Two friends, a spat & lesson in ‘beauty of democracy’

Faridabad: When Sarabjet Singh (81) and Gyan Prakash (79) argue, it can get really intense. And if it's politics, it doesn't take long for sparks to fly.
On Saturday morning, this was on display at a polling booth in Fatehpur Chandela. Singh — who retired from the Army — and Prakash — a former govt staffer — couldn't agree on the right or the right party.At one point, an exasperated Singh shouted to Prakash, "Arre, tumhe rajneeti ki kya samaj hai (what do you know of politics)?"
Prakash shot back, "Tum apni samajh apne pass hi rakho (you keep your understanding of politics to yourself)".
Both hard of hearing, they spoke loudly, drawing a crowd around them. At one point, the heated debate needed an intervention as it threatened to disrupt the voting process. Intervention came in the form of a policeman, who urged them to end the discussion and stand in queue.
Prakash and Singh walked away, irritated and grumbling. Both stood in separate lines.
As they neared the booth, Singh walked in briskly. Prakash, with a slight limp, was slower.
Almost 15 minutes later, Singh emerged after casting his vote. But he didn't walk away. His friend wasn't done yet.
As Prakash walked out, Singh asked him, "aakhir tumne meri baat nahin mani na (you didn't listen to me, did you)", referring to the candidate the younger friend had voted for.
"Mujhe jo karna tha maine kiya (I did what I had to)," the retired govt employee replied.
Done exercising their franchise, it was time for the friends of several decades to bury the hatchet.
"Chalo chai peete hai (let's go and have some tea)," Prakash smiled at his Singh as they walked to a nearby tea stall.
While posing for a picture with his friend, Singh told this correspondent, "This is the beauty of democracy. Now, it's your duty to keep it that way."
The words ring powerfully at a time when politics and political discourse isn't just bitter but divisive, and tolerance thresholds low.
The Badhkal seat, where this booth is, is set for a closely fought contest between Dhanesh Adlakha of BJP and Congress's Vijay Pratap Singh. In the last assembly polls in 2019, Seema Trikha of BJP had trumped Congress candidate Vijay Pratap Singh.
There are 3.3 lakh voters in this assembly segment, of which over 3,000 are in the 85-plus age category.