A Bagful of Goodies

The year 2009 didn’t exactly get off to a good start. The wounds of the 26/11 terror attack were still fresh in our minds. The monumental fraud at Satyam and the aftermath of a global recession added to the pall of gloom. Everything that had been a virtue till September of 2008 — big acquisitions, global aspirations, rapid scale-ups — became a vice. And then things started to thaw. Credit markets reopened, foreign investors came back to India, Indian consumers continued to spend. The worst is now truly behind us.

Perhaps, it is time to celebrate, a time to sit back and do some of your favourite things. The Forbes India Year-End Special helps you do exactly that through a series of lists that will open up a world of possibilities in food, drink, gadgets, books, and movies. Forbes India’s lists run the gamut of the serious (People Who Will Save the World) to the utilitarian (Meal Experiences to Die For) to the expansive (Megatrends That Will Reshape Our World). Our editors and writers have worked hard to build a fabulous collection of lists — to beat all lists. And we’ve had our share of fun too. So enjoy the experience!

If 2007 was the year of the froth, 2008 that of collapse, and 2009 of reflection, then 2010 will be about a new way of working. It will be about discovering new horizons, but through new means. For India, it will be a journey to rediscover our roots, and build a new future based on our innate wisdom, not on ideas borrowed from the West. We call it the Indian way.

And the Forbes India Person of the Year exemplifies this Indian way. Through our carefully woven profiles, you’ll come face-to-face with a fabulously talented bunch of people: to name a few, Karambir Kang, the general manager at the Taj Mahal hotel who stood up and delivered even at the worst moment in his life; Jean Dreze, a development economist who has shown us how economic policy can be an instrument of deep social transformation or even Rahul Bhatia, who’s built India’s most profitable low-cost airline.

Finally, of course, we had to pick one winner: Rahul Gandhi. In making our choice, we fully realise that we’re gambling partly on hope. But then, we reckon Rahul Gandhi represents the best chance India has to clean up the cesspool that politics and governance have become. Read my colleague Dinesh Narayanan’s story and a guest column by our very own Rajdeep Sardesai to understand how Rahul is using his time to understand the inherent complexities in our system and yet continuing to search for new answers.

We’ll love to hear your comments. Meanwhile, here’s wishing you an action-packed 2010!