I remember many years ago my father telling me about a Roman Catholic captain of his ship who insisted that on Sunday all men on board spent some time praying to whichever God they called their own. According to him denying one’s religion is like denying one’s parents and pledging allegience to them does not betray any signs of regressiveness or parochialism. On the contrary, he said, acknowledging one’s roots made one a better person.

A quick glance at the BBC’ mid day news had me riled up with its reference to Narendra Modi as a fundamentalist Hindu. Frankly why can’t anyone see beyond his religion? No one voted for Mr. Modi because he was a Hindu. No one voted for the Congress because they were “secular”. Frankly the country is better off having rid themselves of the Congress weed which was just perpetrating the ills that they had sown in our system.

While Mr. Modi is not a miracle man and will obviously have to face many obstacles in implementing change, we can at least be sure that we won’t have a hand asking us for more to be handed over to the millions that they preferred to keep in penury.

The Indian voter has finally shown the maturity to shake off the shackles of feudalism and the fear of the unknown. This truly is not a victory of a single party but a victory of the electorate which proves that Democracy is not merely a question of numbers but also the right to express one’s opinion.

Jai Hind!