Throwback: 1979 Newspaper Ad Celebrating Indian Travellers Abroad Goes Viral

Nowadays, going abroad and posting pictures on social media is too common. But have you ever seen them being congratulated and being in the newspaper for the same reason? But it was in trend 40–50 years ago. A post on X went viral with a newspaper cutting dated September 23, 1979, had a column with the title “GOING ABROAD.”

The viral X post shows a newspaper cutting in which a man is congratulated by his partners for going on a foreign business trip. The newspaper cutting was shared by @outofofficedaku on X with a caption that reads, “In the 70s ads were put in newspapers congratulating Indians who would be travelling abroad.”

The text says,

“GOING ABROAD

Brahmavar Tenkumane PRAHLLADA SHETTY,

Director 
Kohinoor Rolling Shutters & Engineering Works Pvt. Ltd. Bangalore.

Partner.
Gautam Industries, Bangalore. Visiting U.K., West Germany, Switzerland and all other Euro- pean Countries, On his Business Tour.

Wishing success:
Sadhana Industries. Hegde Industries. Welcome Associates, Hira Enterprises. Seetharam Shetty & Family. B. Vishwanath Shetty & Family. A. Gunapala Shetty & Family. S. N. Rai & Family.”

The post has garnered more than 1.5 lakh views and 2400 likes. And people in the comment section shared their experiences on this topic.

One user wrote, ”You have no idea how tough it was to get a telephone, leave alone a passport. Getting a ticket and visa to go abroad was like winning the Olympics.”

Another one said, “It was a very, very big deal. When my grandparents used to travel back in the 70s, the entire extended family (I mean 30+ people) came to the airport, with food etc., had a nice picnic and waited there for hours till the plane took off.”

A third user added, ”Have seen them even in 90s and as late as even early 2000s.”