I wasn't expecting a queue when I set out to vote on the morning of 24th. But I carried the day's newspaper with me, just in case. To be sure, the center wasn't exactly overflowing with citizens eager to exercise their right. But there was a sizable crowd of 15-20 ahead of me. Just when I was about to unfold my newspaper, a lady returning after casting her vote informed me that there was a separate queue for ladies. Thank God for small mercies!

There were 3-4 ladies ahead of me in this queue as well. The one standing directly in front of me looked at the voter slip in my hand and said 'We didn't get these'. 'Oh, that usually tells you which booth you have to go to plus your voter number so that they don't have to hunt for your name in the list'. I said. 'Yeah, I know. I got the same from the guys sitting outside' she replied. But when her turn came she went in and returned without casting her vote. My heart skipped a bit. What now? 'What happened?' I asked her. 'Oh, I am supposed to go to the next booth' she said. Wasn't she told this outside? Who knows. I clutched at my voter ID card and hoped it would be enough to let me cast the vote.

When my turn came I handed over the slip to the lady. She noted the number and went directly to the entry in the voter list. I was surprised to find that there was no photo next to my name in the list. What? How can this happen? Hadn't I spent almost 2-3 hours one day last October to make sure that the list has my photo? Whatever happened to the photo I gave them? I almost expected the lady to tell me I cannot cast my vote because there is no photo in the list. But she asked me to move to the next guy in the chain. Glory be to God!

I didn't get to read the newspaper at all while I was there. I used it to fan myself because the narrow corridor of the school that was converted to voting center didn't have any fans!