Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs

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Yesterday 7^th may 2024 was the third phase of General elections 2024 of India. I was looking forward to it for quite some time. The electoral process had started from march end itself and the process will go on till 4 June 2024. A very long drawn, a very elaborate, and at the same time a tedious and tiring process for all. Nevertheless, a very important process for India, and by that token, for the world, because it is the biggest polling exrcise evver undertaken in the history of mankind.

Under normal circumstances, polls should take place unnoticeably and be done with it. But that is hardly the case. It is a very loud, noisy, ugly process lasting nearly three months or so. Normal people, who do not apply their mind and are easily swayed by media, may be having a tough time whenever they read newspapers or switch on the TV. I, who consider myself as someone who applied my mind instead of blindly believing what I read or listen from others, have managed to keep by and large aloof from all this madness. I am eagerly waiting for all the seven phases of polling to get over and the results announced on 4 June 2024, so that we can all go back to our normal routines for the next five years.

I did not notice much poll related activities in Bhopal. That was because I do not watch TV, and secondly we do not get any newspapers. So the little I came to know about these activities was shrill campaigning on TV channels whenever my wife would open TV. On checking out news on my mobile, I was given to understand that voters are rather indifferent and voting percentages are down vis a vis 2019 elections. It was pointed out that a few parties do not have party workers to carry out election related activities. Other parties with resources have got complacent or disheartened, as the case may be, we were told. People are not even doing door to door canvassing this time, we were told.

After I settled down in Bhopal from July 2022, I first voted in local municipal election, and subsequently Assembly election. This time I was goping to vote in Parliamentary election. Every time, my centre is the same, namely St Xavier’s school, which is located nearly one km from my residence and is within walking distance. Based on past two elections, I knew that one gets a slip where polling details-viz centre, voter serial number, location of centre etc are mentioned. Typically one party or the other with resources would hand over these details at your household. This time I came to know that the election commission had taken this work on itself. But election commission failed to send slips to our locality. On friday, 3 may 2024, we did get our slips, alongwith pamphlet of a party that had the required resources and enthusiasm for the elections.

Out of the four slips for four voters of our household, only I and my wife were around to vote. The vote time was 7 AM to 6 PM. I suggested to my wife that we should go to vote early in the morning when there was less crowd at the polling station.

Next morning, we left for the polling booth at 7:30. I found that two couples from neighbouring houses were returning back after voting. So we were not really that early to the polling station. We found that there was a very long line of voters for our polling booth. That school had some half a dozen polling booths, each with a different number and serving different localities. Our polling booth had the longest queue. Perhaps the voters of our locality were the most enlightened !

There were separate queues for men and women. It took me about one hour to enter the polling booth room. My wife too entered at the same time. Inside the room, it did not take more than a couple of minutes. First one had to show the slip, and the staff would match the slip with his record and then cross the name on his list, indicating that the person had arrived to vote. Voter ID would be shown, and after that you would have to sign on a register, that would mean you have marked your attendance. Then a slip would be generated and given to you. The person ahead of you would go to the enclosure with EVM. A few seconds later a beep would be heard. The person would indicate that the vote was recorded. Then he would collect the slip from the next voter and ask him to go to the voting enclosure. The EVM voting is so easy these days. Just locate your desired symbol and press the button on its right. Look inside the small looking glass. This is VVPAT. It displays the symbol that you pressed. A few seconds later, beep sound is heard. Congratulations, your polling is done !

I and my wife left the booth at a few minutes apart. We arrived at the car, where I had kept my mobile (as carrying mobiles are not allowed inside polling booth). The time mentioned on the mobile was 8:36. So I guessd that I had voted at around 8:33 after standing in the queue for one hour.

We arrived back home a few minutes later.

I felt that I had accomplished an enormous task. I felt good and satisfied about it. The fact that our voting was over at about 8:30 meant we had defeated the sun and we were back at home by our breakfast time.

