Turning 26...

It's been 8 years now since i have crossed 18 year mark- the age limit required to be eligible for voting in India. In these years, i have casted my vote 2 times only 'coz of my busy life. On 20th May, 2013; 3 days prior to my 26th birthday, i was on the other side of election table. this time instead of casting the vote myself i was handling the proceedings of a voting session as PRO-presiding Officer. Block samitis and Zila Parishad Elections were announced by Punjab Govt in April which were held in may. And being a govt. officer, i was elected PRO by district election officer.

Intially i was worried about the whole scenario but all went fine when i met three Polling officers under me during rehearsals. They all seemed very supportive and co-operative as well. But during the last trail, our team was disintegrated to complete other teams. I was again in dilemma but as soon as i met my new team, i took the sigh of relief as they all were experienced and well behaved. We all went to our assigned booth for village " Gill Kalla". We received a warm welcome from the sarpanch of the village and made us feel like home. All the basic amenities were provided by them including food, bedding etc. On the next day, D day, our team was ready to start the voting. i managed to keep the papers, labels, envelopes intact resulting in smooth elections. We ended with 73% of voting and landed in first place in submitting the boxes back with the authorities. It was an awesome experience overall.

On 22nd May, i went for shopping as i was going to turn 26 next day. i bought some apparels for the day with a pair of shoes to make myself feel special. Though it costs me around whopping 10 thousand bucks but i wanted that day to be remembered throughout my life. Not like the last time, i wanted to enjoy my birthday to the fullest this time. On 23rd may, i received wishes from my relatives, friends, colleagues; Distributed sweets in office and celebrated with the near ones in the evening. I will cherish this birthday moments throughout my life as it was really special for being the first one to be celebrated at such a scale..i had never spent that much on my birthday ever. Secondly, being associated with the fact that now i am looking forward to get married in this year only...(i could not resist myself to record it)//

Regards

Parul Goyal