1975
The Emergency
It lasted only 18 months From it we learnt that the distance between democracy and dictatorship can be bridged easily.

1982
Colour TV
On November 19, 1982, viewers saw life in colour for the first time, even if it were gymnastics at the Asian Games. One lakh CTV sets were imported.

1983
Sachet Revolution
It began with shampoo in sachets. Now everything from toothpaste to hair oil is sold in this form.

1982
Public Interest Litigation
Although abused often (over 300 PILs are pending before the Supreme Court, many of them frivolous), it continues to give marginalised citizens access to justice. Its threat value too is no less.

1968
Jaipur Foot
The artificial limb developed in Jaipur is known for transforming lives of the handicapped. The prosthesis was upgraded in 1985.

1977
Mark II Pump
To a drought-scarred India, Mark II was more than a cheap durable water pump. From 600 units a month in 1977, one lakh units were being manufactured by 1984. It's among the best hand pumps in the world today.

1983
Cricket World Cup
With that win at Lord's, Indians found themselves hooked to the instant fix of cricket, a year-round entertainment package for the whole family which became the obsession it continues to be.

1985
Shah Bano Case
It prompted Rajiv Gandhi to come up with the Muslim Women (Protection on Rights of Divorce) Act. This controversial Act pitted women's individual rights against the rights of a minority group.

1988
Lowering of Minimum Voting Age
By including 18-21-year-olds in the polls, India finally gave voice to the youth, resulting in an additional 4.7 crore voters in the country.

1973
The Chipko movement
In 1980, this unique movement in Garhwal led to a 15-year ban on green felling in the Himalayan forests.

1978
Expanded Programme for Immunisation
The single-largest immunisation drive ever attempted by any country, it brought down child mortality from the abysmal annual rate of 100.

1983
Maruti 800
The car, ridiculed at conception, not only became a middle-class necessity but also put more women behind wheels.

1986
Equity Cult
When companies like Reliance Industries-which raised an army of 12 million shareholders in eight years-came out with public issues, ordinary Indians took the expressway to lakhpati-dom.

1989
Snip, Heat and Eat
It began to gain steam with the introduction of soup packets. Today the ready-to-cook/eat foods in the market is a whopping Rs 200 crore business.

1990
Reservation
Originating in the Mandal Commission, it kicked off a debate: is it a state-built crutch for the under-privileged or the death of democracy?

1994
Beauty Crowns
Spearheaded by Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai, the Indian patent on international beauty crowns spawned an entire industry; nobody now wants to be a beauty school dropout. More-over, there's Bollywood calling.

1995
Cyber Café
When India's first cyber café opened in Bangalore, little did people realise how quickly and fundamentally, dotcom would change India. Today 60 per cent of India's Net users access the web through cyber cafés.

2000
BPO industry
It represented a new paradigm for international trade in services. Call centres were a Mecca for fresh graduates looking for decent pay packets.

2001
Tehelka
The 2001 sting operation that uncovered the nexus between politicians and arms dealers also pioneered a new brand of journalism-spy cam reporting-and today anybody and everybody can be a target in this nation of voyeurs.

1991
Cable and Satellite TV
Thanks to the surfing frenzy of cable TV, the average Indian watches two hours of TV every day and there are 300 channels fighting for mindshare. The latest to beam is direct-to-home TV.

1994
Page 3 Phenomena
The dumbing down of the media forced to cater to the voracious appetite of the public for celeb gossip. This led to everybody, from Delhi shopkeeper to tinseltown's ruling deities sharing column space.

1997
Multiplex
The number stands at 250 today, while 1,000 more are expected to start withing the next five years.

2000
Reality TV
Be it KBC, Nach Baliye or The Great Laughter Challenge, everyone wanted his/her 15 minutes of TV fame.

2005
Low Cost Airlines
Air Deccan, then the copycats, gave wings to those who never imagined flying for "Re 1 plus taxes".

1992
Mumbai Riots and Blasts
It was urban India's first confrontation with RDX, the new face of terror that changed Mumbai, and all of this had its roots in distant December 6, 1992, when a mosque was demolished in Ayodhya.

1995
Indipop
With Alisha Chinai's Made in India in 1995, the Indipop genre now croons erotic remixes and bouncy bhangra.

1999
Easy Credit:
Life-on-EMI became the mantra as banks fought with each other to offer more attractive loans, making life easier for people.

2001
Mall Culture
Size does matter when it comes to good old-fashioned retail therapy. In 2001, there were just three shopping malls in the country; by 2007 the figure is expected to reach 343. Welcome, mall rats.

2006
Cheap Mobile Phones
July 2006 alone saw 5.28 million new mobile subscribers. Be it in the dunes of Rajasthan or the delta of Bengal, this is the most potent weapon available to the country to bridge the digital divide.

Index