Vol. 1983No. 029The long eighties
The India you were born into
Saturday29 January1983
Look at 29 January 1983 sideways: air travel reveals the everyday scale of a year in which india's sporting confidence rose sharply while technology and economic modernisation continued underneath it.
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.
Piloo Mody, veteran Parliament member and senior leader of Janata Party, passed away.
Piloo Mody, veteran Parliament member and senior leader of Janata Party, passed away.
India in Numbers
A snapshot of India when you were born.
In january 1983, 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 1983
Moment of the year · Cricket
India wins the Cricket World Cup
Kapil Dev's India defeated West Indies at Lord's.
198305 · 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.
COOLIE
Year 1983
Film of the year · 1983
Coolie
Also in theatresHero · Himmatwala · Betaab · Naukar Biwi Ka · Avtaar · Masoom
Song of the year · 1983
"Jimmy Jimmy Aaja"
Also on the radio"Humein Tumse Pyaar Kitna" · "Tujhse Naraz Nahin Zindagi" · "Neele Neele Ambar Par"
$ cat science-and-technology-1983
Computerisation and telecom modernisation
What science and technology looked like in India in 1983.
INSAT-1B
INSAT-1B strengthened India’s satellite communications and broadcasting infrastructure.
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 1983
Kapil Dev
Captained India to its historic first Cricket World Cup victory, defeating the West Indies at Lord's.
Sunil Gavaskar
Broke Don Bradman's record of 29 Test centuries by scoring his 30th Test century against the West Indies.
A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
Launched the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP) to develop Agni and Prithvi missiles.
Indira Gandhi
Hosted the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in New Delhi.
Rajiv Gandhi
Appointed General Secretary of the All India Congress Committee (AICC).
Mohinder Amarnath
Named Man of the Match in both the semi-final and final of the 1983 Cricket World Cup.
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.
ARPANET adopts TCP/IP
1 JAN
The transition to TCP/IP becomes a foundational milestone in the development of the modern internet.
1983, circled in red
The year India turned 36.