Amar Mainkar tries to become a voter:

There in the heat of the afternoon sun, I was closer to the fabled ‘real India’ than ever before. And this place was just behind my house! The scene inside represented a typical government office. Too many ‘officials’, doing nothing much. Application forms just being thrown in the boxes after verifying details from another identification, usually a ration card. And the serpentine lines… When my turn came up, I was shoved aside by the person at the desk saying that I could not get the card issued unless my name figures on the voter’s list of the Election Commission. And that is updated during the census, or that was what I was told. I was not too sure of that, though I could not have argued with him unless I was sure. I would be wasting his time and others’ too. The ‘dejected’ look on my face inspired a jibe from the other fellow sitting next to him, “Ask him, is he ever going to vote?”