THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: How far will you go for a vote-- a few kilometres, a ten-minute drive? Meet Arya Sasidharan, who travelled for over 32 hours, all the way from Australia to Thiruvananthapuram to cast her vote in the local body election.
Arya, who made the trip with the sole aim of exercising her franchise on Tuesday early morning, will return to Australia next Monday to continue her Geology PhD studies at James Cook University in Queensland.
“Initially, I was a bit sad that I couldn’t be here for the elections, but when situations turned favourable, I took an impulsive decision two days before the election,” Arya, who is a voter from the Mudavanmugal ward of the Thiruvananthapuram corporation, said.
Flight charges were the only concern she had, but the moment her husband noted that the charges dropped for a brief time, there was nothing else to think about.
Multiple layovers, five airports and a tiring jet lag later, Arya landed in her hometown, much to the surprise of her parents. “I made up a story to convince my parents, and hence they were flabbergasted to see me upon opening the door,” Arya said.
“We may have our differences with political parties, but we should never let go of our biggest right in a democratic country for that cause. People say that the country is not developing enough, but how else will the country move forward if we refrain from voting too,” she asked.
Arya’s question remains valid in a society where at least some youngsters find ‘apolitical’ stands to be cool and who don’t mind leaving their native country for better living conditions.