Bloody. Brutal. Even wild.

The epithets all sit well on Year 2001, which kicked off with the January 26 earthquake in Gujarat, killing 18,000-plus and injuring 170,000.

"Everything was rubble, an unending mass of concrete and dust," says Senior Editor Sheela Bhatt, among the first journalists to reach the state. "We all believed Gujarat would take a long time to get over it... But, fortunately, the recovery was almost as quick as the disaster itself."

Two months on, in March, came the Tehelka wave. The murky defence deals it exposed shook the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government in New Delhi much more than the natural calamity, and lost Mr Clean of Indian politics, Defence Minister George Fernandes, his chair, though briefly.

"It was India's Watergate," says Senior Assistant Editor Syed Firdaus Ashraf, who coordinated the coverage. "It brought to light the chinks in our armour, and caused a lot of introspection in defence circles."

Down South, we saw the wild side of the year, the swing of a heavyweight politician from power to powerlessness and back, in the rise, fall and rise again of J Jayalalithaa.

The drama had, by way of sideshow, the K Karunanidhi arrest -- an event that further likened the resemblance of Tamil Nadu politics to the theatre of the absurd.

On the economic front, Year 2001 was brutal. The Gujarat earthquake, the stock market scam and the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States took their toll.

Of course, the results weren't pretty. Hundreds of companies shut down, thousands lost their job, millions of investors their money -- and the government, not unexpectedly, let its promises remain, well, promises.

"But India's negligible share in global trade insulated the economy from grave disaster," says Business Editor Shishir Bhate. "And now, despite a fall in its growth rate, it will be one of the fastest-growing economies in the world."

September 11 brought about changes on India's political and diplomatic fronts as well -- in the latter instance, through the promulgation of the Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance and in the former, by bringing about international pressure on Pakistan to rein in its terrorist activities in Jammu and Kashmir.

In New Delhi, the coffins of Kargil nearly nailed the reinstated George Fernandes. But the December 13 terrorist attack let him off.

The strike also heightened the tension between India and its neighbour. New Delhi demanded action against its Pakistan-based proponents. Islamabad reluctantly agreed, but only after the United States helped India twist its arm.

"The action Islamabad has taken doesn't amount to anything really," says Senior Associate Editor Ramananda Sengupta, our in-charge of international affairs. "As it has happened before, the terrorists can reorganise their outfits and continue as before."

In showbiz, meanwhile, we had two mega hits: Sunny Deol's Gadar - Ek Prem Katha and Aamir Khan's Lagaan. And Hrithik Roshan and Kareena Kapoor, the alleged wunderkinds of celluloid, turned out to be creatures of hype and nothing more.

"But the year's biggest damp squib was Kabhie Khushi Kabhie Gham," says Movies Editor Sita Menon. "It made a huge buzz with six megastars and all the money in the world -- but buzz was all it made."

Apart from films, the other national mania is cricket -- and on the oval, Indian cricket laid a curate's egg, good in patches. The year started with an incredible bang when in March-April, India halted the all-conquering Australians' run of 16 straight victories, to take the home series against Steve Waugh's invincibles 2-1.

By the end of the year, though, India was thanking rain for saving it some serious blushes against an England team that is rated as the worst ever squad ever fielded by that country.

In between, there was a win against Zimbabwe -- India's first, away from the sub-continent, since 1986. Against that, there was the loss of a series to Sri Lanka, 1-2. And defeat in all three one day international tournament finals it played in during the year, stretching the losing streak to 8.

"Still, it was a year to remember for Indian hockey," says Sports Editor Ivan Crasto. "It started with the junior team winning the Junior World Cup in Hobart. Early in December the senior team emulated the feat in the Champions Challenge."

That was not all: India's Pulella Gopichand won the All-England badminton championship, Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi the French Open, cueist Geet Sethi his seventh World amateur crown, Pendyala Harikrishna the Commonwealth title, and, yes, 14-year-old Koneru Humpy the World Junior chess championship.

So that was how it was, Year 2001. Now it is your turn, reader, to choose the one Indian who stood out among the lot -- yes, the Rediff Indian of the Year!

Over to you.

The Nominations: Many Vote for Common Man