Trends | Reflections of the past

Between 1985 and 1995, India stopped being coy. Well, mostly. Habits entrenched over decades, perhaps centuries, cannot really be shed like yesterday’s socks. But a new insouciance, a capacity for questioning the old self, a willingness to look outward for comparisons, those set in. india today followed that shift closely.If the 1980s ended with doubt, anxiety and opacity, the 1990s replaced it with full transparency—a surfeit of visual stimuli. If institutions were to be tested, or beliefs unsettled, it would henceforth be beamed live. Minds take a lot more time to open than even India’s notoriously iron-clad markets, but the way to do it was via the tangible. The body became a project. Aerobics entered living rooms. The Indian middle class began sculpting itself. Health was now as aspirational as style. Fashion stepped out of five-star arcades and into neighbourhood boutiques. Ready-to-wear replaced the tailor. Labels multiplied. Disposable incomes reshaped urban life. Looking good became a daily choice. It was also a time when ambitions sharpened. New millionaires emerged from unlikely places. Soap makers challenged multinationals. Entrepreneurs broke free of the licence raj. india today showed how jugaad met scale, and how price, not pedigree, helped rewrite the rules.Technology arrived, and with it a quiet revolution. Computers entered government offices, banks, classrooms, and homes. Files moved faster. Queues shortened. But progress had many side-effects. Children became overburdened. Success arrived early, failure even earlier. We wrote about pressure, panic, and parents who turned pushy because the system left them no choice..preferred-source-banner{ margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:10px;}Power still operated in the shadows, of course—lobbyists knew how to move files, or stall them. The magazine peeled back the layers of persuasion and showed how money and access braided together at the top.Faith, too, became spectacle. Godmen rose and fell. Rajneesh dazzled, collapsed, and returned diminished. india today chronicled the arc without reverence or ridicule.Bodies also became commodities. Kidneys had prices. Even food lost its innocence. Chemicals entered kitchens. Safety lagged behind profit. The magazine warned that growth without regulation poisons slowly. As identities hardened and certainties cracked, India moved towards a new reckoning with modernity. india today was always part of that.- EndsPublished By: Shyam BalasubramanianPublished On: Jan 3, 2026

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Trends | Reflections of the past

After decades of stasis, the country was opening up in every manner possible. India Today followed the shift closely

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