Vol. 1984No. 137The long eighties
The India you were born into
Wednesday16 May1984
16 May 1984 can be remembered through the India outside the capital, while the wider country was living through a period when political violence and national trauma dominated the year, alongside important advances in technology and communications.
Change dateThe Front Page
India in a changing political era
Democracy, public life and national institutions remain in focus
India’s political landscape was evolving through major debates over democracy, development and national unity.
Dr. Rajah Sir Muthiah Chettiar, social reformer, passed away at Madras.
Dr. Rajah Sir Muthiah Chettiar, social reformer, passed away at Madras.
India in Numbers
A snapshot of India when you were born.
In may 1984, 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 1984
Moment of the year · Athletics
P. T. Usha misses an Olympic medal by 0.01 seconds
Usha finished fourth in the 400m hurdles at Los Angeles.
198405 · 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.
TOHFA
Year 1984
Film of the year · 1984
Tohfa
Also in theatresSharaabi · Mashaal · Sohni Mahiwal · Andar Baahar · Duniya · Aaj Ki Awaaz
Song of the year · 1984
"Zindagi Ki Yahi Reet Hai"
Also on the radio"Inteha Ho Gayi Intezar Ki" · "De De Pyar De" · "Har Kisi Ko Nahin Milta"
$ cat science-and-technology-1984
Computerisation and telecom modernisation
What science and technology looked like in India in 1984.
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 1984
Rakesh Sharma
Became the first Indian citizen to travel in space aboard Soyuz T-11 on 3 April.
Indira Gandhi
Ordered Operation Blue Star in June and was assassinated on 31 October by her bodyguards.
Rajiv Gandhi
Assumed office as Prime Minister on 31 October and led Congress to a record landslide victory in the general election.
Warren Anderson
Was chairman and CEO of Union Carbide when the Bhopal gas disaster struck the company's Indian subsidiary in December.
N. T. Rama Rao
Staged a major political movement in Andhra Pradesh, successfully reclaiming his Chief Ministership after an unconstitutional removal.
Bhupen Hazarika
Played a major cultural role in Assam and Indian music and cinema, including his acclaimed work during the decade's regional cultural resurgence.
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.
UK miners' strike begins
6 MAR
A nationwide miners' strike begins in Britain and becomes one of the country's defining industrial conflicts of the decade.
1984, circled in red
The year India turned 37.