Voting is mandatory. Penalties for skipping.

Australia has just gone through another election. A national one, this time. The entire thing was electronic,and the results were announced the same night of the voting ! Less than a few hours after voting closed.

Thats amazing(actually, not) in itself. But the real surprise  here is that it is mandatory for every citizen to vote. Its not just a privilege, or a right, its the rule.

So, what happens if a citizen does not turn up to cast their vote ? They have to pay a penalty.  The Australian government site says:

You will receive a letter from the AEC if, according to our records, you did not vote at a recent federal election or by-election. If you did vote, you should advise the AEC and provide details by the due date. If you didn’t vote, you will need to provide a valid and sufficient reason why, or pay the $20 penalty.

This has to be tagged under 'things that won't work in India'. This time some states had upto 80% turnout to vote in the national elections, it is never a hundred percentage. Here is an idea which the babus can..well,think about and throw later into the garbage.

Ideas that won’t work in India - Free outdoor movies

Sometimes, a little outside perspective works. Specially if it is you are having the perspective change, instead of someone else giving it to you. When one travels to foreign countires, one sees ideas, projects and movements being executed so flawlessly, one wonders how and why didn’t we think of them in our place ?

I saw some Melburnians organizing and executing one such little idea here this summer. The Govt of Victoria, in collaboration with local partners, decided to put on a show for the people .  A real show. A movie. Movies itself is nothing new to Indians, but here are the key words which set the event apart.

Outdoor. And Free.

Instead of charging upfront and limiting entry, they organize the show outdoors under the summer sky. And keep it free. People have to bring their own blankets, food , and whomever they want, and dogs too. Of course there will be popcorn and drinks stall, but the idea is to get people to bring whatever they want to enjoy the evening.

This is another one of those things people here get around easily. People bring in their blankets and picnic boxes, some even bean bags and pillows. The venue is easily reachable via public transport, so most of them just walk in, but lots of cycles and skateboards and scooters were visible. So many ways to get around !

The show would start after sunset, so there  was enough time to get your favourite place. And although the event was free, they were considerate enough to provide portable public restrooms.

The movie I went to was Black Panther. I had seen it. But it was fun seeing it again in a community. All those little families sitting together in circles and groups, with their pets. Everyone brought their favourite food, lots of picnics !

It reminded me of that bioscope cinema scene of that movie, Swades. The act of meeting and attending socially was more fun than the movie itself. I am sure people would not have minded paying for the event. But keeping the venue open and free just made it that much more fun !

Australia’s public barbeques

 

In case you missed the signs so far, Australia loves its barbeques. Although the origin of barbequing is credited to other countries, no other country does it better than Australia. These guys love their slow cooked meat, so much that the government provides free outdoor grills for people to use. Well most are free, some are coin operated. They run on electricity, and are easy to use, and very popular with the crowd.

One of those things you don’t see in India. Or in most other countries, for that matter. There are websites to search for public barbeques, and there are lists curating the best places to bbq. Most of them are near beaches on protected forests.

There is something about cooking your own food at a public area. I guess its the earthiness of it all, cooking fresh food with good views to soak in. It is a great way to hangout with family and friends. We went BBQing again this weekend, and though we are seasone experts in the area, the experience continues to surprise me.

The earliest images of public park barbecues (as opposed to those in national parks) in the State Library are from Brush Farm in May 1976, at about the time Warringah council, among others, began investing heavily in its barbecues, creating a competitive asset with relatively little effort, says Caroline Ford, author of Sydney Beaches: A History. Like Randwick's clearing of Coogee beach in 1859, councils have always seen their public spaces as avenues to boost the local economy.

An attachment with a long history, our fondness for a meal cooked outdoors speaks of deep Australian connections between nature and culture. Nineteenth century stock workers, travelling, camping and yarning around a nightly campfire, are oft-touted as the origins of our barbecue culture, but that is a convenient, if romantic, story we like to tell ourselves, says Richard White, historian and author. Still, he says, imagined connections to a bush or even prehistoric past give us all a break from modern living - albeit in safely contained primitive experiences on regulated "fires" in places where our ancestors would never have made camp. Add the outdoor cooking-friendly climate, a fear of bush fires, an awareness of protecting the environment and a deep sense of shared ownership of beaches and their parks - not to mention a palate that has largely been shaped by the abundance of cheap, good meat - and formalised, taxpayer-funded barbecues make reasonable, if privileged, sense. But perhaps the most important factor in their popularity is the very element that makes the idea of the "Australian barbecue" hard to pin down. Post-World War II immigrants, mostly southern European, did more for normalising alfresco cooking and eating than swag men ever did.

So the next time you want to hangout, and have no place to go, head to the nearest public BBQ. Just remember to clean up properly after you are done, for the next guys in line. And thank the country for providing this extra-ordinary service. Its truly a national treasure.