Votes for us??

It was voting day in Mumbai,where I stay.Everybody,thanks to the excessive voting awareness campaigns (or the voter's day discounts in malls!),had geared up for the day,getting up a few hours early in anticipation to exercise their vote and make a change,at their level,So,as I looked out of the window,I saw a stream of people heading slowly towards the nearest polling booth.
This refreshing sight made me both glad as well as forlorn.The happiness was because people had finally realised how important their vote was for the country,and had actually left their air conditioned rooms to come out and vote (which is saying something,going by the humidity here!).The reason I cut out a forlorn figure was because well ,I couldnt vote,despite having voted twice previously in Delhi,the place of my permanent residence.The general elections in Delhi were on April 10th,which happened to be a day full of important meetings and client visits for me,none which I could boycott.
In this age of widespread technology,where a click of the mouse gets you everything from vegetables to business class tickets to Venice,it's kind of puzzling that I still have to repent not being able to vote because of a client's visit at the workplace.Even more puzzling was that my American client voted for the 2012 federal elections sitting prettily in his plush office in the outskirts of Bangalore.
We talk about innovation.We talk about reaching the moon,stars,planets and are even working our way to reaching the sun,yet we turn a blind eye as to how we can apply technology for the benefit of our country.In this time and age,when people are getting courted , married and in some unfortunate cases even divorced on Skype,we still talk about getting our NRIs to be physically present with their passports for voting.We talk about youth empowerment and about how important the youth's votes are for building the nation,yet overlook the fact that a sizable chunk of our youth are away from their homes,working in IT firms, in the Armed forces or even in marriages.It is impossible for everybody to converge at one place,that too for a day.Imagine the traffic in flights,trains and even buses!
So,this time,I  miss my vote,am practically chastised by the others,who wave their inked fingers in my face (thankfully NOT the middle one) and also feel a twinge of jealousy,even though I wanted to vote.I mentally hope that atleast by the next general elections,an act similar to the United States' UOCAVA (Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act) is introduced,passed and implemented for us NRNs (Non Resident Natives) and at a later stage, NRIs .If not,well,we all know which uninked finger will be waved by our large diaspora,and at whom!
Happy Voting :-)!