Dehradun, Oct. 25 -- Clock Tower under snow on Dec 17, 1961

By: Ganesh Saili

Anyone would gasp at the number of transistors people held, their telescopic antennas flashing like sabres in the air. In 1970, radio commentary had brought cricket into our homes. On top of that, to promote our family planning programme, the government gave away free transistors to those undergoing vasectomies. So, no matter where you turned, you'd find folks glued to their transistors.

A pedantic friend tells me that the correct term is transistorised radio receiver, but practically everyone called it transistor. One-day cricket had come into its own, and the radio commentaries had folks glued to their sets. By 1970, it was huge, bigger than big. The list of...