When it comes to what an election means to the residents of an old peoples home, one might expect them to choose a peaceful retirement over the chaos of polling booths. But many elderly people in Kolkata are just as engaged now as they were when they first voted, up to 50 years ago or more. And politicians clearly respect the power of the grey vote as they canvass old peoples homes, distributing leaflets and rhetoric, as assiduously as anywhere else. The women residents of Navanir Old Age Home at Naktala intend to take their place in the queues on Thursday alongside younger citizens.

Despite witnessing the corruption associated with elections, these women, mostly in their 60s and 70s, are still positive about the concept of elected governance. Three times I found someone had voted on my behalf, recalls Ms Molina Roy. I was helpless and had to return home. This time, however, she hopes the changes introduced by Election Commission will improve the system. Another resident, Ms Ashalata Roy, said: We do not want to waste our democratic rights. What else can we ask for at this stage of our lives? Our choice of candidate will determine the prospects of our future generation. This is the smallest thing that we can do for our next generation. Ms Nilima Shom, who was a teacher before she retired, says the greatest change the Left Front government has introduced in nearly 30 years is improving the lot of teachers, including both salary and status.

Other issues that irk these women are the state of health care, education and security. They choose their candidates according to the view they gather from the media. Not all elderly people have such faith in the government. Miss Odien Wheeler, 64, a resident at De Souza Old Peoples Home on Lenin Sarani will not be voting on Thursday. I do have a voters card, and last voted in 2000, but since I came here two years ago I have stopped being involved in politics. I’ve heard too many politicians make too many promises that they never keep. Recalling previous elections, Miss Wheeler, who used to work on the paramedic team at Assembly of God hospital, said: Its always been the same. There’s always been trouble. We used to go very early. Now I don’t like the crowding and pushing. 

Health care is a key issue for Miss Wheeler. The condition of government hospitals is horrible, she said. The government should look after poor people, the people in the villages that grow the grain and vegetables we eat before they concentrate on building more shopping malls and cinema complexes which are only for the middle classes.

Miss Joyce Monaghan, 77, another resident, has no intention of voting although this makes no change as she has never voted in her life. She said: The politicians come and give us leaflets and talk to us but we don’t pay any attention. Miss Monaghan retired from tea merchants James Warren & Co., where she worked for 40 years, just before the government made pensions compulsory. As a result she survives on Rs 350 a month after spending Rs 1,150 on lodgings at the home out of the Rs 1,500 she gets from interest on her savings. I don’t go out. It costs about Rs 50 for me to get to New Market and back so the last thing I want to do is go to the polls. Memories of 1952 Ms Ashalata Roy witnessed the first election in 1952. I was in school at that time but watched with curiosity as my parents and grandparents went to vote. I waited eagerly for my turn. It came when I was 22, way back in the late 50s, she said. Ms Roy, who has since seen many elections, feels the system was more transparent in the past. Poll rigging was non existent, she said. You would never find your vote being cast by someone else.