Look! Ink on my finger, say happy first-timers

This is the first time I exercised my right and it awakened a sense of being a responsible citizen. I came home with the joy of making a difference,'' said Bharath N Padasale, an engineering student.
There was excitement, there was a sense of pride, there was joy. Casting their vote for the first time has made youngsters in Mysore and Mandya districts feel more responsible and proud.
As the day passed on, social networking sites were filled with posts from first-time voters. 'Happy voting', 'I cast my vote for the first time and I am a responsible Indian', 'If you don't vote, you don't have rights to complain about the drawbacks of the government' and 'ink on my left hand ring finger' and many more. Some of them shared photographs of the ink marked ring finger on the networking sites.
Twenty-year old Narasimha Atreya, an engineering student from KR Pete taluk in Mandya who cast his vote for the first time, told TOI: "We can't just sit back and comment that nothing has changed in the country and it can't develop. It is our responsibility to bring change in the country by participating in democracy."
He has updated on a social networking site that he voted for the first time and feels responsible.
Similarly, 18-year old Shreyas HM of Chamundeshwari constituency said: "Vote decides the government and through this we can bring better changes in the country. Casting vote is our duty."
The awareness created by the district administration and organizations about the need to vote made 21-year- old Apoorva S to experience the voting procedure. "I feel included and officially I am a, Indian," she said with pride.
The beep sound and the indelible ink mark on the left hand ring finger has made Sagarika V, an MCom student from Mandya,feel happy. "I always wanted to vote. It gave me the feeling that I have grown up and can take responsibility," she added.
In the run up to the polls, the district administration had received over 1 lakh applications seeking inclusion of names in the list. Some 39,000 new voters were added, majority of them were young voters, who got a chance to vote for the first time.