Name:Subramanyan Kanakasabapathy
Email:k_subbu@hotmail.com
Nomination:Chandrababu Naidu
Reason why:I work for a multinational bank in Singapore. If there is one person who gets discussed with pride amongst the Indian crowd it is Mr Chandrababu Naidu. People across states feel that he is capable of bigger things and proceeding with caution. Another big plus is that age is in his favour. A public acclaim like this will be a true recognition.

Name:Shashank Pawar
Email:shashankpawar@hotmail.com
Nomination:Ajay Valanju
Reason why:Ajay has been the best president of Bharat Indian SOciety at UTS Sydney, Australia. He has organised cultural and social functions for the university. While studying a full time business course and working part time in a management consulting firm, he has still managed to organise a record number of events for the society. He is known and liked by all Indians in UTS university and in Sydney. I firmly believe he is a model citizen and a genuine candidate for this prestigious award.

Name:Sanjeev Chandrasekharan
Email:twinfish@hotmail.com
Nomination:Mother Teresa
Reason why:For the simple fact, that she expected nothing for what she gave, for her pure, selfless work towards the wretched and the rejected, for her ability to give unto one and all, love in its purest form, and the kind of understanding and compassion that one only associates with divinity, for all these and more, I think Mother Teresa stands out as not only an Indian, but in the universal context.

Name:Sandip Tarkas
Email:sandip.tarkas@bigfoot.com
Nomination:The common man
Reason why:The common man would definitely be my nominee because through bizarre happenings on the political front, all the failures on the sports fields, and the multitudes of scandals which swept the politicians and businessmen alike, he provided the little window for India to smile.

Name:Balamuralikrishnan
Email:bala@netvigator.com
Nomination:Shri Sathya Sai Baba
Reason why:When people talk he has done. He brought water to the entire Ananthapur district with the help of his devotees and very little government assistance. He gave water free. No tax, nothing. Clearly, a one man show. Not only that, he says "Love is God". There is a lot of meaning in that. I have to highlight some of his contributions for this nomination, but actually there is no need to so. He is an avatar. He has a top class deemed university. Top class hospital, all free. He will be the best Indian rather "God" for all years to come.

Name:Jayanta Sengupta
Email:jayse@rocketmail.com
Nomination:K R Narayanan
Reason why:The President has displayed the attributes of a truly democratic and unbiased President.

Name:Ramesh Subramanian
Email:ramesh@rti.org
Nomination:K R Narayanan
Reason why:A very non-obvious choice, this -- at best. Why not Mother Teresa? The question begs asking. To me, the answer is quite straight forward -- she probably deserved it every single year so far. This year was no different. The reason for the spate of nominations on her behalf was probably due to her unfortunate demise. I definitely believe that if she had been in good health people would have probably not nominated her in such large numbers. Having said that, I truly believe that she is a strong contender for the "person of the century".

Now, coming back to K R Narayanan. Initially every newspaper in the world carried the story of his election due to the "caste" card. An amazing story -- to come up the annals of Indian politics and become the first lower caste president. Even more amazing was that he downplayed the caste card in his first interviews taking up the office emphasising that India was a secular country and was an "equal opportunity employer". It really showed our country in good light. Look at his actions after becoming the President. Be it advising the prime minister about the Romesh Bhandari situation or in the political mess which is our Parliament -- he has brought prestige back to the Presidential office. For his beliefs, the dignity he has brought to the highest office and the prestige he has brought to India, I nominate Mr K R Narayanan as the "Rediff Man of The year".<

Name:Kiran Yelamanchili
Email:kyalaman@cac.washington.edu
Nomination:N Chandrababu Naidu
Reason why:For his future vision and ability to impress a man like Bill Gates

Name:Karthick Chinnaswami
Email:karthick@qualcomm.com
Nomination:Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam
Reason why:The champion of India's missile programme. The dedication of this man gave India the security and technological advantage in defence which is crucial for us as we are surrounded by hostile neighbours. I am proud to share my birthday with this great man !!!!!!

Name:Leelaraj Kuchibhotla
Email:lkuchib@uswest.com
Nomination:N Chandrababu Naidu
Reason why:He is the most dynamic and sensible chief minister which India has ever seen. Also, he is the first chief minister to understand the importance of IT's role in the development of a nation's economy. He also kept the United Front and Telugu Desam united despite several hiccups which most of the politicians were not able to do in crucial situations.

