memory storage

When Bell Laboratories first demonstrated a semiconductor device they named the transistor in 1947, scientists knew it could be used for audio amplification among its many other uses, but they were not able to predict May not be that it will become synonymous with listening. music. Transistor brought music to middle-class Indian homes in a way its predecessors – bulky, expensive record players – never could. Between the late 1950s and 1980s (when the Walkman came along), transistor radio provided a constant background music to urban Indian life. It was played continuously in homes, in tea shops, on trains and buses, in restaurants and cafes; As models became more and more compact, they were also carried in pockets as people listened to music and sports commentary on the go. It was more than just a medium; This gave rise to music stations, famous radio presenters such as Amin Sayani, and eventually gave a major boost to the Indian music industry, mainly Bollywood.

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IR8 Rice

IR8 rice is often touted as ‘a miracle grain’ that changed the lives of millions – and that’s no exaggeration. The high-yielding semi-dwarf rice variety was developed in the early 1960s by the International Rice Research Institute (an organization established by the American Ford and Rockefeller Foundations) and introduced to India in November 1966. A cross between Peta, a high-yielding rice variety from Indonesia, and Dee-Jio-Wu-Jen, a dwarf variety from China, the seeds increased rice yields by about 10-fold. Nekkanti Subba Rao, a pioneer farmer from Andhra Pradesh, was among the first Indian farmers to try the new rice variety. Before the use of IR8, farmers could expect a maximum of one and a half tonnes of rice per hectare, but IR8 yielded about 10 tonnes per hectare, as Subba Rao told BBC in 2016 celebrating 50 years of miracle Told during an event. Cereal is being introduced in India. IR8 effectively started the Green Revolution in India, which had become worryingly dependent on food supplies from Western countries. With the increase in wheat production and lifting millions out of poverty, the Green Revolution put India on the path of food self-sufficiency.

hmt watch

It may be a singular collectible item today. But in the early years of independent India, the HMT watch was a shining symbol of modernity and aspiration. Hindustan Machine Tools was founded in 1953, as one of several steps taken by a new state to create an industrial base for a country deprived of colonialism. Its watchmaking unit came about in 1961 in collaboration with the first wristwatch maker in India – Citizen Watch of Japan. The first set of ‘Janata’ matches were launched by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. It became a style statement for both the plebeian and the mighty. Its brand ambassadors were Indira Gandhi and Madhavrao Scindia. It was a watch gifted on all occasions from weddings to graduations. Before the quartz era, mechanical watches made by HMT were sturdy cases, ran without batteries, and required a few seconds of winding every day. Until the 1980s, it had a virtual monopoly on the market. For a certain vintage of people, it remains the timekeeper of India.

Bajaj Chetak

The vehicle that propelled the country and transformed it into one of the largest two-wheeler markets in the world began life as the Vespa Sprint, manufactured by Italian automotive manufacturer Piaggio. Bajaj Auto bought a license from Piaggio to manufacture two-wheelers in India, and in 1972, the scooter was renamed the Chetak after Maharana Pratap’s mythical horse, which rolled over from Bajaj’s factory in Akurdi, Pune. price approx 5,000, it was an immediate hit – and would have been even more popular if it had not been for the long waiting period required by the so-called ‘license raj’. Nevertheless, the Chetak became the epitome of a new dynamic nation, and a more globalized – 1970s family album essentially riding the Chetak, bell-bottomed and side-whiskered sitting behind young women dressed in polyester-sari Shows young men, smiling (back then some Indian women used to ride two-wheelers, though that would soon change). The Chetak was discontinued in 2005 but has recently regained life in the form of the Chetak EV, an electric vehicle introduced by the company – manufactured at the same Akurdi plant as the original.

Maggi Noodles

The word “instant” did not exist in the Indian kitchen vocabulary until 1983, when Nestle’s Maggi noodles entered the market promising a meal in “two minutes”. But where can you fit ready-to-eat noodles into the lentil-rice-roti-eating culture? Maggi noodles made themselves stand out for the modern Indian urban woman who needed a “healthy” evening snack for her growing children, but wasn’t happy spending just hours in the kitchen. Maggie Moms bought it—and, after all, so did the nation. In the coming years, Maggi became an iconic Indian snack, in the form of desi samosas, pajam porridge and bread pakora. And it didn’t stay in the kitchen. Maggi noodles are sold from thalas and fast-food joints, from college campuses to office centers. In the far flung corners of the country, from border posts to untouched beaches, if you can find shacks selling tea, you can find a plate of hot Maggi to go with it. For every Indian, Maggi is a favorite way to eat it – with eggs, vegetables and ketchup, or even with a sprinkling of bhujia. Whether it’s a midnight chat among friends or a dorm student’s quick snack, Maggi’s ubiquity makes it a part of our memories—and that rare thing, a Swiss bra, and she’s definitely Indian now.

