Jan 3, 2000

COVER STORY
The Defining Decade
The '90s began like any decade and ended like no other. By the end of the 10 years, India had taken an irreversible turn.

POLITICS: As the Congress faded away, politics moved from V.P. Singh's Mandal madness to a saffron dawn. There was a hard edge to ideology as RDX and the gun underscored beliefs.

SOCIETY: The joint family began to break up and there appeared instant consequences. As in the rise of youth crime and teenage sex. Body culture became obsessive, natural after five Indians wore international beauty crowns.

SCANDALS: The scamster could call the '90s his own decade. From Harshad Mehta to Laloo Yadav, the list of schemers grew and grew.

CINEMA: As the Khans extended their rule in Bollywood, Indipop stars took over the music world. Classical music too became mod.

ETCETERA: 10 good Ideas and 10 Bad

SPORTS: Tendulkar, plus a clutch of heroes from lesser teams, held out hope.

OTHER STORIES

THOUGHT & ACTION
Faces of the Millennium
Grassroot activists, thinkers, economists. Some talk brilliant theory, some revel in action. The last in our series on future faces.

NEIGHBOURS
Second Chance
In her first tenure Kumaratunga achieved little. Now, by a quirk of fate, she's back to square one.