People feel tired after accomplishing a big task. I too felt tired. 🙂 It was a bit like how I feel when I fill up my IT return and it successfully gets submitted online. A few days later, IT department processes it I receive the message that my IT return has been accepted.

There is one difference though. IT return is filed every year. Voting takes place once in five year. If you add assembly election and municipality elections as well, then one needs to vote thrice in five years.

My case was unique. It was the very first time in my life that I had voted in a parliamentary election. Voting for a parliamentary election for the first time at an age of 60 plus ! It must be a strange kind of record. But that is not all. Though I had not voted in Parliamentary elections, I had figured in the parliament election process as a patrolling magistrate, as far back as in 1984 ! Imagine serving as an election official even before voting in the elections, seeing that I was not eligible for voting during the previous elections of 1980.

40 years ago was like a different era altogether, much different from what it is today. The Indian PM Mrs Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her own bodyguards in her official residence on 31 october 1984. Those were very difficult days for India as a nation.

I like my hostel mates in Jamalpur (Bihar) followed all these developments on the newly acquired colour TV in the hostel, just after a low power relay TV station was set up in Munger, the district HQ located 10 km from Jamalpur.
Elections were announced to be held late in december 1984 (in three phases). Nowadays people complain that elections are held in severe heat. That election, by contrast had taken place when winter season was in full swing in most parts of India, including the part where I was.

We needed to appear and pass external examinations that were held twice in an year- once in Summer, once in winter. Many of us (excluding some like me) were busy preparing for winter examinations. People like us laughed that they would be slogging hard while the rest of us would enjoy ourselves watching TV. Our happiness was wiped out from our faces when it turned out that those who did not have examinations would be sent to election duty.

So, we left for Munger. We had to serve as patrolling magistrates. Our job was to collect the election material, viz ballot boxes, ballot papers and other materials for the polling booths allotted to us. I was allotted three polling booths located in a village some 70 KM away. The district administration had seized all the vehicles they could seize and had kept them in a ground. These vehicles were to serve as the transport vehicles for the patrolling parties. Each patrolling party had one patrolling magistrate and he had four security personnel. My four security personnel were as young and raw as I was. They were trainee homeguard staff, and they were led by one trainee ASI.

In the briefing area, we all located our security personnel. Then we located the vehicle allotted to us. The vehicle allotted to us turned out to be a fully loaded truck. The truck was on its way to deliver its consignment when elections were declared and it, as well as other vehicles were “requisitioned” for election duty, along with its driver and cleaner. We collected our election materials, loaded them on the truck, got the directions to reach our destination and left. I, alongwith the ASI sat in drivers cabin whereas the sipaahis happily settled themselves over the roof of the driver’s cabin.

We had started in the afternoon. We were required to reach our destination by evening, when we had to go to the three allotted polling booths and hand over the polling material to them, so that they could prepare for the polling that was to start next morning.

When we arrived at the village, I found that the three polling stations were three village schools. These schools barely had any roof over them, and had just a few chairs and desks that were sufficient to hold the election. We handed over the election materials to the three polling booths, each located a few kilometers from the other. The polling booth staff had to stay in the polling booth etc at night. As for I and my staff, one building a few kilometers away was requisitioned in a nearby town. This building basically had a hall. Those were the days when Indians used to travel with their hold-all while travelling by train. I, as well as everyone else had brought their hold-alls, that contained razaai inside it, which was so important in that winter season. We laid out our hold-alls on the floor of the hall and slept, while the vehicles were kept outside in a ground. The security personnel and drivers fended for themselves.

Next day, as the polling began, I as patrolling magistrate was supposed to keep patrolling the three polling booths to ensure that polling was taking place peacefully.

