The ink with a ‘secret formula’

Level 3 l Advanced
1 Warmer
When did you last vote? In a general election, local elections, a referendum …?
When will your country’s next general election take place?

2 Key words
Match the key words with the definitions. Then find them in the article to read them in context.

logistical batch subjects civil servant cuticle vials

fraud indelible afflicted polling booth flaunting vault

1. a small enclosed space where you stand to mark your piece of paper secretly when you go to vote
_____________________________
2. showing off something so that other people will admire you _____________________________
3. an adjective used to describe the practical arrangements that are necessary in order to organize something
successfully, especially something involving a lot of people or equipment _____________________________
4. making a mark that is impossible to remove _____________________________
5. the action of producing false documents or information in order to get what you want
_____________________________
6. a layer of hard skin at the base of a nail on a finger or toe _____________________________
7. a quantity of a substance needed or produced at one time _____________________________
8. small bottles for storing medicine or perfume or other kinds of liquid _____________________________
9. a strongly protected room where valuable things are kept _____________________________
10. people who live in a country that is controlled by a king or queen _____________________________
11. If an illness or a serious problem _____________________________ someone, they suffered from it.
12. someone who works for a government department _____________________________ D •
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NEWS LESSONS / The ink with a ‘secret formula’ / Advanced

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The ink with a ‘secret formula’
Level 3 l Advanced
The ink with a ‘secret formula’
that powers the world’s biggest
democratic exercise
On 11 April, 900 million Indians started six weeks
of voting. Key to the election’s legitimacy is a
special ink made by a small company in Mysore
Amrit Dhillon
28 March, 2019
1 It is the classic picture flashed across the world
during every Indian general election – smiling
voters coming out of a polling booth, holding up
a finger daubed with blue ink, flaunting it as a
badge of honour for having voted in the world’s
largest democratic exercise.
2 Voting in the 2019 general election kicked off on
11 April and, because of the size of the country,
lasts for six weeks to ensure that some 900
million Indians get the chance to cast their vote.
The Election Commission prepared for many
weeks for the mammoth logistical exercise.
3 Its first order of business – as it has been for
decades – was to get in touch with a small
company in Mysore, in the country’s south, and
order vast amounts of a special kind of ink.
4 The ink is essential to the nation’s democratic
process. It is indelible, thus preventing electoral
fraud and double voting. Drawn with a brush or
stick on the nail and cuticle of the forefinger of the
left hand, it is designed to last for weeks, until a
new nail grows.
5 The government-owned company Mysore Paints
& Varnish has been making the ink, based on
a secret chemical formula, since 1962, when,
in the run up to the third general election after
independence, the Election Commission asked
the company to make an ink that could not be
rubbed or washed off.
6 In 2019, about 100 employees worked on the
batch, which is made up of more than 2.6 million
10ml plastic vials. The vials used to be made of
glass, but breakage was an issue. What hasn’t
changed, however, is the secret formula.
7 “I don’t know what the secret formula is myself!”
said Mysore Paints & Varnish managing director,
Dr Chandrashekhar Doddamani. “I am not
allowed to know. Only two of our chemists at any
given time know the secret and pass it on when
they retire.” Is it kept in a vault, like the Coca
© Springer Nature Limited 2019. Macmillan Education is part of the Springer Nature Group.
NEWS LESSONS / The ink with a ‘secret formula’ / Advanced
Cola formula? “No, not a safe, but only two of our
chemists know where it is,” he said.
8 One of the ink’s ingredients is known to be silver
nitrate, which stains the nail on exposure to
ultraviolet light. It cannot be washed off with soap,
detergent or chemicals.
9 Security at the plant is strict. Frisking, CCTV
cameras, passwords to enter certain areas and
a ban on bringing lunch boxes are among the
measures used to protect the formula.
10 When ready, the ink is dispatched to one million
polling booths across India. But that is not the
only place it goes. The company exports the ink
to 30 countries from Thailand and Malaysia to
Afghanistan and Nigeria.
11 Mysore Paints & Varnish was founded in 1937 by
one of the richest men in the world at that time,
Maharajah Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV, to create jobs
for his subjects.
12 Known as a “philosopher-king” for his
commitment to education and welfare, and
to making Mysore a modern, model state, he
suffered from the Rolls Royce fixation that
afflicted most Indian maharajas. He even ordered
Rolls Royces to ferry his staff around the palace
and town.
13 In 1947, after Indian independence, the
government took over the company. From 1962,
it has been the only company authorized to make
the ink for all elections, local or national. Despite
being 82 years old, the company is not a slave to
tradition. It is currently testing marker pens that
could end up replacing the ink in a bottle. “It will
be easier to use ­­­– no need to open a bottle or use
a brush. It will also be easier to pack. But we have
to finish our tests first,” said Doddamani.
14 As a civil servant, Doddamani has served in many
posts and headed many corporations, but being
at the helm of Mysore Paints & Varnish is more
than a run-of-the-mill job for him. “It’s an honour to
play a role in the functioning of Indian democracy.
And it’s a real achievement for everyone in the
company to have kept the formula a secret for all
this time,” he said.
© Guardian News and Media 2019
First published in The Guardian, 28/03/19
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The ink with a ‘secret formula’
Level 3 l Advanced
3 Comprehension check
Answer the questions using information from the article.

