Highlights of India Today Hindi issue dated January 16th, 2013. Cover Story: India Today Hindi’s cover story Desh Ki Taqdeer Badalne Wala Saal. The Indian politician who has taken his first tentative step towards 2013 is a strange beast. Unshaken by the groundswell of resentment that set apart the year that was, undeterred by the rising expectations and deepening anxieties of a people let down by the brazen indifference of the ruling class, he is confidence personified. Another season of angry streets, another show trial by a media feasting on bad news, another field day for the moral harrumphers at the dinner table... He has been there before, and he knows that this too will pass. In the eternity of stoic India, his reign will prevail. Up close, in the morning of 2013, he looks different. There is a shadow of fear in his eyes, and in the echo chamber of political discourse, the amplified absurdity of his words frightens him. He is too steeped in the dead certainties of politics-as-usual to hear the stirrings of an awakening out there in the public space, beyond the world of entitlement he inhabits. He has every reason to be scared. The politics of 2013 will be played out in an India that is increasingly incompatible with its leaders. Kaisa Hoga 2013 (Naya Cinema): Mumbai Se Bihar Tak A new wave of gritty realistic cinema is eliminating the rural-urban divide on screen. Yuva Neta (Khas Rapat): Janta Ke Haal Se Bejaar Neta The ‘politicians of tomorrow’ refused to engage with their constituents as the nation erupted in anger in the aftermath of the brutal gang rape in the Capital. Delhi Mein Gang Rape (Rashtra): Insaaf Mein Ho Sakti Hai Deri The nation wants a speedy trial in the Delhi gang-rape case. Loopholes in the system might stymie that. Smriti (2012): Aur Parda Gir Gaya Some special facts about actors, directors, politicians and other celebrities who died in 2012.