What was going on when I was born?

Greece's Socialist opposition won a major victory in parliamentary elections today, bringing an end to 35 years of pro-Western conservative rule. Prime Minister George Rallis conceded defeat after early returns showed that the Panhellenic Socialist Movement of Andreas Papandreou had taken a commanding lead in most parts of the country. ''We will not lead the country into any adventure,'' Mr. Papandreou, the son of George Papandreou, a former Prime Minister of Greece, said in a victory speech. The Socialist victory, achieved with strong backing in the countryside, could mean radical change in this country's foreign policy since the party's program expresses opposition to Greece's membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the European Economic Community and to the presence of American bases here.

The Jets achieved one of the startling upsets of the season yesterday by trouncing the Buffalo Bills, 33-14, at Shea Stadium. ''There was a Remember Pearl Harbor syndrome around here,'' said Marvin Powell, the right tackle, alluding to the opening game of the season, when Buffalo embarrassed the Jets, 31-0. Yesterday, the Jets relied on opportunism, quarterback pressure, bizarre plays - things that opposing teams used in victories over them. And even though Bruce Harper did not prove he could count backward, he still played a key role in the game - a game that ended with Mark Gastineau, the defensive end, refusing to leave the field, waving to the crowd, demanding to hear their applause.

Bowing to Congressional opposition, White House officials agreed today to trim by more than half the $13 billion package of new budget cuts proposed for the 1982 fiscal year, which began Oct. 1. At the same time President Reagan said the nation's economy was in a ''slight'' recession. At a White House meeting, key Reagan Administration officials and Howard H. Baker Jr., the Senate majority leader, also agreed to a measure that would produce more than double the amount of new revenue that the President had proposed, according to Congressional and Administration sources. The White House officials agreed to seek $5 billion to $6 billion in new budget cuts, according to an aide to the Senate Republican leader and a spokesman for the Office of Management and Budget. These would take the form of reductions in discretionary appropriations, these sources indicated.

Nine months ago President Reagan pledged to end the recent pattern of Administrations speaking with conflicting voices on foreign and military policy. But there are still mixed signals and there is still no disciplined system for making decisions in these areas, according to Administration officials, legislators and foreign diplomats interviewed over the last month. Mr. Reagan said that he intended to solve the problem by downgrading the role of the national security adviser, upgrading that of the Secretary of State and re-establishing an orderly decisionmaking system. But dozens of officials who were interviewed said his efforts had not yet succeeded. ''You can see my frustration,'' said a senior Administration official. ''Cabinet government works on the domestic side, but there is nothing comparable on the national security side.''

What is expected to be the largest and most complex arbitration process ever conducted gets under way this week as an international tribunal convenes to accept the claims of American corporations that did business with Iran before the fall of the Shah. Carpenters have been hastily working to complete shelving here in the Peace Palace's Court of Arbitration, where as many as 2,500 claimants are expected to file depositions seeking more than $1 billion in compensation for expropriation of assets, breach of contract or unpaid debts. ''There have been claims tribunals after wars, in Coblenz between Germany and the Allies after the World War, and between Mexico and the United States many years ago,'' said Gunnar Lagergren, the 69-year-old Swedish jurist and expert on international arbitration who will lead the tribunal. ''But the size of this and its complexity makes it rather extraordinary.''

INTERNATIONAL Reporter's notebook: Ruining Zimbabwe's ruins A2 Cooking oil scandal hurts Spain abroad A3 Latin America economic gains are being eroded A6 Swedes stress armed strength to Weinberger A6 Around the World A9 Attitudes toward new Egyptian regime are divided A11 Reagan rejects Nixon's proposal for boycott of Libya A12 Soviet press reports briefly on Polish changes A14 U.S. voices concern over resolution adopted by Polish party A14 GOVERNMENT/POLITICS Layoffs and fiscal woes concern city's politicians and residents A16 Gotbaum, reflecting on primary, says Koch really lost B1 Partisan crowd cheers Florio as he debates Kean B2 Koch says recent remarks may harm relations with blacks B2 Abrams calls City Council reapportionment plan unlawful B3 WASHINGTON TALK Briefing A13 Georgetown Park project: a pleasant touch of Victoriana A18 Republicans yell "foul" over Democrats' news releases A18 The Calendar A18 RELIGION Rev. Sun Myung Moon stirs loyalty but remains distant B4 SPORTS MONDAY Baseball: Rain forces postponement of Expo-Dodgers game C8 Mets offer manager's job to Bamberger C8 Milbourne is happy surprise for Yankees C11 Columns: Red Smith on the winter game C8 Ira Berkow on Gene Michael C10 Features: Sports World Specials C2 Question Box C15 Football: Jets upset Bills 33-14, and stand .500 C1 Danelo kicks 6 field goals as Giants beat Seahawks 32-0 C1 Florida State makes comeback, takes on tough schedule C1 Davis accuses N.F.L. of attempt to "get me" C3 Golf: Pate wins Pensacola Open; Kite tops earnings list C13 Hockey: Johnstone scores twce as Rangers beat Blues C8 Outdoors: Rock climbing in the New York area C15 Statistics C14 GENERAL Vermont town competes with others in energy conservation A15 Around the Nation A16 Bob Hope and President Reagan attend dinner dance for U.S.O. A16 Hobbyists bring Texas longhorns back from near extinction A16 Boston judge accused of giving in to pressure in rape case A20 A ritual of autumn: homecoming weekend at Columbia B1 Joffrey Ballet celebrates 25th anniversary with street party B3 ARTS/ENTERTAINMENT David Henry Hwang's 'Family Devotions' is staged C17 Modernist art show in Moscow is four-month wonder C17 Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center gives recital C18 Boston Symphony marks its 100th anniversary C18 V.S. Naipaul's "Among the Believer's" is reviewed C21 Janacek's "Cunning Little Vixons" returns to City Opera C21 CBS-TV is showing an updated "Valley of the Dolls" C22 STYLE Relationships B10 Betty Friedan ushers in a second stage B10 Ungaro and Lagerfeld brighten Paris showings B10 OBITUARIES Dr. Walsh McDermott, researcher and Cornell professor D15 Virginia Lee, Chinese cook, teacher and author D15 FEATURES/NOTES Man in the News: Wojciech Jaruzelski, Poland's new leader A14 Man in the News: Stanislaw Kania, Poland's fallen leader A14 Notes on People C18 NEWS ANALYSIS John Darnton assesses Poland's new Communist Party leader A1 EDITORIALS/LETTERS Editorials A22 New harvest on farm policy Rogue elephants at large Give Citycaid a chance Letters A22 Anthony Lewis: Jimmy Carter and The Washington Post Flora Lewis: a visit to the Galapagos Islands A23 Robert L. Heilbroner: in Hoover's wake, helmsman Reagan A23 Jean Mayer: U.S. foreign-policy needs A23 Ross K. Bake: a former President's re-emergence A23

