What some papers reported on Valentine’s Day in 1961

On February 14, 1961, ‘The Hindu’, Madras, was scooping the news that Rajendra Prasad would not seek a third term as President—and R.K. Laxman’s creation ‘Gattu’ had made his debut in an Asian Paints ad.

‘The Times of India’ at a cover price of 16 naye paise, claimed the “largest net sales among all daily newspapers in India”—and was reporting Pakistani efforts to stop piracy of Bollywood films.

‘The Statesman’, Calcutta highlighted that it was minus-2 degrees in Darjeeling—and all 5 Tests in a home series against Pakistan had ended in a draw. The 12-page issue was priced at 16 naye paise.

The front page of the ‘Dawn’, Karachi, reported that Queen Elizabeth was visiting Dacca—and prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru was deploring the communal violence in Jabalpur, saying “our health is not good”.

The ‘Free Press Journal’ reported that a “section of the Press noted for its political opportunism, sensation-mongering and communal slant” had fuelled the Jabalpur riots.

The remarkably clean front page of the Tamil daily ‘Dina Thanthi’, for long India’s highest selling newspaper at 7 paise per copy, was reporting the opening of the Budget session of Parliament—and had 24 subheads.

‘The Indian Express’ recorded the “worst weather” in Shimla in 100 years—and had special reports from Moscow, United Nations, Vientiane and Elizabethville. It carried a pocket cartoon called ‘Babuji’ on the front page.

‘Hindusthan Standard’ from the Anandabazaar Patrika group announced a 6-part serialisation of a Fidel Castro biography. Berry Sarbadhikary was reporting on the drawn Test in Delhi.

‘Malayala Manorama’ (cover price 8 naye paise) featured Vice-President S. Radhakrishnan’s visit to Kerala, and the assassination of former Congolese leader Lumumba.

The ‘Deccan Herald’ and ‘Prajavani’ did not have an edition on Valentine’s Day in 1961 as their offices were shut the previous day for Shivarathri. On February 15th issue of Deccan Herald, the caption to a cartoon by Murthy on the India-China border row read, “Possession is three quarters of the law”!