While watching the polling process, I realised how actual polling takes place in Bihar and what is the role of administration. One realises that polling staff in the polling booth as well as the partoling party are outsiders who are working in interior places which are far away from towns and cities away from media glare. The voting these did not take as is shown on TV or movies. We also realised that the local administration, viz local police, worked according to the instructions of their bosses, viz ruling party at state level. We realised that no matter how much one tried, voting in interior areas was nothing but a case of peaceful booth capturing. The influential communities, in collusion with local police, would come to mutual understanding and they would “vote” certain number of votes on behalf of their community. Voters of weaker section (viz SC community voters) were not allowed to vote. Their quota of vote too was cast by the influential communities as agreed among themselves. They also made sure that the total number of votes cast by them was 89.9%. That was because polling above 90 % is considered suspicious and in that case repoll is ordered.

After the polling was over in the evening, all the polling materials, viz ballot boxes, unused polling material etc were collected by the patrolling magistrate and his team from the three booths. The polling booth staff requested that they too should be given lift to go out of the village. I let them, seeing that they, unlike the patrolling team were not provided with any vehicles.

We arrived back to district HQ at Munger where every team had to deposit all the polling materials. It was late at night when we deposited all the polling items and we were given our relieving letter.

When I checked up with fellow hostel mates, it turned out that I was not alone. Everyone had similar experiences. That made me feel better. We had gained first hand experience of how democratic institutions functioned in Bihar. Subsequently on TV, we heard knowledgeable poll related discussions by Prannoy Roy about vote swing, voter sentiments, voting trends etc. Those discussions were very convincing and erudite for armchair TV watchers, but those discussions failed to impress us.

By the way, state assembly elections took place a few months later in 1985. Same people who had served during Parliament elections were summoned again. Some of us backed out giving valid or not so reasons. Like for example, some South Indians gave the reason of language problem, which was a real problem for them. Personally understanding the “Bihari” language was no problem for me. I participated in the assembly election as well. This time my vehicle was a tractor ! Riding this tractor, with polling material and security staff on the trailer, we made such slow progress that we arrived at the polling booths just hours before the polling was to take place. On the positive side, this time I had a veteran police ASI, who had the necessary dabangai to ensure that polling malpractices were not allowed to take place in the polling booths. That made me feel much better.

So I had served as patrolling magistrate in one of the most important Parliamentary election in Indian history. 40 years later, I got to vote in a parliamentary election for the first time. These days voting takes place on EVM, which is a big improvement over ballot paper. Ballot paper voting was very expensive and very cumbersome. One voter typically took ten minutes to locate the desired symbol on a newspaper sized ballot paper, marked it, and then it had to be folded properly so that it could be shoved inside the ballot box. Booth capturers had expertise in “polling”. They could carry out 89.9% polling within a couple of hours, which was impossible if polling took place in a lawful manner, where typically unskilled and illiterate voters were made to vote.

Today, EVM has made it so easy. One can easily locate the desired symbol on the EVM. All one has to do is press the button adjacent to the symbol. One can see the symbol flashing in the VPAT box, and a beeping sound comes out, indicating that the voting in done. Voting takes a few seconds. It is standing in the queue and then showing up one’s documents for verification, and getting indelible ink on your finger that takes bulk of your time.

I hope that in future we will have the option of online voting as well, just as we can nowadays have the option of online banking and online commercial transactions. If financial transactions can take place online without glitch that I do not see any reason why online voting should not be implemented in future. That would be far more economical and convenient. Hopefully I will see online voting at least as an option in future elections.

Different people vote for different reasons. Likewise different people/ parties have different motives/ agendas while contesting the elections. It is the voters who have to decide what they consider is the suitable candidate for their vote.

On this occasion, here is a vote related song. This song is from “Aansoo Ban Gaye Phool”(1969). Kisore Kumar is the singer. Lyrics are pennede by Taj Bhopali. Music is composed by Laxmikant Pyarelal.