Shareholders, both French and foreign, of the banks and industrial companies that President Francois Mitterrand is trying to nationalize are organizing resistance groups and fighting back. In France, Switzerland, Belgium, West Germany and Britain, investors are forming committees and consulting lawyers to see how best to defend themselves against what promises to be the largest government takeover of private property since Eastern Europe fell to the Communists after World War II. With the French Socialists firmly in control of Parliament, the Government's nationalization program, which provides for the takeover of all big, private, French-owned banks as well as 11 major industrial corporations, is certain to pass. Compensation Ruling Sought But French shareholders, who have organized defense committees on a company-by-company basis, still hope to persuade the Constitutional Council, France's legal watchdog, to throw the program out, perhaps by showing that the Government is not offering ''just'' compensation required by the Constitution.

The Reagan Administration calls it ''revenue enhancement'' but the ranking Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee, Representative Barber B. Conable Jr. of upstate New York, calls it ''raising taxes'' and says he is against it - for the time being, anyway. Such intramural Republican division is one reason why President Reagan's Sept. 24 proposals to raise revenue to shrink prospective budget deficits will not be enacted this year. But by early 1982, when it becomes apparent that Congress will not cut spending as much as Mr. Reagan proposed, sentiment for raising revenue as an alternative will be building, according to aides of Senator Robert J. Dole of Kansas, the Republican chairman of the Finance Committee. In addition to $13 billion of spending cuts, Mr. Reagan asked for ''revenue enhancement'' of $3 billion in the 1982 fiscal year, which began Oct. 1, $8 billion in 1983 and $11 billion in 1984. David A. Stockman, director of the Office of Management and Budget, said that ''we will have to have another tax bill this fall,'' a comment that surprised the Treasury Department.

The caption on a photograph accom- panying the television listings on Saturday misidentified the subject. The photograph was of Field Marshal Viscount Slim.

International The Polish Communist leader was dismissed and replace by his Prime Minister, the Central Committee reported. Stanislaw Kania, who gained power at the height of the labor unrest last year, resigned and Prime Minister Wojciech Jaruzelski, was named his successor. General Jaruzelski is said to share Mr. Kania's moderate approach, so no abrupt attempt to reverse recent liberalizing changes in the country's political life was expected, but the leadership change came as Central Committee called for a tougher line against ''antisocialists.'' (Page 1, Column 6.) Greece's standing government fell as the opposition Panhellenic Socialists won a major victory in parliamentary elections. The victory of the Socialists, led by Andreas Papandreou, over the Government headed by Prime Minister George Rallis, brought to an end 35 years of pro-Western, conservative rule in Greece. The Socialist's success could mean radical changes in Greece's foreign policy since the party has opposed the country's membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the Common Market as well as the presence of American bases in Greece. (A1:4.)

The process by which a visitor enters the United States Embassy here is a sobering reminder of how imposing the American presence in Egypt has become, and how precarious it may be. To get in, one must first walk past two Egyptian guards armed with rifles and bayonets, and enter a guardhouse situated in the wall surrounding the compound. The guest asks the receptionist for a pass, and hands it through a slot to a marine guard in a bulletproof enclosure. The marine then calls the person to be visited. Visitors Pass Metal Detector When permission is granted, the outsider passes through a metal detector and walks across a manicured lawn to the main embassy building, a large white colonial edifice. The visitor is buzzed into the building, and passes through three more locked doors before finally arriving at the office of the diplomat to be seen.

With a good harvest in sight, China does not expect to buy any more American grain this year beyond the six million to nine million metric tons already agreed upon for the year, Agriculture Secretary John R. Block said today. Encouraging the Chinese to purchase more of this year's American crop had been one of the aims of Mr. Block when he arrived Friday for a visit that included talks with China's Agricultural Minister, Lin Hujia, and the Minister of Light Industry, Song Jiwen. Speaking with reporters before his departure today, Mr. Block said that, ''at each of the meetings with each of the officials that we talked to, I did bring up that we have a large crop in the United States of very high quality at very attractive prices and would encourage the Chinese to look toward additional purchases if they have any needs.'' But he added that the Chinese had said that there was no indication that they would need more than the agreed-upon amount.