Vote for ...

... anything! Guess that’s the trend these days. And these are not the regular votes to elect your MLAs / MPs. There are several ways to exercise your voting rights, these days!

There are several talent shows running on TV, where the results are determined by votes from the general public. Invariably, the shows and the results of these shows are controversial! Remember the incidence where a popular couple vying for the top spot in a dancing competition distributed a few SIM cards to friends to vote for them? Remember how a ‘fame-ous’ singing couple won a competition, though it was clear that the guy didn’t sing one song with all the right notes in the entire competition? Needless to say, these singers / dancers are no longer seen displaying their “talent”!

Next is the opinion poll. Every news channel, every newspaper is now running daily polls for viewers / readers to “voice their opinions”. Let me give you an example from yesterday’s Times of India. The question was “Improvement in civic infrastructure should be our policy maker’s first priority”! The results were even better: 95% said “Yes”; 4% said “No”; and my favorite 1% said “Can’t say”! Wonder what they can't say.

The latest trend is to go global! A for-profit organization has started a global voting for the Seven Wonders of the World. Voters from across the globe can vote for their favorite “wonder” of the world. There were initially 21 entries, but following a protest from Egypt, the pyramids of Giza were given honorary membership! So, now there are 20 finalists to choose from. From India, we have Taj Mahal contesting for this honor. Every public media is urging people of India to vote for Taj Mahal. Now, I am thinking what will happen if Taj doesn’t make it to the top seven. Will it cease to be the ultimate token of eternal love? Will it lose any of the thousands of visitors who come there every day? I don’t think anything will change for these wonderful architectural / engineering feats irrespective of whether they ultimately make it to the top seven. But what is sure to happen is the organization promoting this contest will be making a lot of money from all the voting. In the FAQ section of their website, they have clearly mentioned that they get a share of money from every SMS that voters send, besides the money they make from selling certificates and other souvenirs.

There are better ways of finding talent in our country – let qualified people do the judging. Remember, talents like Sunidhi Chauhan, Kunal Ganjawala and Shreya Ghosal were all found through judges voting. There are better ways of voicing your opinion – write a letter to the editor, e-mail the news channel, write a blog post. There are better ways to honor wonders of our world. There is a huge UNESCO list of heritage sites of the world. Find one of those sites near you or one that you believe in, and do something (however small it may be) worthwhile for it. I mean, find your own way of contributing. But please think before you do anything.