Name:Mukesh Garg
Email:mkg@pipeline.com
Nomination:President K R Narayanan
Reason why:For taking a bold step against the recommendations of the PM about the Uttar Pradesh assembly dissolution.

Name:Surya Kumar
Email:Surya@yahoo.com
Nomination:Chandra Babu Naidu
Reason why:Great Administrator. India hasn't seen such a great administrator after Lal Bahadur Shastri.

Name:Ashok Bhatia
Email:abhatia@cyberspace.org
Nomination:Laloo Yadav & Sitaram Kesri Combined
Reason why:For showing the indian public, what price does the public have to pay, if they keep on electing the hopeless and corrupt politicians in the power.

Hopefully, the common Indian voters will now open their eyes and use their judgement to vote their representatives.

Laloo Yadav has shown, where can we reach, if we keep on nourishing the "family rule" practices in a democratic country. I hope, that the entire nation takes a lesson from the Bihar episode, and decide that it is not family credentials, rather individual credentials which should be made a basis for bringing one into power.

Kesri has shown what harm the greed of power and personal ambition can do to a political party. Hopefully, all the political parties will take a lesson from this.

There were always persons of the type of K R Narayanan & C B Naidu, and there will be in future too. But, the common Indian public is losing interest in identifying such persons.

Thanks to Laloo, Kesri and the like, the Indian public is much more alert now.. much more cautious in choosing their representatives. We needed these bitter pills to cure our sick political system.

Name:Yoga Narasimha
Email:Yoga2000@batelco.com.bh
Nomination:K R Narayanan
Reason why:He upheld the democratic values by not signing the order for dissolving the UP assembly. He took the right steps to dissolve the Lok Sabha instead of allowing horse-trading and again a coalition government.

Name:ALI ZAMAN
Email:rashida@cyber.net.pk
Nomination:AMITABH BACHCHAN
Reason why:The reason I nominate Amitabh is that first of all he is the best actor the Indian silver screen has produced in a 1,000 years. Secondly, he was also the successful politician of the Indian government. Amitabh is not only famous in India but he is known all over the world. In Pakistan he is considered as an actor of both countries. He is a living legend. I think if anybody wants to become a successful actor then he must watch his movies...his movies are the best tutor for acting.

Name:Ashwini Kumar
Email:ak@fluent.com
Nomination:Mother Teresa
Reason why:For obvious reasons!!

Name:R Viswanathan
Email:ramv@technauts.com
Nomination:The Indian
Reason why:Politicians & Leaders, venal, petty & mediocre to the last one, have brought the nation to the brink of anarchy. Public servants, apathetic & corrupt have torn down the pillars of democracy. There is more violence off-screen then on-screen. The most recognisable faces in the country belong to a beauty queen & a forest brigand. Our sportsmen continue to disappoint & our scientists continue to languish. Yet The Indian soldiers on, resigned to a quiet optimism that someday, just maybe someday that there really might be an Indian of the year.

Name:Rama Rao
Email:pentela@hotmail.com
Nomination:N C Babu
Reason why:For his great vision to develop his state (AP) and he is one of the few current politicians who can think about people, state and country.

Name:N.V.N.Prasad
Email:nvnp66@hotmail.com
Nomination:Arundhati Roy
Reason why:My Indian of the year is Arundhati Roy. In a year of political instability at the Centre, corrupt games of all national parties, disastrous showing of the Indian cricketers and the tragic passing away of Mother, Arundhati Roy and her God of small things are the memorable memories of 1997. Ms Roy singlehandedly dispelled the notion of India and its English narrative's capabilities in the entire world. The Booker Prize was the ultimate jewel in her crowning glory. Whatever some critics say about the book and its highly autobiographical tones, nobody can deny the extraordinary wordplay of the author which will be remembered for centuries to come. Thanks Arundhati, '97 will be remembered by me at least for your unforgettable book.

Name:padmini
Email:chinxv@hotmail.com
Nomination:I K Gujral
Reason why:Although he has bungled, but he still has some idealism and right values -- the Right to Education bill, the Prasar Bharati bill, the Women's Reservation bill etc. Also he picked up the right kind of people for their respective fields. Moreover, he and the UF are the underdogs, unlike the Congress with their mighty money and powermongers or the BJP with businessmen and media backing them.