The platform ticket dilemma

My wife and I were at the Banaswadi Railway Station, Bangalore, this morning to receive my in-laws who were coming from Kerala by the Garib Rath. As we were about to enter the platform, my wife nudged me to get the platform tickets. At that point, a thought flashed my mind.
Since anyway no official checks exiting people, should I bother to buy them? At bigger stations like Bangalore Central and Yesvantpur, usually there are officials checking passengers and visitors at the couple of exits. But Banaswadi station being a small one, there's no boundary wall. And, people walk out of the station through the open space on one side of the building. It's impossible for anyone to check exiting people.

But the counter-thought was: irrespective of whether there is someone to check or not, I must buy the ticket, since that's what I am supposed to do. Also, by not buying the ticket, I am being corrupt in a way, as I am depriving the government exchequer of a legitimate income.

I walked up to the counter and bought two platform tickets. By the way, it's Rs 5 per ticket.

Cover Revealing

Hey Lovelies!
So today I'm doing a cover revealing of Family Ties! The beautiful photo was taken by Regina Wamba she owns Mae I Designs. I highly suggest that you check her site out because she does amazing work. This will be the cover for the second edition of Family Ties

Stories told by word of mouth can get twisted or lost. Abby grew up hearing about her great-grandmother Emma, a royal who left that life to come to America. Yet when Abby takes a summer job with her best friend Cory, she feels eyes on her. When she is kidnapped after leaving work, Abby learns there may be a hidden part of her family tree...

Proof!

Hey Lovelies!
I will eventually get better at this posting business! However I wanted to share, that I will be posting a cover revealing soon for Family Ties' second edition, but the proof for it is currently in the mail! Eep! So exciting! However I graduated College since the last time I posted, I am officially a college graduate, working two jobs and applying to every possible social studies teaching jobs for grades 6-12. I am learning more about towns in this state that I didn't even know existed.
~Ottilie

Bangalore's voter apathy

(Crossposted from Kaleidoscope)

Many feared that the voter turnout in Bangalore city had plummeted to a new low yesterday. But the figures put out by the Election Commission paint a different picture. A little more than half the city voted, 52.8 percent, five percent more than the 2008 turnout. But Bangalore Urban continued to record the lowest turnout among the 30 districts in the state.

I don't find anything surprising in many city dwellers shying away from exercising their franchise. There are many reasons why voting isn't a priority for them. 
One is the general cynicism about politicians and the system they operate in. Many people don't believe that merely voting will bring about any change in the society. They argue that the changes they are desperately looking for are apolitical development-related ones, like infrastructure; and accountability of public servants. These are in no way related to political ideologies; and many feel politicians have collectively failed to do the least that is expected of them.

There’s no choice either. Most candidates fall far short of minimum expectations. Politicians hardly inspire. There are so many cases of lawmakers turning into lawbreakers. There are honest, educated politicians with good credentials who are committed to bringing about quality changes in society. 

But they are a very small minority. Besides, we have many examples of such well-meaning public servants being beaten back by the system.

All parties finally turn out the same. No party has acted in a way that inspires when it comes to, for example, corruption allegations against one of its men.

There are also many reasons why village and small-town residents are less cynical. One, there is lesser disconnect between them and politicians. Two, their expectations are fewer. Three, when it comes to voting, the "herd mentality" works to some extent in small towns and not in cosmopolitan areas like Bangalore where people are individualistic in their thoughts and actions.

Having said all these, did I vote yesterday? Yes, I did. Was the choice easy? No, not at all. But the process was.

I thought if most politicians shun their part of the work, should I shun mine too? Voting is the easiest part in the democratic setup. I didn’t want to fare poorer than most politicians.

Some Indie Love

Hey Lovelies!
I just got a new indie book in the mail a couple of days ago and I was thinking of the other indie authors that need and deserve some love. I was thinking about what Indie Books I even had. The new one I received was Recalled by Cambria Hebert, the author of the Heven and Hell series.

The Indie E-books I have:

just to name a few...