I learnt a lesson in our democracy.

I learnt a lesson in our democracy.
In our resurrection of a new Kerala after the deluge, we should give more importance to our real leaders in th village and local bodies who are intimately connected the neighbourhood.
A true story.
Ramcharan is one of the 2.5 million unskilled/semi-skilled workers from east and north east states now in Kerala making it their temporary homes and quite satisfied with their conditions, wages and acceptance in the society. Ramcharan is
from a remote Bihar village, illiterate, but knowledgeable in simple arithmetic, can handle elementary mobile apps well, pucca religious, thrifty and supports his family of wife, mother and three children in his village from what he earns here, now around 20000 a month. He has many dreams on his school going children whom he meets only during his annual vacation trips during Diwali. He has accepted me as a close friend because I can speak his colloquial Hindi well and he knows I am some sort of celebrity. He is aware that in India there are two classes, ruling and ruled and it is a rare experience for him to find a person from the ruling class, he has slotted me there, to be on chummy equal terms with a person from the ruled class. Unheard of !
It was 2014. Parliament election time. I asked him.
Ramcharan, are you not going home for chunav?
Kaun sa chunav, babuji?
Lok sabha chunav? The election to select our Prime Minister?
Pradhan Manthriji? Dilli ke? Usmem hamara kya hai? Voh tho dilli ki Gandhi madam aur Laluji karenge. What have I got to do?
I was stunned. The truth! Almost shot point blank on my great democratic concept! Somehow I got my equilibrium back in a few seconds.
I asked.
So you don’t vote. Ramcharan, it is not correct.
No no. Babuji, no. no. I go and vote. In the panchayath election. Look babuji, my family is there. I am here. They should have proper help and protection. My ward member should be a good man.
This was an eye opener for me. For the vast majority of Indian voters, whom we don’t care much in the high profile blaw-blaw of authoritarian political party set up mostly controlled by the dynastic or religious attractive vote-catching
machinery, the election is a process in which he has practically no role.

Amma, three minutes please

                 
             My grand niece, a techie brilliant girl, a mother of  two, a girl and a boy, working in a sufficiently high position in a global firm in Dubai, but purely malayalee, rang me up. 
              Valiammava, I am resigning my job. 
              Why, what happened? Fed up or quarrelled with my nephew or your office boss? 
              No no, it is your great grand niece, Shilpa, my one and only daughter  and your close friend. By the way,did she talk to you recently? 
              I lied.
              No.
              Shilpa is eleven. Unpredictable and intelligent. She 
often calls me for giving advices and my nephew, her father is certain that we are of the same age. When he mentioned this to Shilpa once (it was two years back) in my presence, she told him. This bookman grand uncle is 80 only and since 0 has no value, he is 8 and hence I am elder to him. 
              Now my grand niece said: 
              Yesterday Shilpa came to me with a sheet of paper, a print-out she had prepared. It was a contract and she asked me to sign. It was a simple one line contract.
              She now read it to me.
              I hereby agree to give nine minutes of my time every day to my daughter, Shilpa, three minutes each, three times a day, first in the morning before I go to school. three minutes when I return in the afternoon and three minutes before sleep. These nine minutes are for my daughter and I will hear her.  I promise that I will  not use even a second of it for giving advice or lecture to her or comparing her with others. 
              See, last night I couldn't sleep. I was really upset. I think she is correct. I, in all my parental wisdom, was seeing her only through my love and not through her eyes. I was engineering her behavior without knowing what she wanted. 
To day morning, I started with the first three minutes and heard her. You know, her eyes lighted with an inner joy when I listened to her. I had never experienced nor even thought that such a beautiful heaven was with me and waiting for me to open the door. 
            I didn't reply or give any advice, but just told her that she can try for a job which allowed her to be at home when her daughter returns from school.  
                                 --------------------