Vote for the Clown

This was the first time I truly exercised the democracy of my country with my first ever vote in the recent State Assembly Elections. I had been looking forward to this day for a really long time, believe me! I was so excited and I wasn't going to give away my 'oh-so-precious' suffrage to any Tom, Dick and Hari. So I did what most people do when in doubt - Google!

Now here is something very peculiar that I couldn't help but notice. In India, we have close to 1024 political parties as per the last count (only seven of them are national parties!) and what intrigues me really is the lack of creativity in party logos and symbols. As I stood there on the Election Day staring at my option, I couldn’t help but laugh at the reality of the logo system in the Indian political system. My options were:

A bow and arrow,




A lotus,




A hand,




A rail engine,





A pressure cooker,

(couldn't find a picture, but you can imagine it!)


and some other things I can't remember or I am too embarrassed to talk about.

I came back and Google a few more of these political logos and I still don't get it how is it that these people come up with something that will eventually represent their cause, political image and ideology for the rest of history. I mean, what is it that they say to themselves when they pick something like a pressure cooker as their logo, 'Hey, we work best under pressure, so what better than to exemplify us than a good old pressure cooker!'

Now, I don't mean to offend anyone, but even our nation’s oldest party has a hand for a logo. For someone who hasn't had the privilege of studying our history (and believe me 42% of the Indians haven't!), wouldn't know what it really symbolises and I bet that even from those who have, 42% have no clue about what the 'Hand' stands for. It could mean anything like 'Vote for us. We'll give you a hand' or 'Hey, don't mess with 'The Hand'..!'

One possible reason for this absurd symbolism is probably image retention of a public persona for the rural audience, who usually can't read and live on less than Rs. 10 a day. I guess it makes some sense when you have tough competition with over 100 other contestants, you would want something that is easy to remember for the plain ol' village folks. Something that isn't too flashy & complicated and doesn't remind them of their poor remittance. Something that is easy to relate to, after all, most of India still lives in the country.
I don't really know what are the Election Commission's regulations on how a party gets to pick it logo, but something tells me that underestimating the creative tastes of the village folks isn't really on them.

So anyways, I did go looking for what was really permissible, but what I managed to find was a list of Free Symbols (must check!) - I guess it must be a list of unregistered logos available for use (although most of them are in use with unrecognised parties!)

Or maybe I have it the wrong way, maybe there is some deeper meaning to the cycle, umbrella, ladders and lamp, which my embryonic mind can comprehend.
Either way, I take comfort in the fact that even the citizens of one of the worlds most powerful of polities, have to choose between a Donkey and an Elephant on their election day.

Well, here are some of the logos worthy of mention:

A clock - they are always on time!



Is that a play top?? OMG!! It is a top!!

I have no clue what that is, so don't even ask!

Our very own elephant. Take that, USA!

A ladder, I assume signifies the upward climb, but wouldn't you rather have an elevator?!


What can I say?


That my dear friends, is a hand pump. For those of you who don't know it used to irrigate water off the wells and provides exquisite pleasure to some. Ain't I right, Mr Anurag Kashyap?


What better than a good old fashioned lamp, Who needs electricity?


Of flowers and petals!


That's and chair alright, and it speaks volumes about their comfort.

And below are a few I really like:


(RSP)

(Akali Dal)

(Loksatta)

(CPIM)

P.S.: I am sorry if I hurt any sentiments or caused offense. That wasn't my intention!