Party politics...

I was in a number of villages this weekend as the election was going on. The "buzz" was pretty amazing.

I know nothing really about the history of voting in Karnataka, and some folks had warned me to "stay home" and avoid trouble. I do know that alcohol was forbidden for the day before and of the voting. I guess there were some conflicts in the past.

What I did see in the villages was a fairly calm gathering of nearly everyone in the town square, most for some reason dressed in white (alignment with a particular party?), and enjoying some tea, coffee, and in one village at least free food.

When the gringo on a mountain bike showed up, there was the usual interest and curiosity from the kids, but in two of the villages you could sense a bit of apprehension, as if anything out of the ordinary on that day was unwelcome.

I did notice that people were wearing their lapel-pinned badges for their parties with price. In one crowd you saw BJP party members standing side-by-side with Congress party members, both politely quizzing me about where I was from, how my SPD pedals worked etc.

When I pointed out that there was a mixture of parties in the crowd, it was just a polite razzing of one side or the other. No animosity or even real unpleasantness about it. Each person felt free to associate with the party of their choice without feeling that the other party was "evil".

Try that in America!

Try that in China!