1. Roughly how many people are eligible to vote in the 2019 general election in India?
2. Over what period of time does the general election take place?
3. Why is the special ink such a key part of the elections?
4. In what type and size of packaging is the ink delivered to the polling stations?
5. Where exactly is the ink mark put on people?
6. How is the ink applied?
7. How might it be applied in the near future?
8. How is the ink removed?

4 Phrases and expressions

Find the following phrases and expressions in the text.

1. something that shows you have done something that you are proud of _____________________________
(para 1)
2. in the period before something important happens _____________________________ (para 5)
3. in a particular period of time _____________________________ (para 7)
4. be influenced or controlled too much by something _____________________________ (para 13)
5. in charge or in the position of a leader _____________________________ (para 14)
6. ordinary and not interesting _____________________________ (para 14)

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NEWS LESSONS / The ink with a ‘secret formula’ / Advanced

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 The ink with a ‘secret formula’
Level 3 l Advanced
5 Discussion
• Explain the voting system in general elections in your country to someone who has never voted in your country
before. Include information about:

o the frequency of elections

o who can vote
o how to get information about the candidates
o where you go to vote
o how you vote
o whether there are alternative ways to cast your vote
o what proof of identity you need to show
o what measures are taken to stop people voting more than once
o what happens after you have voted.
• What other products are made using secret formulas?

o Discuss why these formulas (including the one for ink in the article) are kept secret.
o Say who might want to get hold of them and why.
o What consequences might there be if a secret formula is made public?

6 Webquest
Go to the website of Mysore Paints and Varnish, and find the answers to the following questions.

1. What three letters follow the company name, and what are they short for?
2. What creature is visible on the company’s logo?
3. What other name is the indelible ink known by?
4. After it has been applied, how long does the ink take to dry?
5. The indelible ink comes in different-sized packaging. What are the smallest and largest sizes available?
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NEWS LESSONS / The ink with a ‘secret formula’ / Advanced

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The ink with a ‘secret formula’
Level 3 l Advanced
KEY

2 Key words 4 Phrases and expressions

1. polling booth 1. a badge of honour

2. flaunting 2. in the run up to
3. logistical 3. at any given time
4. indelible 4. a slave to
5. fraud 5. at the helm
6. cuticle 6. run-of-the-mill
7. batch
8. vials
9. vault 6 Webquest
10. subjects
11. afflicted 1. Ltd –
­ This is short for limited. In a limited company,
12. civil servant shareholders’ liability is limited to the capital they
originally invested.
2. a peacock
3 Comprehension check 3. voter’s ink
4. less than 40 seconds
1. around 900 million 5. 5ml and 100ml
2. over a period of six weeks
3. It shows that someone has already voted and
ensures that that person does not vote another
time in the same election.
4. in 10 millilitre plastic vials
5. on the nail and cuticle of the forefinger of their
left hand
6. using a brush or stick
7. using a pen that contains the special ink
8. It isn’t ­­­– it’s indelible. You have to wait for the
nail and cuticle to grow so that the ink is no
longer visible.
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NEWS LESSONS / The ink with a ‘secret formula’ / Advanced

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