Newspaper Ad From 1979 Congratulating Indian Man Travelling Abroad Goes Viral

Ever wondered how many desis have made a foreign land their present home; or how many of us travel there annually? You'll find the answers to those questions below but we'll leave you with one question: can you imagine getting featured in a newspaper advertisement for a planned business trip? The '70s were simpler times, clearly.

How many Indians presently live/travel abroad?

Over two crore Indians choose international destinations for their vacations | Image: Unsplash

There are more than three crore Indians currently settled abroad, a report from November 2023 reveals. According to the Ministry of External Affairs, there are 321,00,340 people currently living abroad, including 134,59,195 Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) and 186,83,645 Persons of Indian Origin (PIO).

Not only that, a 2022-23 report from the Ministry of Tourism reveals that over two crore Indians choose international destinations for their vacations. To put that in perspective, a 1970 census recorded 51,000 foreign born from India in the United States. With these sizeable numbers, it's hard to believe that there was a simpler time when living or travelling abroad was worthy of a tiny space in a newspaper. But believe it or not, it was. So much so that news of one Indian man's excursion made it to a newspaper dated September 23, 1979.

Who does the old newspaper advertisement feature?

Bengaluru resident, Mr Prahllada Shetty, is featured here in this vintage ad from 1979

The advertisement featured in an English-language newspaper and dated September 23, 1979, features Prahllada Shetty, Director, Kohinoor Rolling Shutters & Engineering Works Pvt. Ltd. Bangalore. The ad is a message from the featured man's business associates where they're congratulating him on his upcoming business trip to the U.K., West Germany, Switzerland and other European countries.

X user @outofofficedaku shared this little slice of Indian history on April 9 with the caption: "In the 70s ads were put in newspapers congratulating Indians who would be travelling abroad."

Check out the viral post below:

In the 70s ads were put in newspapers congratulating Indians who would be travelling abroad pic.twitter.com/O7Ekz16Lxy

¡ª Backpacking Daku (@outofofficedaku) April 9, 2024

How did the internet react?

The viral post collected over 1,73,000 views, 2,506 likes and comments to match.

"Who knows, maybe like they need all sorts of stuff for a visa now, back then they needed a newspaper ad to prove intent,' one X user ventured a guess. "You have no idea how tough it was to get a telephone, let alone a passport. Getting a ticket and visa to go abroad was like winning the Olympics," said another, putting things into perspective. "We have indeed come a long way in the last half a century," wrote a third.

What are your thoughts on this?

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