IN1989, Lal Krishna Advani embarked on his infamous rath yatra to mobilise the kar sevaks. As his procession travelled through north India, communal violence spread, leaving hundreds dead and a country, long known for its secular values, divided on communal lines.

This is when Kajal Sikka, 21, a Punjabi Khatri girl studying economics at Jesus and Mary College, and Aijaz Ilmi, 28, a Muslim boy from Uttar Pradesh who had just come to Delhi after completing his medical studies in Bengaluru, fell in love.

FAKHRUL NAQVY is 67. His wife Roda is 65. And they are anything but an elderly couple taking a walk at a children’s park. As the monsoon hits the city, the two have found a new escape: a game of Scrabble. And when they do take time out to have a chat, Fakhrul recalls his first meeting with Roda, a 23-year-old Parsi beauty, at Porbandar in 1968.

CBI lawyer KTS Tulsi tells KUNAL MAJUMDER that the Gujarat Chief Minister is interfering in the Sohrabuddin case. “I think the chief minister is continuing to interfere with the judicial process. I don’t think it is correct for the CM to give a certificate of innocence to any accused from a public platform,” he says.

This is what happens when land, wetland at that, becomes the heart of battle, in this case the seaside village of Sompeta, 120 km from Srikakulam town. The Hyderabad-based Nagarjuna Construction Company (NCC) picks 1,100 acres of wetland here to build a thermal plant. The villagers object. On 14 July, they come to protest. Facing them are 200 NCC workers with blue ribbons and wielding lathis. Around 200 police personnel wait with batons, shields and helmets. The slogans begin: “Go back NCC”.

The biggest rebellion in Indian politics right now puts Sonia Gandhi in a fix. So, what’s next? First-time Lok Sabha member YS Jagan Mohan Reddy challenges Sonia over what he considers his rightful place as chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, the revolt comes from the streets.