Emergency ends, Morarji is PM. March 24, 1977
After a 21-month long national Emergency, India resoundingly trashed the Congress’ thirty-year rule. Morarji Desai become India’s first non-Congress Prime Minister. Euphoria swept the nation. The Janata Party and its collaborators formed India’s first coalition government. Many parties in power today trace their genesis to that time. Jan Sangh then is today’s BJP. The Bharatiya Kisan Dal of that day has spawned various regional outfits today.

Left Front wins in WB, 30 years of red rule. March 1977
During the 1977 West Bengal election, the CPM offered its Janata allies a majority of seats if it came to power. Janata’s greed for more wrecked the alliance but a massive wave of worker-peasant discontent propelled the stunned Stalinists to power. Since then, they haven’t lost a single state election, becoming the world’s longest serving, democratically elected communist government. Paradoxically this electoral success has coincided with an overall economic decline in the state

SLV-3 satellite launcher succeeds. July 18, 1980
On July 18, 1980, India's image as a country of bullock-carts was changed forever. The SLV-3, our first satellite launcher, punched a 30 kg satellite 300 km into space. ‘Made in India’ suddenly was a tag to be proud of. Today, India hurls indigenous satellites as big as trucks 36,000 km into space, saving billions in foreign exchange. And Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, team leader of that operation is today our President.

Colour TV launched. November 19, 1982
Indians saw colours come alive on screen for the first time. November 19, 1982 saw the first colour telecast of the Asian Games in Delhi. It wasn’t cheap, an Indian colour TV cost Rs 8,000. An imported set, Rs 15,000. Yet, TV sales boomed. And Indians were hooked to the idiot box.

India wins the World Cup. June 25, 1983
The Venue: Home of India’s past colonial masters. The enemy: West Indies, invincible supermen. The Result: victory. By grabbing India’s first and till date only World Cup, Kapil's Devils made cricket an entire nations everlasting obsession. A sport weighed down by Victorian values and Anglo-centric ethos suddenly blossomed in a landscape of dazzling colour and variety. It’s an event still etched in sharp memory for many Indians.

Maruti 800 launched. December 1983
On roads ruled by the Ambassador and the Premier Padmini, not many gave the 800 a chance. Yet, in just two years, it became India’s largest selling car. By becoming a middle-class necessity and putting more women behind the wheel than any other car in India, the 800 redefined the concept and class of mobility.

Family Soaps Hum Log & Ramayan. 1984-86
157 episodes telecast. 214 crore man-hours glued to the TV. 400 letters a day flooding the Doordarshan office. By the time Hum Log wound down in December 1985, its blend of homespun family values and Ashok Kumar’s breathless homilies were already the stuff of legend. In January 1986, Ramayan hit the screen and Sunday mornings were never the same again. Ramanand Sagar's TV adaptation of Valmiki's ancient epic had the nation begging for more. Side by side Hindutva fever began sweeping the nation.

Operation Bluestar, Indira killed. June 1984
When Khalistani militants took shelter in Amritsar’s Golden Temple, Indira ordered the army in. Sikhism’s holiest shrine was besieged from June 3 to June 6 - it was one of the worlds biggest counter-terrorist operations. Five months later, Indira paid with her life for her boldness. The assassination sparked off crazed anti-Sikh riots - hundreds of innocent Sikh families were slaughtered in cold blood.

Bhopal Gas Tragedy. December 3, 1984
On the night of December 3, more than three lakh unsuspecting Bhopalis were suffocated by a mix of methyl isocyanate, chloroform and hydrochloric acid leaking from the local Union Carbide plant. More than two thousand died instantly. The survivors never got well again. Their children are still born with genetic defects. Investigations revealed that all safety regulations had been brazenly flouted.

Equity markets cult takes root. February 11, 1986
On February 11, 1986, 110 companies came out with public issues -extraordinary for what was at that time, a fledgling primary market. The prime mover of the equity cult in that era - Reliance Industries. It raised an army of 12 million shareholders, created wealth for them and democratized the stock markets - much before Infotech companies took over.