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Voters ID registration drive

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VBI (Volunteers for better India) organised voters ID registration drive in Brigade Gardenia on 18th and 19th of Jan 2014. We had 191 application forms submitted.

Some highlights

  1. A couple aged 74 and 78 registered for first time.
  2. An elderly gentleman who was barely able to converse and shaking body congratulated us. He brought in forms of his and his wife who were born before India got independence.
  3. A youth brought in his laptop with datacard and needed to know why his mothers name was not reflecting in electoral roll.
  4. A teen who was to turn 18 on April asked can he register now?
  5. A girl who filled her form with picture perfect, clear and beautiful handwriting.
  6. Few sons with no proof of address for their mother, sticking around till we figured out a way for them to register her for voters id.
  7. Few photos and video 1 and video 2.

Organizing and executing the drive was heartwarming experience. You get to see the beautiful sides of so many fellow residents that you wonder why did not shake hands before. The names below may not make much sense to you if you don't know them but these are the names which will start to matter once you reach out in your neighbourhood.


The motive for the drive came from Sujatha from LnT south city who continuously pushed me to get into it. Then it was the support of Shankar and Ujval. Once in there was no looking back :).

We did three skits as part of Brigade Gardenia Kite carnival. This could not have been possible without support from Manisha ji, Swati ji, Aparna ji and Shuchi ji. Not to leave behind Vishal from cultural committee and Nisha ji from kangaroo events.

Then the focus shifted to Kavita ji who helped gather her group of friends and with only two meetings we were all set for the D-Day.

The camp went on smoothly. Bala and team created beautiful Google spreadsheet to manage the volunteers and their time slots. Some updated actively and some simply walked in. Some were late and some were early and some kept coming once in a while to see if all is well.

Viju would not leave her seat and neither would Sandeep. They just wanted to stay put for some more time. Their is intoxication when you serve selflessly and we were happy to witness same.

Sonia would wait for her reliever and so would Raghu unless ofcourse there is better half in vicinity and you need to go somewhere. Raghu would come back again after the home duties to check if we needed him . So did Sagar.

Deepika had to cook for 20 guests in evening but she cheerfully completed her hours of service and came back again the next day. She called in when the photo/videographer arranged by VBI came in and I was having the last bite. Its difficult to leave a plate when your spouse has cooked with so much love and there is only the last bite but her enthusiasm pulled and I ran out.

The cheerfulness of Prabha and Deepa and Soumi and Shilpa and Arthi and Swati and Manisha ji was infectious. Sujatha brought in her spouse and lots of stationary which she forgot to take back.

Poonam could not sit idle at home and the restlessness of service pulled her before her time and then she went back and got some sweet tea and biscuits for all of us.

Devraj just walked in and asked what was happening and Kavita gave her a crash course in how to register fill form 6?

The enthusiasm of Raji and her force to get more people involved for smooth functioning.

When the camp was about to end Chitraji handled an anxious couple pretty well and Prabha gave her a big hug to say it all that it was "JOY that carried us through".

Fantastic Team!!

Now we wait for next series of events that will help us vote on coming days.

If you want to organize voters ID camp in your neighbourhood DO reach out to VBI team.

As Bod Dylan said long time ago
Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'.

PS--Please add names and events which I am sure I would have missed as I went home to take a nap...
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