When Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the enthusiastic crowd at the Nehru Maidan here on Saturday, in the sea of supporters was a fan who stood out. For, he had quit a job in Australia just to ensure he could cast his vote here and see his favourite leader back as Prime Minister for the second term.
TOI
Sudhindraa Hebbaar, 41, a screening officer at the Sydney Airport, quit his job of one-and-a-half years after he realised he was not able to extend his leave due to huge passenger traffic.
¡°I got leave from April 5 to April 12 and could not extend my leave as the airport experiences heavy rush due to Easter and Ramzan. I badly wanted to vote and I decided to put in my papers and fly back home,¡± Sudhindraa, a resident of Surathkal, told STOI.
This MBA graduate said, ¡°In Sydney, I¡¯ve been working with people from across the globe, including Europeans and Pakistanis. I¡¯m proud every time they say India has a great future. I attribute this success and changing image of India to the Prime Minister. Obviously, I cannot go to the border to protect my motherland. The least I can do is exercise my right and my duty to vote. As regards the job, I am a Permanent Residency card-holder in Australia (his wife is a Fiji-Australian) and I have worked at Sydney Trains before working at the airport. Finding another job shouldn¡¯t be an issue,¡± Sudhindraa said with a smile.
AFP/Representational Image
Interestingly, he first flew to Australia on April 17, 2014, the day Karnataka went to the Lok Sabha polls in a single phase. A responsible citizen that he is, he cast his vote at the polling booth in Hosabettu just after 7am before he embarked on a nine-hour journey to Bengaluru, from where he left for Sydney that night.
He has decided to stay back in Mangaluru till the elections results on May 23, after which he¡¯ll fly back and scout for a new job.