Vol. 1987No. 184The long eighties
The India you were born into
Friday3 July1987
One way into 3 July 1987: space and scientific ambition. Behind that everyday lens sits a year in which regional conflicts and political tensions shared the stage with a growing technology and services economy.
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.
Rajiv Gandhi,Congress President, expels V. C. Shukla, Arif Mohammed Khan and Arun Nehru from Congress for anti-party activities.
Rajiv Gandhi,Congress President, expels V. C. Shukla, Arif Mohammed Khan and Arun Nehru from Congress for anti-party activities.
India in Numbers
A snapshot of India when you were born.
In july 1987, 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 1987
Moment of the year · Cricket
India co-hosts the Cricket World Cup
The 1987 World Cup was the first held outside England.
198705 · 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.
MR. INDIA
Year 1987
Film of the year · 1987
Mr. India
Also in theatresKhudgarz · Nayakan · Kaash · Ijaazat · Mirch Masala · Pushpak
Song of the year · 1987
"Hawa Hawai"
Also on the radio"Kaate Nahin Kat Te" · "Zindagi Pyar Ka Geet Hai" · "Har Kisi Ko Nahin Milta"
$ cat science-and-technology-1987
Computerisation and telecom modernisation
What science and technology looked like in India in 1987.
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 1987
Sunil Gavaskar
Became the first cricketer in history to score 10,000 runs in Test cricket and retired from international cricket.
V. P. Singh
Resigned from the cabinet over Bofors corruption allegations and formed the Jan Morcha movement.
Rajiv Gandhi
Deployed the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) to Sri Lanka following the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord.
Ramanand Sagar
Created and broadcast the television series 'Ramayan', creating an unprecedented cultural phenomenon across India.
Kapil Dev
Captained India to the semi-finals of the 1987 Reliance World Cup on home soil.
Dhirubhai Ambani
Sponsored the 1987 Cricket World Cup (Reliance Cup), showcasing corporate branding prowess.
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.
INF Treaty is signed
8 DEC
The United States and Soviet Union sign a landmark treaty eliminating an entire class of nuclear missiles.
1987, circled in red
The year India turned 40.