Friday, March 19, 2010

Win or Lose, Does it matter ? Do the right thing

I'm a 5th year student. I'm about to complete my 5 years of stay in kgp. I have seen VPs getting elected for the past 4 years. This is the 5th in line. Elections were simpler earlier. Hall poltu, pacts and you can get you candidate that coveted post of VP. Enough muscle is all that was required. Dont read that last line literally.

This time " It's Different". For first time I'm seeing such a turnout and commotion in the student community regarding election, particularly for the post of VP. This election is turning out to be very different than the other four that I have seen in the past.

Why ?

Just because of one of the candidate, Ankit, contesting for the post of VP. But what's so special about him ? There are other candidate too !!! Aren't there ? But why this guy only ?

Well for starters, He is an independent candidate which means he is not supported by his hall of residence and all it's poltu junta.

But then what can a frail looking independent candidate do ?
I dont know what he can do. But whatever it is, it sure got him physically abused. It sure got the others worked up just to stop him from entering their halls and hall days. It sure made the current VP deny him any funda related to the insti.

The big question is Why ?
The only reason I see is the lack of confidence in their own candidates by the various halls of residence who have entered into pacts through negotiations. If this is not the case then its definitely the one where they are all scared. Afraid of the possibility that all their cooked up poltu can go down the drain.All their number calculations can end up in the trash.

Whatever reason, I wanted to see the SOP because I didnt know any of the candidates. I believe what I saw and heard. I saw two run of the mill just another VP candidates and a One who definitely was the most impressive one.

I was amazed at the turnout of the people. And I also realized that People were there because they wanted to see Ankit fail. But he didn't.
He did not screw up the SOP.In fact, people were impressed. Soon people were interested only in Ankit. Not becoz of entertainment but because of the performance he gave with everyone against him. He defended himself extremely well and held his own.

When one of the blogs said that everyone loves an underdog. I want to say that its not an underdog being supported. It is Ankit's hardwork, realistic proposals, his ethics, his moralities and his commitment towards student welfare as the primary objective as reflected in the SOP that is being supported.

In the end, it does matter who you stand for. Morality and Ethics do come into picture.
You cannot ignore them in any condition.
The person who can stand on his own can definitely put the resources to good use if not better
And definitely with better sense of morality and sensibility.

Any given day I'll go for " Fearless, Ethical, Hardworking and Courageous" over " I owe my hall and poltu and I'll keep giving a damn about my hall ".


Win or lose, whatever he did, he sure created a stir in the campus and the student community as a whole.

I have seen numerous plays in Inter-Halls sarcastically mocking the system and talking about change. I hope the plays I saw were not for the sake of winning the competitions but are part of our beliefs.
Rise above the hall and all that poltu. Don't allow anyone to force you into doing what you dont want to.

Again, it does matter who you stand for.
I hope you find the right one for you. Do the right thing.

I hope Ankit finds the needed support. Mine is definitely with him.

Kudos To your Effort Dude.