An Indian wins the Nobel Prize in Economics -- at a time when the Indian economy is in a state of chaos.

Indian scientists unlock the secret of the hydrogen bomb -- and in Pokhran, where it all happens, the humble onion overshadows the nuclear test.

Sports mandarins talk of uncommitted cricketers and laud the patriotism of practitioners of other sports -- and then the cricketers in question go out and break all kinds of records while the rest stumble from defeat to disgrace.

It has been that kind of year, dark and light alternating in bewildering fashion, while Joe Citizen stumbles around, his energies focused on sheer survival.

Or hey, wait a minute, has it been all that bad? Surely there have been moments of achievement, collective and individual? Surely there have been, as in previous years, individuals who have surmounted the odds, stood at the pinnacle of achievement?

As we prepare to throw out the old calendar and hang up the new, perhaps it is time to take stock. To celebrate individual triumph even in the midst of collective despair? Time, for you, for the person who, in your view, deserves plaudits as the Rediff Indian of the Year?

Nominate your choices. Give us your reasons. Let the debate begin. And at the end of it all, let us celebrate true achievement, as it deserves to be celebrated.

Readers may e-mail their nominations between now and December 31, with a brief explanation (a maximum of 100 words please) for the choice they have made.