"If I die a violent death, as some fear and a few are plotting, I know that the violence will be in the thought and the action of the assassins, not in my dying."
INDIRA GANDHI, 1984

THE PM AND THE SPOILER
A freedom fighter and a strict Gandhian, Morarji Desai (above, literally holding court in 1979) became prime minister at the age of 81 in 1977. He was leading a rainbow coalition united by the fear of Indira Gandhi. Raj Narain (right, in 1979), the bumptious giant-killer who defeated Indira Gandhi in Rae Bareli in 1977, was the most colourful of all.

THE RAJA AND THE SCREEN GOD
One was the poster boy of political correctness, hand-picked by Indira Gandhi as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh in 1980. But as prime minister, V.P. Singh (right) presided over the infamous Mandal report that divided India. The other was Telugu screen god N.T. Rama Rao, who walked out of the reel world to become a real world political hero of Andhra Pradesh. The drama never ended.

THE INHERITANCE OF LOSS
The history of Kashmir is inextricably linked to the Abdullah family, even as militancy has torn the fabric of a once-peaceful haven. The father, Sheikh Abdullah (right, a year before his death in 1982), passed the legacy to Farooq Abdullah, who seemed less than perfect for the role of custodian. In the tragedy of that family perhaps lies the truth of Kashmir's terror.

"Don't try and reduce me to zero when we are the only ones who swear by the Constitution. At least I am not talking of jehad and azadi like the Hurriyat Conference."
FAROOQ ABDULLAH, 2000

"We never talked about armed revolution. Even in the undivided party, we talked of changing society peacefully. We are not exactly like the Naxalites."
JYOTI BASU, 1978

LEFT ALIGNED
The grand old patriarch of the CPI(M), Jyoti Basu is the man who almost became prime minister. But more than that, he was the chief minister of West Bengal between 1977 and 2000. In his continued public presence, the CPI(M) seeks the comfort of a less ideologically-challenged time.

LARGER THAN LIFE
Marudur Gopala Ramachandran or MGR was a Tamil actor who rose to stardom playing saviour of the poor. In real life, he projected himself as a champion of the Dalits and a prominent member of the Dravidian movement through the DMK. After the death of his mentor C.N. Annadurai in 1972, he fell out with the DMK leadership, floated ADMK and became chief minister in 1977. ADMK is now AIADMK, whose current reigning deity is the woman who was once his favourite co-star.

EMERGENCY LANDING
George Fernandes (left) was perhaps the most vociferous critic of the Emergency which the nation saw as the handiwork of Sanjay Gandhi (below). The dark period led to the rise of the former's political career and the downfall of the rising son. While a freak crash during an air stunt claimed Sanjay's life in 1980, Tehelka, in 2001, strained Fernandes' street-fighter credibility.

"The 1977 mandate concerned two issues. One was the Emergency and the dictatorship which the people did not want and the other was a desire for radical change."
GEORGE FERNANDES, 1979

THE ULTIMATE DYNASTY
From one Gandhi to the other, the country's fascination with the famous second name continues. While Indira Gandhi passed on her baton in death to her son, Rajiv, in 1984, Sonia Gandhi's political resurrection came full circle with the aam aadmi's vote in 2004. The family, always, came first.

"Everyone grieves when his mother dies. But I gained courage, for there grew a feeling in the country that every citizen had lost his mother... For some days, people thought that India was shaking. But there are always tremors when a great tree falls."
RAJIV GANDHI, 1984

MATRON SAINT
A Roman Catholic nun of Albanian descent, who made Kolkata her second home and the Missionaries of Charity a beacon for the helpless, Mother Teresa wore her honours lightly. She died in 1997, but her work lives on, as does the amazing grace of her selfless spirit.

"The other day I dreamed that I was at the gates of heaven. And St Peter said, 'Go back to Earth, there are no slums up here.'"
MOTHER TERESA, 1997

BEAUTY AND THE BRAIN
The first Indian to win the Miss Universe title in 1994, Sushmita Sen would forever find her name taken in conjunction with another pageant queen, Aishwarya Rai. Together, they became the glamazons of a new youthful universe.

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