Vol. 1966No. 276New nation, new ambition
The India you were born into
Monday3 October1966
One way into 3 October 1966: the making of modern India. Behind that everyday lens sits a year in which political transition, food shortages and economic pressure made this a consequential year for the Republic.
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.
Yugoslavia, UAR call on US at New Delhi to stop bombing of North Vietnam.
Yugoslavia, UAR call on US at New Delhi to stop bombing of North Vietnam.
India in Numbers
A snapshot of India when you were born.
In october 1966, 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 1966
Moment of the year · Hockey
India wins Asian Games hockey gold
India won the men's hockey title in Bangkok.
196605 · 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.
MERA SAAYA
Year 1966
Film of the year · 1966
Mera Saaya
Also in theatresTeesri Kasam · Suraj · Love in Tokyo · Phool Aur Patthar · Amrapali · Anupama
Song of the year · 1966
"Baharon Phool Barsao"
Also on the radio"Aaja Tujhko Pukare Mera Pyar" · "Jhumka Gira Re" · "Tum Bin Jaoon Kahan"
$ cat science-and-technology-1966
Television and the beginning of the space age
What science and technology looked like in India in 1966.
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 1966
Indira Gandhi
Became India's first female Prime Minister in January following the sudden death of Lal Bahadur Shastri.
Lal Bahadur Shastri
Signed the Tashkent Declaration with Pakistan's Ayub Khan and passed away hours later on 11 January.
Homi J. Bhabha
Tragically died in a plane crash near Mont Blanc on 24 January while serving as head of India's atomic program.
Vikram Sarabhai
Appointed Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission following Homi Bhabha's sudden demise.
M. S. Swaminathan
Accelerated field trials for Green Revolution crop varieties to overcome severe national food shortages.
Reita Faria
Became the first Asian woman to win the Miss World title.
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.
Tashkent Declaration is signed
10 JAN
The declaration is signed in Uzbekistan after the 1965 India–Pakistan war.
1966, circled in red
The year India turned 19.