What was going on when I was born?

Cynthia B. Dwyer, who spent more than nine months in a Teheran jail on espionage charges, was in Dubai yesterday on her way home to Amherst, N.Y. yesterday. She had stopped briefly in Dubai on the Persian Gulf after leaving Iran and her husband, John F. Dwyer, said she was expected to arrive in New York this afternoon by way of Switzerland. Mr. Dwyer, chairman of the English Department at Buffalo State College, said that he spoke with his wife for about five minutes while she was in Dubai and that ''she seems wonderful.'' He said they did not discuss her months in jail or the espionage charges. ''That was the least of our concerns,'' he said.

A smoky fire raced through some upper floors of the Las Vegas Hilton Hotel tonight, injuring at least 30 people. The Associated Press reported that more than 70 people were injured and taken to hospitals. The fire, which started shortly after 8 P.M., was controlled 90 minutes later. It occurred less than a mile from the darkened MGM Grand Hotel, where a Nov. 21 fire killed 85 people and injured more than 700.

New York State's Industrial Commissioner, Philip Ross, told the Senate Labor Committee today that his appointed successor, Meyer S. Frucher, had offered to keep him on a state payroll for a transition period. But he denied assertions that the offer had been made in return for a pledge to give favorable testimony on Mr. Frucher's nomination by Governor Carey. At a news conference after the closed hearing, Mr. Ross said Mr. Frucher had suggested that Mr. Ross's temporary unspecified job be paid for with funds from the Federal Comprehensive Employment and Training Act. Mr. Ross said that this proposal ''made me indignant'' and that he had told Mr. Frucher that he considered such a use of CETA funds improper.

The Polish Supreme Court today rejected an appeal by private farmers that they be allowed to form an independent trade union. The court's ruling was softened somewhat by a complicated decision saying, in effect, that farmers had rights under international law to unionize but had no such right under Polish law because they were self-employed, not employees. Instead, the court said, the case should go before the Warsaw city administration, which could register the farmers' organization as an ''association'' - a grouping without collective bargaining rights. Elsewhere in Poland, the labor picture eased after the abrupt removal last night of Prime Minister Jozef Pinkowski and his replacement by Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski, Minister of Defense since 1968.

There is considerable hope in Western Europe that President Reagan and Secretary of State Alexander M. Haig Jr. will bring flexibility, nuance and coherence to the management of American foreign policy. But remarks from the new Administration in Washington have already modified this optimism without fatally damaging it. Several European leaders have questioned whether harsh remarks by Mr. Reagan and Mr. Haig in their first few weeks in office about the Soviet Union can serve a constructive purpose. Others were struck by the apparent lack of coordination and sensitivity to the internal political problems of some allies that permitted Defense Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger to reopen discussion on stationing neutron weapons in Europe. Allies Are Now More Watchful Although Mr. Haig sought to smooth out the neutron weapons issue, the result is a more watchful attitude toward the Administration. Interviews with policy makers in six member countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in the months leading up to the inauguration reflected a generalized hope that Mr. Reagan would bring more firmness to American policy while dropping his intense antiSoviet attitudes and his commitment to return the United States to a position of military superiority.

The State Department said today that the United States regarded a Soviet military intervention in Poland as ''neither imminent nor inevitable not justifiable.'' On the change in Prime Ministers yesterday, the State Department commented, ''We see no development that has occurred in Poland that has caused us to change our assessment that the Poles are perfectly capable of handling their internal affairs without outside interference.'' (In Moscow, Western diplomats said they felt the situation had reached a dangerous stage. They said the pattern of events in Poland and Soviet press comment suggested that the Kremlin was losing patience. Page 6.)

In an indication that consumers remained cautious in their borrowing habits during December, the Federal Reserve Board reported yesterday that installment debt during that month rose at an annual rate of 6 percent, or by a seasonally adjusted $1.62 billion. Although the rate of increase was considerably higher than the 4 percent reported for the entire fourth quarter, it remained well below the rate of growth of personal income, which amounted to 11.4 percent in December and 12 percent for the quarter. ''The numbers were a little stronger than we had anticipated, but they still represented a small increase,'' said Douglas L. Bendt, vice president and economist at the Chase Manhattan Bank. Other economists said also they viewed the rise in consumer credit as additional evidence that the economy remained relatively strong during the last month of the year.

-------------------------------------------------------------------- B.H. Fussell is a freelance writer who specializes in food. By B.H. FUSSELL ''IDON'T go by any recipe, I just cook natural,'' said Cleo Johns, the soft-faced, soft-voiced woman who runs Cleo's La Cuisine Catering in Maplewood, N.J. There is a down-home elegance to her food, and that comes naturally, too. For years, she has been feeding potato fritters at bar mitzvahs to boys who will later feast at their weddings on her barbecued ribs, southern-fried chicken, lobster and spaghetti, corn pudding and famous chocolate souffle. Cooking, she says, is like ''turning on a faucet.''

President Reagan today announced the creation of an Economic Policy Advisory Board, an outside group of 12 prominent Republicans, most of whom have held high Government economic posts. The new board, to be headed by George P. Shultz, former Secretary of the Treasury, will report to Donald T. Regan, current Secretary. It ''will meet every three or four months to advise the President with respect to the conduct and objective of both domestic and international economic policy of the United States,'' a White House announcement said. The board met here today late into the afternoon.

Chirac, a former ally, challenges Giscard A3 Abduction of Jordanian envoy jolts normally blase Beirut A3 Report of aid to Salvadoran rebels delays wheat sale to Nicaragua A4 Around the World A5 U.N. says it wrongly accused Israel of an atrocity in Lebanon A6 Iraqis open local drive in Iran after President visits front A6 General Around the Nation A12 Accused Nazi war criminal goes on trial in Cleveland A12 Bank suspends manager accused of fraud by boxing promoter A14 Texas lawyer gets jail term in Libya swindle plot A16 Californian in line to become bar group's top-ranking woman A22 A medical witness gives a slide show in Jean S. Harris's trial B2 Warner executive pleads guilty in theater case B2 The City B3 Economic gains of black men overstated, study finds B7 LINCOLN'S BIRTHDAY Tomorrow is Lincoln's birthday. Following are holiday schedules: Parking - Alternate-side rules suspended. Sanitation - No collections; no street sweeping. Federal offices - Open. State and municipal offices - Closed. Postal services - Regular schedules. Banks - Closed. Stock and commodity markets - Open. Transportation - Regular schedules. Libraries - Closed. Schools - Open tomorrow, closed Friday.

''And I can assure you, by morning I'll be hung in effigy.

CROCKHAM HILL, England WEARING boots and a heavy jacket against the morning chill, Nicholas Couldry crept through the underbrush, listening for the sound of the huntsman's horn, as he followed a pack of hounds through the misty Kent countryside. But although it was a typical English fox hunt, he was not hunting the fox; he was hunting the hunters. Mr. Couldry, a 21-year-old civil servant, is one of a rapidly growing army of so-called ''hunt saboteurs'' who spend every Saturday throughout the season sabotaging fox hunts all over Britain, in a campaign to have the sport made illegal. To the enormous irritation of the hunters, they spray the ground that a fox has crossed with a chemical compound that takes away its scent; they make diversionary noises to distract the pursuing hounds, and, from across a field or behind a wood, they blow huntsmen's horns of their own, to send the pack charging off in the wrong direction.