ONTHATDAY.IN

Travelling to

31 March 1965

Preparing your journey through India as it was that day.

Calibrating the date

Vol. 1965No. 090New nation, new ambition

The India you were born into

Wednesday

For this date, put books and publishing in the foreground; the backdrop is an India where war with Pakistan placed national security alongside food production and economic development at the centre of public life.

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Prime MinisterLal Bahadur ShastriThe person in office on the selected date
PresidentSarvepalli RadhakrishnanHead of the Republic
WeatherSPRINGMild spring season
Vol. XIX · No. 90ARCHIVE EDITION
02 · OnThatDay.in

The Front Page

18 years after IndependencePM · Lal Bahadur Shastri
INDIA IN CONTEXT

India faces change and challenge

Security, food production and development define the decade

New nation, new ambition
New nation, new ambition. Era photograph, not taken on this date.OnThatDay archive

India was navigating regional conflict, political change and economic development during a transformative period.

Date
31 MAR 1965
Category
Nation
Source
Editorial historical context
Around this date

Venkataraghavan takes 8-72 vs New Zealand at Delhi.

Venkataraghavan takes 8-72 vs New Zealand at Delhi.

20 MAR 1965Culture

The year in context

196518 years after Independence
India–Pakistan war and food-security pressures. Wars, food security, political change and the Green Revolution reshaped national priorities.

Wars, food security, political change and the Green Revolution reshaped national priorities.

Composed from the OnThatDay archive: India chronology, world news, people, cinema & music, sport, technology and Everyday India records for The Year in Context.

02 · India in Numbers

India in Numbers

A snapshot of India when you were born.

In march 1965, a litre of petrol cost Loading… and a local phone call cost Loading….

Population · 1965
48.28 crore
Annual population estimate

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.

Sources
  • The Hindu archive
  • National archival records
  • Press and public memory
Rate List
New Delhi · 31 March 1965
Petrol1 L
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Rice1 kg
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Cinematicket
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Trainfare
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Phonecall
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Gold10 g
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Figures are averages for the monthThank you. Visit again.
MARCH
1965

04 · Sport

India on the field in 1965

HOCKEY · 1965 ·HOCKEY1965HIGHLIGHT

Moment of the year · Hockey

Indian hockey remains at the centre of national sport

The Olympic champions continued their international run.

1965

05 · 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.

Film of the year · 1965

Guide

A standout release from the year’s cinema calendar.

Also in theatresWaqt · Jab Jab Phool Khile · Gumnaam · Arzoo · Himalay Ki God Mein · Kaajal

AC-60 · 1965Aaj Phir Jeene Ki Tamanna Ha...archive cutArchive artistsHover to play the reels

Song of the year · 1965

"Aaj Phir Jeene Ki Tamanna Hai"

A standout track from the year’s radio rotation.

Also on the radio"Din Dhal Jaye Haye" · "Tere Mere Sapne" · "Jiya O Jiya Kuch Bol Do"

archive://india/1965/technology.log02 entries

$ cat science-and-technology-1965

Television and the beginning of the space age

What science and technology looked like in India in 1965.

Space Science & Technology Centre established

The Thumba-based centre strengthened India's emerging space capability.

Technology moves closer to daily life

Computing, communication and consumer electronics were gradually moving from specialist institutions toward ordinary homes, offices and public life.

08 · THE PEOPLE OF THE YEAR

Faces of 1965

NO. 11965
Politics

Lal Bahadur Shastri

Led India during the 1965 Indo-Pakistani War and coined the national slogan 'Jai Jawan Jai Kisan'.

NO. 21965
Nation

Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw

Promoted to Western Command leadership, playing a key role in operational strategy.

NO. 31965
Economy

Indira Gandhi

Served as Information and Broadcasting Minister, managing communication during the war effort.

NO. 41965
Cricket

M. S. Swaminathan

Collaborated with Norman Borlaug to introduce high-yielding wheat varieties, launching the Green Revolution.

NO. 51965
Literature

Vikram Sarabhai

Designed national plans to utilize satellite broadcasting for education and rural development.

NO. 61965
Service

A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

Worked on initial design phases for India's first indigenous Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV).

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.

WORLD NEWS · 1965

Selma voting-rights march begins

7 MAR

The Selma-to-Montgomery campaign becomes a defining episode of the U.S. civil-rights movement.

WORLD NEWS ARCHIVE
11 · THE YEAR AT A GLANCE

1965, circled in red

The year India turned 18.

1965
Guide becomes one of Hindi cinema's landmark films
1965
India's hockey team remains a world power
1965
India's space and atomic programmes continue under new pressure
31 MAR
You arrive!
AUG–SEP
Indo-Pakistani War of 1965
26 SEP
Ceasefire ends the main fighting in the 1965 war
12 · The archive

Images from an India in transition.