cricket (tennis) ball

The Indian victory in the final match of the 1983 Cricket World Cup, played at Lord’s Cricket Ground on 25 June 1983, was much more than a game victory – it reflected a country emerging from the shadow of colonialism, a sport that showed its excellence What had been provided to us by the colonial powers had now been defeated on the playing field. It marked a pivotal moment for Indian cricket, which sparked a tremendous passion for the game in India. For millennials who grew up in the 1980s and 1990s, this meant playing cricket and emulating the nation’s heroes in any street or vacant lot, notwithstanding puddles or cows in the playground. And the ball was never an actual cricket ball, but was probably an invention of the subcontinent – a tennis ball that was hardened to suit cricketing conditions, or as the manufacturers say on an Amazon listing, a “cricket tennis ball”. From the famous 1983 final match for that cricket ball, Sunil Gavaskar revealed in 2020 that he still has it.

mixtape

Between 1975 and the 1990s, music enthusiasts and young lovers who preferred to go off the beaten path were obsessed with owning and exchanging cassette tapes with a personalized curation of songs. Everyone can buy albums containing popular bands or Bollywood music. But that won’t be the case for the discerning music lover who painstakingly put together tapes featuring their favorite songs. These can be collections—think Asha Bhosle’s best—or mixes—ABBA, Kishore Kumar, Queen and Bappi Lahiri, all on one side of a tape. It was a way of asserting your independence from the tyranny of music labels, while also letting your friends know how deep and widespread your appreciation for music was. Creating a mixtape for someone special was how many generations expressed their heartfelt music. In an age when the social norm was to mix and not separate, he offered young Indians a priceless way of asserting their individuality.

coco cola

It wasn’t always Coca-Cola for India. In 1977, the company, which had been operating in India since 1950, withdrew from the country protesting regulations limiting dilution of equity of multinational corporations. It was an era of socialism and protectionist economic policies, which lasted till the liberalization of the Indian economy. Soon after, the brand made a dramatic re-entry into the Indian market with a highly publicized event at the Taj Mahal on 24 October 1993. Agra became the first Indian city to taste Coke since it disappeared from India. No matter how big a cultural force it is to the rest of the world, Coca-Cola didn’t really leave an impossible-to-fill gap.

In the same year, the company acquired its Indian competitor, Thums Up, which had become incredibly popular in the intervening years, from Parle Agro. Some say that Coke was meant to kill Thums Up (with its tagline ‘Taste the Thunder’), which became hard for the later few years. But the Indian brand emerged stronger than ever, becoming a billion dollar brand last year alone.

smart fone

Apple launched its iPhone 3G in India on 22 August 2008—a year after it hit the US market in June 2007—providing stiff competition to Blackberry and Nokia, ruling the Indian smartphone market, as it was until then. . Then. A year later, Taiwanese handset maker HTC released India’s first Android-based smartphone.

It is difficult to accurately determine when smartphones became a fact of life in India – around 800 million Indians use them today and tech gurus estimate that India will have 1 billion smartphone users by 2026. The launch of 4G internet in 2012 and the disruptive entry of Reliance Jio in 2016, dramatically reducing the cost and footprint of wireless internet access is widely seen as the turning point in India’s smartphone revolution. Smartphones have proven to be a phenomenal cultural and economic force. It has democratized content creation and communication; it has transformed payments and economic inclusion by enabling tools such as the United Payments Interface; And it has affected every aspect of life, from education to healthcare to commerce.

ring light

In the early days of Covid, as the world was forced to work from home almost overnight, there was a realization during video calls – you couldn’t see many of your colleagues very well. The omnipresent “Can you hear me?” For, the default response became, “We can hear you but can’t see you very well”. In this way we all were compelled to understand the importance of light. Suddenly, how we looked in front of a camera – that too the front camera of our office-issued laptop, for god’s sake – mattered how we were seen at work. Enter ring-lights – these circular emitters of glow that are flatteringly reflected off your face and give “impressive rings” to your eyes – have become an essential accessory for the video calls that are now a reality of modern workplaces. Ring Lights first rose to prominence in the world of YouTubers and social media stars. Thanks to COVID and hybrid work, we are all united now.

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