Vol. 1974No. 221The dramatic seventies
The India you were born into
Friday9 August1974
Look at 9 August 1974 sideways: new technology reveals the everyday scale of a year in which india's nuclear programme became a defining strategic milestone as economic pressures continued to mount.
Change dateThe Front Page
India faces change and challenge
Security, food production and development define the decade
India was navigating regional conflict, political change and economic development during a transformative period.
A.Shankar was appointed as Narcotics Commissioner of India. He headed this office till 31st March 1977.
A.Shankar was appointed as Narcotics Commissioner of India. He headed this office till 31st March 1977.
India in Numbers
A snapshot of India when you were born.
In august 1974, a litre of petrol cost Loading… and a local phone call cost Loading….
Interpolated placeholder between benchmark years; replace with annual UN WPP estimate before publication. Not a census count. Source: current India population working dataset.
Prices from the month you were born, listed the way the kirana shop would have written them.
- The Hindu archive
- National archival records
- Press and public memory
04 · Sport
India on the field in 1974
Moment of the year · Hockey
India wins Asian Games hockey silver
India took silver at Tehran.
197405 · Cinema & music
What India was watching and humming
The film everyone queued for that month, and the song that played from every cassette player that year.
ROTI KAPADA AUR MAKAAN
Year 1974
Film of the year · 1974
Roti Kapada Aur Makaan
Also in theatresMajboor · Aap Ki Kasam · Haath Ki Safai · Manoranjan · Naya Din Nai Raat · Kunwara Baap
Song of the year · 1974
"Tere Mere Milan Ki Yeh Raina"
Also on the radio"Jeevan Ke Safar Mein Rahi" · "Mere Dil Ke Chain" · "Jai Jai Shiv Shankar"
$ cat science-and-technology-1974
Satellites, television and national communications
What science and technology looked like in India in 1974.
Technology moves closer to daily life
Computing, communication and consumer electronics were gradually moving from specialist institutions toward ordinary homes, offices and public life.
Faces of 1974
Indira Gandhi
Authorized 'Operation Smiling Buddha', India's first successful nuclear bomb test at Pokhran on 18 May.
Jayaprakash Narayan
Launched the 'Total Revolution' movement against corruption and government centralism, beginning in Bihar.
Raja Ramanna
Directed the team of scientists and engineers that executed the Pokhran-I nuclear test.
George Fernandes
Organized the 1974 Indian railway strike, halting national transport for three weeks.
Dhirubhai Ambani
Expanded Reliance Textile Industries through public investment and aggressive manufacturing growth.
Amitabh Bachchan
Solidified box-office dominance with successful multi-starrer film releases like 'Majboor'.
09 · BEYOND INDIA
Beyond India
Before the internet put the world in our pockets, news from abroad arrived through telegrams, radios, television sets and eventually phones.
Richard Nixon resigns
9 AUG
Nixon resigns the U.S. presidency amid the Watergate scandal.
1974, circled in red
The year India turned 27.