sravani Sarkar who immediately got in touch with Dr Padmakar Tripathi seeking his urgent help. It was great of Dr Tripathi to give a ring to Manish and his choked voice on phone conveyed gravity of his condition to a seasoned doctor what Dr Tripathi is.

Instead of giving a tip or two or advising Manish to go to some nearby hospital, what many a doctor would like to do in such a sitution while being preoccupied with their business, Dr Tripathi rushed to his house and took him to the Hospital.

To make matters worse Manish's wife Reena Dixit who rushed to the hospital with her husband to take care of him, found herself afflicted by the same disease what Manish was affected by. She had to be admitted in the same ICU. That was not all. Manish's elder son Yash was also diagonsed to be suffering from similar disease who did not complain much about his sufferings seeing his parents in a bad shape. Rather, he chose to suffer in silence.

Much to our worry Manish condition did not show any sign of improvement. He had a lot of difficulty in breathing. The doctors advice was to shift him to any super speciality hospital in Delhi or Mumbai. Air ambulance was needed. But a seasoned doctor Dr NP Mishra advised against his being shifted to Delhi in such a critical condition. Shifting Manish to a local hospital was the only choice. He was then shifted to National Hospital.

Here came support from many. Besides the HT team members led by Resident Editor NK Singh our ex-bureau chief Abhilash Khandekar rushed to the hospital on knowing about his critical condition.There seemed to be help and prayers for Manish's life pouring in from various quarters.The bylines policy implementation seems to have gone haywire once again. Manish's wife and son looked comparatively better. That was a solace to us in the crisis situation.

With the hard work of doctors who include Dr NP Mishra, Dr Pankaj Agarwal, Dr PK Pandey, Dr Sanjay Tandon, Dr PK Agarwal and above all timely help from Dr Padmakar Tripathi Manish is smiling today and working among us. There are several others including Manish relations who did their best to see that the family did not feel alone in its struggle against odds.

What I intend to convey through this piece is the importance of team work. The team stood by the family like a rock arranging many things in time. Literally, everybody chipped in.

What I realise intensely and I get horrified over the thought that delay of merely a couple of hours at the initial stage would have been proved fatal for Manish as said the doctors. Of course, everything fell in place because the God was with us.

This crisis left many questions unanswered before me. Do we really extend such a helping hand to somebody who falls sick in our neighbourhood? Do we really behave like a team in the society when such a crisis hits anyone in our neighbourhood? What do happen to those from the weaker class who cannot arrange good amount of money in time and don't have access to private hospitals or seasoned doctors?