Satellite cable TV revolution. 1990
The 1991 Gulf War made CNN a household name. Rupert Murdoch brought over most of Star TV in July 1993. The Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act was passed in 1995. From one terrestrial channel to 70 satellite networks - the Indian viewer was soon on a never-ending joyride.

Advani’s rath yatra. 1990
In a motor carriage emblazoned with the Om and the Lotus, Lal Krishna Advani’s political rally covered 10,000 km across India. His attempt at defeating V P Singh's Mandal agenda clicked. The BJP's support base surged in the 1991 elections: its seat share in the Lok Sabha increased from 85 to 120 in just two years. Nobody knew it then but the Yatra was to mark the end of one epoch and the beginning of another in Independent India.

Mandal Commission report accepted. August 1990
V P Singh stretched the limits of affirmative action, including more castes in the reservation net. North India erupted in violence and Indian society’s age-old fault lines were exposed again. Reservation took precedence over merit. No party has had the courage to change that formula yet.

Rajiv Gandhi assassinated. May 21, 1991
A woman garlands Rajiv at a rally in Sriperambadur, Tamil Nadu. The next moment, she blows herself to smithereens, taking the Prime Minister of India with her. It was an act of revenge for sending the IPKF into Sri Lanka. The Gandhi dynasty suddenly seemed to have run its course.

Economic liberalisation. June 1991
The policy shifts were big enough. But even bigger was the change in mindsets. Thanks to liberalization, the license raj ended; almost all Central taxes were lowered and public-sector monopoly on a whole range of industries was broken. A good 44 years after political freedom, India finally began to taste economic freedom.

Babri Masjid demolished. December 6, 1992
On December 6, 1992, Indian secularism fell to the fanatic’s pick-axe. When the Masjid crumbled, it ripped the fabric of communal harmony in free India. Today, Ayodhya is still a hotbed of dispute, a source of energy to the loony fringe of the Sangh Parivar and an abiding motif in the divisive politics of the republic.

Mayawati, a Dalit becomes CM of India’s largest state. 1993
Born in Delhi on January 15, 1956, Mayawati was a school teacher till 1984 when she began her political career with the BSP. She became Uttar Pradesh’s and India’s first Dalit Chief Minister in 1993 after her party won the polls in alliance with the Samajwadi Party. Accused of several scams during her reign, she pioneered a Dalit-Brahmin combine for the first time in UP politics and managed to beat all comers consistently over the years.

Infotech lists on the markets. February 1993
In February 1993, the Infosys share got listed - with a face value of Rs 10 and a market value of Rs 95. It was to be the bargain of the decade. Those who invested became multi-millionaires almost overnight. It spear headed the Infotech revolution which would soon create 7 lakh high-salary jobs, and a globally competitive Rs 60,000 crore plus industry.

Beauty pageants craze. 1994
First Sushmita Sen became Miss Universe. Then Aishwarya Rai was crowned Miss World. The double whammy sparked off a near hysterical beauty industry. Till date, salons and grooming schools in every nook and corner of India, entice starry-eyed hopefuls with dreams of success.

Telecom revolution. 1995
For 40 years owning a phone was more difficult than owning a house in this country. Today, nearly two crore Indians - including farmers and fishermen - don't leave home without their cell phones. The credit goes to two major policy decisions. First, the privatization of the telecom sector in the November 1994, ending government monopoly and indifferent service. Second, revenue sharing between the government and the telecom operators in 1999 - triggering a tariff crash from Rs 16 a minute then to Re 1 now.