Vol. 1986No. 046The long eighties
The India you were born into
Saturday15 February1986
Read 15 February 1986 from the ground up: start with space and scientific ambition, then place it inside a year when education, computers and telecommunications were increasingly presented as tools for India's modernisation.
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.
Pope John Paul II arrives in New Delhi for a 10-day visit.
Pope John Paul II arrives in New Delhi for a 10-day visit.
India in Numbers
A snapshot of India when you were born.
In february 1986, 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 1986
Moment of the year · Athletics
P. T. Usha wins four Asian Games golds
Usha won four golds and one silver at Seoul.
198605 · 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.
KARMA
Year 1986
Film of the year · 1986
Karma
Also in theatresNagina · Naam · Janbaaz · Ek Chaddar Maili Si · Sadaa Suhagan · Chameli Ki Shaadi
Song of the year · 1986
"Zindagi Har Kadam Ek Nai Jung Hai"
Also on the radio"Mera Kuchh Samaan" · "Tere Mere Beech Mein" · "Aye Dil-e-Nadaan"
$ cat science-and-technology-1986
Computerisation and telecom modernisation
What science and technology looked like in India in 1986.
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 1986
Rajiv Gandhi
Passed the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act and launched the National Policy on Education.
P. T. Usha
Won 4 gold medals and 1 silver medal at the Seoul Asian Games, becoming India's track icon.
V. P. Singh
Cracked down on tax evasion and corporate corruption as Finance Minister before being moved to Defence.
Sunil Gavaskar
Played key roles in the famous tied Test against Australia in Chennai.
A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
Successfully oversaw test trials for tactical short-range missile systems.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Led the opposition in Parliament against the government's economic policies.
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.
Space Shuttle Challenger breaks apart
28 JAN
Challenger is destroyed shortly after launch, killing all seven crew members.
1986, circled in red
The year India turned 39.