“Aansoo Ban Gaye Phool”(1969) was produced by S.M. Sagar and Anoop Kumar and directed by Satyen Bose for Anoop Kumar Productions. The movie had Ashok Kumar, Deb Mukherjee, Alka, Nirupa Roy, Raj Mehra, Anoop Kumar, Rakesh, with Helen and Pran. They were supported by Kumud Tripathi, Manik Dutt, Kumari Uma, Mughni Abbasi, Shekhar Purohit, Janki Das, Tarun Ghosh, Bazid Khan, Radhey Shyam, Gautam Mukherjee, Pardesi, Uma Dutt, Madhup Sharma, Prakash Misra, Behari, M.A. Latif, Vinod Sharma, Lalit Kapoor, Genius, Ramlal, Amrit Rana, Nadir, Deepak, Aziz Siddiqui, Habib etc in it.

Kisore Kumar is the singer. Lyrics are penned by Taj Bhopali. Music is composed by Laxmikant Pyarelal. This is one of those few songs where Kishore Kumar sings for his bhaanja (nephew) Deb Mukherjee. This is a song about a college election where Deb Mukherjee is seen heckling the candidate who is a product of nepotism, viz he is the son of the owner of the college.

This is the fifth and final song from “Aansoo Ban Gaye Phool”(1969). The movie thus joins the list of movies that have all their songs getting covered in the blog. The movie thus gets YIPPEED in the blog. The movie had made its debut in the blog on 8 may 2009. The movie gets yippeed on the same date fifteen years later on 8 may 2024 !

Audio

Video

Song-Election mein maalik ke ladke khade hain (Aansoo Ban Gaye Phool)(1969) Singer-Kishore Kumar, Lyrics-Taj Bhopali, MD-Laxmikant Pyarelal
Chorus
Unknown male voice 1
Unknown male voice 2

Lyrics

election mein maalik ke ladke khade hain
hahahaha
arre inhen kam na samjho
ye khud bhi bade hain
hahaha
haan
haan haan
inke siwa vote ka ka ka
haqdaar kaun hai
inse lade chunaav wo
gaddar kaun hai
jiyo raaja jiyo

ab chaahe kisi se pyaar karo
inko vote do
ab chaahe kisi se pyaar karo
inko vote do
waadon ka aitbaar karo
inko vote do
ab chaahe kisi se pyaar karo
inko vote do
ab chaahe kisi se pyaar karo
inko vote do
vote for
baap ka laal
arre vote for
baap ka laal

is shehar bhar mein jitne hain
akhbaar inke hain
daily dabba roz aamcha peela parcha
is shehar bhar mein jitne hain
akhbaar inke hain
kaale safed saikdon vyopaar inke hain
sab aspatal inke hain
beemar inke hain
parnaam laakh baar karo
inko vote do
waadon ka aitbaar karo
inko vote do
haan haan
ab chaahe kisi se pyaar karo
inko vote do

aise sapoot ab hain kahaan
apne desh mein
ek yahi pe hain

aise sapoot ab hain kahaan
apne desh mein
bhagwaan aa gaye hain
insaan ke bhes mein
chanda diya inhone
freedam ke case mein
sab inki jaijaikaar karo
inko vote do
waadon ka aitbaar karo
inko vote do
haan haan
ab chaahe kisi se pyaar karo
inko vote do

arre bolo re bappa dhingar bappa
de ghuma ke
ghuma ko
dhing phataafat dingdi popo
de ghuma ke
ghuma ke
hey
ghuma ke
hey
ghuma ke
hey

haay
haay haay
haay haay
haay
brmm
haay haay
haay haay

har cheez inki daas hai
har shai ghulaam hai
ajee chaandi ka joota inke paas hai
har cheez inki daas hai
har shai ghulaam hai
zinda inhin ke dam se
sharaafat ka naam hai
logon ke dil khareedna
bas inka kaam hai
arre kuchh to khayaal e yaar karo
inko vote do
waadon ka aitbaar karo
arre waadon waadon waadon ka
bhai pain pain
bhai bhai pain
waadon ka
aitbaar

waadon ka aitbaar karo
arre inko vote do
haan haan
ab chaahe kisi se pyaar karo
inko vote do
ho ho
ab chaahe kisi se pyaar karo
inko vote do
vote for
baap ka laal
baap ka laal
arre vote for
baap ka laal