Politics, never too far away from the mind of Malayalis, is the buzzword, now that the date for the Kerala Legislative Assembly election has been set and election campaigning is on in full swing.
There are several techies who are doing their bit for their party and candidate and to spread the cause of democracy.
Zafer Ameer, a test engineer at Technopark, and a few of his friends, for example, have been giving tech support to the campaigns of a couple of candidates, one in Vamanapuram and another in Thalassery, by designing websites and handling social media accounts. “I used to be active in student politics when I was in college and had been involved in election campaigns in the past, helping to paste posters and distribute pamphlets and the like. Nowadays, social media has become a game changer. For instance, ever since the website of the candidate in Vamanapuram went live, we have been getting an average of 200 queries a day, all of which we respond to. I believe in doing whatever little I can to help the process, after office hours, of course,” says Zafer.
Kasaragod-native Sivasankar A., a software engineer at an MNC on campus, has designed the website for a friend who is standing for election in Thalassery. He also functions as the campaign’s social media administrator, ideating on innovative things to do on it. For instance, it was his idea to post photos of the candidate accompanied by catchy, smart captions – ‘Ammathanalil’ (under the protection of mothers) for a photo of the candidate with a group of old women, ‘Naaleyude Urappu’ (tomorrow’s hope) for a photo with a few youngsters, to name but two. “There’s nothing unique about posting photos but when you amp it up with captions, it immediately gives an added dimension.
Party workers click pictures of the daily happenings and send them to me and together we come up with smart captions. It has become pertinent that we do a professional job of it. Social media has developed so much that if we send out some badly worded text or poorly edited/photoshoped photos, people will see through it immediately and it will end up as an internet meme and potentially destroy a campaign,” explains Sivasankar. He says he is “a citizen with a healthy grip on politics” while explaining his motivations to engage with the democratic process. “I believe that every citizen in a democracy should have an understanding of politics or at least be a keen observer. Also, people should not just swallow whole what the media is telling them but gain a fair perspective of each situation/issue that arises,” he adds.
Ranjith Balan, Director Board Member, Technopark, meanwhile oversees the IT cell for a political party. “For the past one month, we have been developing a centralised portal, through which we will be releasing campaign material for use on social networks. We have also trained over 2000 volunteers from across the state, all of whom are active on social media, to promote the campaign,” says Ranjith.
Another political enthusiastic is Anoop P. Ambika, CEO, Cognub Decision Solutions. Ever since the elections were announced he has been active on social media, promoting the campaign of his favourite party and his local candidate. “I believe that everyone should take a stand when it comes to politics and that’s why I’m chose to be very vocal about it,” he says.
Some others are actually walking the talk and have been going door to door campaigning in their local constituencies. Business Analyst Jinoop Nair, a native of Poonjar, Kottayam, is one of them. “When I go campaigning or even when we hold a meeting, it’s very rare to see young professionals being a part of it. I want to change it and be a role model for fellow youngsters this election season. I am considered as a successful man in my little town because I am educated and hold a good job. Through my campaigning efforts I want to show people that every young professional, gender no bar, can be a part of the democratic process,” says Jinoop. “My interest in politics was nurtured by my late father. I want parents and kids to realise that there is no shame in it,” he adds.
On that note, techies who take an active role in politics are still a minority, despite the fact that many of them, at least those who studied in government colleges in the state, would have a background in student politics. Paucity of time is the main factor that makes them stay away, say Jinoop, Zafer and Shivasankar.
Anoop adds that may be its “because of the certain stigma attached to politics, especially among professionals. Their inhibitions typically revolve around fear of what their boss/parents/friends/society will think. If you can’t slate out your ideology, how can you hope to change the system? Then again, there is also scepticism about politics and of being too much involved politics. No one wants to rock the steady boat that is Technopark.”
