Time’s Person of the Year

Announced. The Persons are the Whistle-Blowers: Cynthia Cooper, WorldCom; Coleen Rowley, the FBI; and Sherron Watkins, Enron. The explanation: “They took huge professional and personal risks to blow the whistle on what went wrong at WorldCom, Enron and the FBIand in so doing helped remind us what American courage and American values are all about.”

Had been thinking of this today. I really couldn’t think of anyone. So, I guess I can’t argue about the Time selection, though it is very much US-centric. One could of course argue that the trio have made a difference to the world, but that would be a stretch.

If I had to make a guess about next year, it is probably going to be George Bush or Saddam Hussein (depending on how quickly the latter goes), considering that we are going to have a war in the Mid-East, and there’s going to be major pre-occupation with that.

India’s Person of the Year would probably have to be Narendra Modi, the CM of Gujarat. His state dominated events from the start of the year, and he has turned Indian politics on its head, and with it the fortunes of the BJP. His legacy (which is probably just beginning) will linger on, whether one subscribes to his views or not.

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Rajesh Jain

An Entrepreneur based in Mumbai, India.