He'd be the boy you'd take home to meet your mother. Soft-spoken, courteous, well mannered.
He sat quietly next to the window in a compartment of the Lucknow-Chandigarh Superfast. Where was he headed for, I asked. Home, he said. To cast his first vote.
For this, he had taken leave from work, and taken the trouble of an overnight train journey from Lucknow to Ambala, to be followed by a one-hour bus journey to Kurukshetra, where his family lived.
"We tend to blame the government for everything. But unless we vote, we have no right to complain," he said. "Kartavya aur adhikaar. Duties and rights. They go hand in hand."
His name was Lovneesh Kumar. He was 22 years old. At the time of the last election, he had been too young to vote but he had still made a contribution to the political process, he said. "I was part of my college campaign that tried to get people to vote by explaining to them its importance, telling them that there were countries where people are deprived of voting rights."
A computer science graduate, Kumar works for an IT firm in Lucknow.
How did his boss react to his request for leave?
"He was very happy. He said hum log to sirf baat karte hai, we only talk, but you are putting your words to action."
Inspired by the example he has set, his other colleagues too have made plans to take leave to go to their hometowns to cast their votes. "Thankfully, voting is staggered across phases. So we can take turns at taking leave."
With his youthful idealism, his strong sense of citizenship, his roots in a state to which Arvind Kejriwal belonged, Kumar had the makings of an Aam Aadmi Party supporter.
Who was he voting for, I asked him.
He declined to reveal. "The ballot is secret," he said.
"Tell me what would you base your voting decision on?"
"The work of the candidate," he said. "Criminal cases, if any. And whether or not he is a resident of the constituency."
By this criteria, I said, it was apparent he would not be voting for the sitting Congress MP of Kurukshetra, industrialist Naveen Jindal who has been named in a FIR in Coalgate and who is based in Delhi.
He smiled but did not say anything.
I tried a different question: "Among the national leaders, who do you like?"
"There are three national leaders. Rahul Gandhi, Arvind Kejriwal and Narendra Modi," he said. "Rahul Gandhi was elected to Parliament in 2004. He has had ten years. But he has done nothing. He did not even attend Parliament regularly. Arvind Kejriwal was given a chance as the chief minister of Delhi. But he ran away. Narendra Modi has not only won elections three times, he has also delivered on his promises."
The biggest promise Modi had delivered on was growth, Kumar maintained. "The greatest evidence of growth under Modi is that businesses have moved from other states to Gujarat. Look at Tata Motors."
Connecting economic growth to his own life prospects, he said, "Only when you grow can you create jobs. Only when there are more jobs can someone like me switch. Only when I switch can I grow fast."
Already, in his one and half years as an IT professional, he had jumped companies.
"My father spent 35 years in the Bhakra Beas Management Board. It was a government job. Promotions were not based on merit. They were based on seniority and reservations. It was my father who advised me to take employment in the private sector."
But what about the 2002 riots that took place under Modi's watch?
"Riots take place everywhere. They took place in Muzaffarnagar under Akhilesh Yadav but no one seems to have a problem with that."
And yet, his expression gave away his discomfiture.
"Look, the Aam Aadmi Party should not have contested the Lok Sabha election this time. Kejriwal fought and won elections in Delhi on 17 issues. For one, he left 16. If he had stayed on and proved himself, everyone would have voted for them in the next Lok Sabha poll. Head bhi unki tail bhi unki."
Arvind Kejriwal might now regret his decision to quit abruptly, but it could be too late: AAP's loss has been the BJP's gain.
Click here to read all the stories Supriya Sharma has filed about her 2,500-km rail journey from Guwahati to Jammu to listen to India's conversations about the elections – and life.
