Vol. 1977No. 044The dramatic seventies
The India you were born into
Sunday13 February1977
Read 13 February 1977 from the ground up: start with neighbouring countries, then place it inside a year when a landmark election demonstrated the power of India's voters and transformed the country's political leadership.
Change dateThe Front Page
India under the Emergency
An exceptional period in the nation’s democratic history
India was living under the Internal Emergency, a period marked by restricted civil liberties and major political change.
Jagjivan Ram, Cabinet member of 30 years, resigns to protest emergency rule causing minor split in Congress party.
Jagjivan Ram, Cabinet member of 30 years, resigns to protest emergency rule causing minor split in Congress party.
India in Numbers
A snapshot of India when you were born.
In february 1977, 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 1977
Moment of the year · Cricket
Indian cricket expands its limited-overs identity
One-day international cricket was becoming increasingly important.
197705 · 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.
AMAR AKBAR ANTHONY
Year 1977
Film of the year · 1977
Amar Akbar Anthony
Also in theatresDharam Veer · Don · Hum Kisise Kum Naheen · Parvarish · Khoon Pasina · Gharonda
Song of the year · 1977
"Parda Hai Parda"
Also on the radio"Khaike Paan Banaraswala" · "My Name Is Anthony Gonsalves" · "O Saathi Chal"
$ cat science-and-technology-1977
Satellites, television and national communications
What science and technology looked like in India in 1977.
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 1977
Morarji Desai
Sworn in as India's first non-Congress Prime Minister after the Janata Party won the general election.
Jayaprakash Narayan
Helped forge the coalition of opposition parties into the Janata Party to defeat the Emergency administration.
Indira Gandhi
Lifted the Emergency, called for general elections, and subsequently lost her parliamentary seat in Rae Bareli.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Appointed Minister of External Affairs and delivered a speech in Hindi at the UN General Assembly.
L. K. Advani
Assumed office as Minister of Information and Broadcasting, ending Emergency censorship.
Amitabh Bachchan
Starred in 'Amar Akbar Anthony', the highest-grossing Indian film of the year.
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.
Jimmy Carter is inaugurated
20 JAN
Carter becomes the 39th president of the United States.
1977, circled in red
The year India turned 30.