Vol. 1989No. 261The long eighties
The India you were born into
Monday18 September1989
18 September 1989 can be remembered through art and design, while the wider country was living through a period when political transition was gathering pace as the long Congress-dominated era faced a major electoral challenge.
Change dateThe Front Page
India enters a new decade
Technology, society and political change reshape public life
India was experiencing rapid change in communications, public policy and national politics.
Jawaharlal Nehru addresses the nation
Jawaharlal Nehru addresses the nation
India in Numbers
A snapshot of India when you were born.
In september 1989, 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 1989
Moment of the year · Cricket
Sachin Tendulkar makes his Test debut
Tendulkar debuted for India against Pakistan in Karachi.
198905 · 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.
MAINE PYAR KIYA
Year 1989
Film of the year · 1989
Maine Pyar Kiya
Also in theatresRam Lakhan · Chandni · Tridev · Parinda · ChaalBaaz · Batwara
Song of the year · 1989
"Mere Haath Mein"
Also on the radio"Aate Jaate Hanste Gaate" · "Dil Deewana" · "Mere Rang Mein Rangne Wali"
$ cat science-and-technology-1989
Computerisation and telecom modernisation
What science and technology looked like in India in 1989.
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 1989
V. P. Singh
Sworn in as Prime Minister after the National Front formed a government with outside support from the BJP and Left.
Sachin Tendulkar
Made his international Test debut for India against Pakistan at Karachi at the age of 16.
Rajiv Gandhi
Stepped down as Prime Minister after Congress lost its majority in the general election.
L. K. Advani
Led the BJP to increase its Lok Sabha presence from 2 to 85 seats.
A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
Directed the successful first flight test of the intermediate-range ballistic missile 'Agni'.
Salman Khan
Starred in 'Maine Pyar Kiya', which became a generation-defining blockbuster.
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.
Berlin Wall falls
9 NOV
East Germany opens its borders, and crowds begin dismantling the Berlin Wall.
1989, circled in red
The year India turned 42.