What was going on when I was born?

Five former executives of O.P.M. Leasing Services Inc. pleaded guilty in Manhattan yesterday to charges of defrauding major lending institutions of $190 million in one of the largest fraud cases in the nation's history. The Federal fraud charges said the defendants had induced 19 banks, insurance companies and other lenders to buy more than 60 notes secured by falsified leases that supposedly existed between O.P.M. and the Rockwell International Corporation. About 25 percent of the notes were repaid, but much of the $190 million that O.P.M. obtained on the notes from 1978 to early this year was lost in the company's faltering business operations, according to investigators. O.P.M., a major computer leasing company based in Manhattan, last March entered Federal bankruptcy proceedings under Chapter 11 to obtain court protection from creditors while seeking to reorganize its finances.

The St. Patrick's Day parade will, after all, be held on St. Patrick's Day. Six days after after announcing that the 220-year-old New York City march, the city's biggest parade, would be moved from March 17 to the Sunday before the holiday each year, the parade chairman announced yesterday that it had been restored to the traditional date. ''It's the only day for the New York Irish,'' said the chairman, James J. Comerford. ''Marching on a Sunday is for the villages outside the city.''

The following article is based on information arriving from Poland. The Polish Government reported last night that seven people were killed Wednesday when policemen opened fire at a strikebound coal mine near Katowice in the southern industrial region of Silesia. It was the first official confirmation of deaths in five days of resistance to martial law. The Government also confirmed reports of widespread street clashes in the Baltic port city of Gdansk Wednesday night. The evening news broadcast said 160 policemen and 164 civilians were injured in Gdansk, where the Solidarity union movement was born in the summer of 1980.

Private trash collectors and their striking workers reached agreement early yesterday on a new contract and ended a 17-day strike that had left New York City cluttered with piles of garbage. The agreement calls for $81 a week in pay increases over three years, $3 more a week toward insurance benefits, and two more sick days added to the present four a year. The employers estimated the additional sick days to be worth $6 a week. That brought the overall package to an increase of $90 a week. Moving quickly after ratifying the contract by an overwhelming margin in midafternoon, members of Local 813 of the teamsters' union began to man the big private sanitation trucks and to start a massive city cleanup. More than 100,000 tons of garbage and rubbish had accumulated on city sidewalks, in alleys and in other storage areas during the strike.

The Federal Communications Commission today affirmed its decision in April to give telephone companies half of the new cellular radio business in each locality rather than open this new field to any company on an equal footing. The American Telephone and Telegraph Company, which pioneered the system designed to improve mobile telephone communications, is expected to be the leading beneficiary of the policy because its local operating companies already hold the franchises in the nation's largest cities. The F.C.C.'s action came despite reports that the April plan might be unraveling because the staff of the commission had reversed its recommendation, with the agreement of Mark S. Fowler, the agency chairman. Picford A. Wagner, an A.T.& T. spokesman, indicated that the company was gratified by today's A.T.& T. said it earned $1.96 billion in the fourth quarter, a 23.3 percent gain from a year ago. Page D4. decision and he said the first cellular service could be started by November 1983, with possibly 70 cities receiving it within five years.

In an unusual protest, a group of priests, brothers, nuns, church officials and members of the laity of the Archdiocese of New York have openly criticized Terence Cardinal Cooke for asserting that nuclear deterrence can be ''morally tolerated if a nation is sincerely trying to come up with a rational alternative.'' The critics asserted in a 1,000-word statement being circulated for signatures that the Cardinal's views as set forth in his annual letter to chaplains Dec. 7 were ''clearly contradicted by the developing position of his fellow bishops'' on the issue of nuclear weapons. They referred to a statement by the 1976 conference of bishops condemning both the stockpiling of nuclear weapons and the threat to use them. They further admonished the Cardinal for implying that a limited nuclear war could be waged.

Holiday shopping, a New York spectacle and a magnet for visitors, saw a new wrinkle this week in the competition for proven spenders: a dramatic bit of customer-rustling. On Tuesday and yesterday, Neiman-Marcus, the Texas-based department store chain, whisked seven busloads of its Manhattan charge customers from under the noses of nearer stores. They were taken to shop in White Plains, where the Neiman-Marcus branch is marking its second Christmas and Hanukkah season. The buses, decorated for the season inside and out, left from Park Avenue and 79th Street with catered goodies aboard. Nearly 300 customers had signed up for both trips. Margery Masinter, a Neiman-Marcus spokesman, put the number of Manhattan accounts at ''several thousand.''

Neal Meehan, the president of New York Air, smiled wistfully as he watched film clips of more pleasant days for the upstart airline. Just a year ago, the carrier had audaciously challenged Eastern Airlines' popular Washingon shuttle. In February, New York Air added a run to Boston and then struggled to accommodate the throng of travelers the route attracted when it was introduced with a 29-cent promotional fare. To Mr. Meehan, the sky once seemed the limit for New York Air and the flock of new airlines that rushed to take advantage of the opportunities that deregulation had encouraged. But, in just a short time, the economics of the airline business changed and circumstances beyond the new carriers' control have clouded their future. The major uncontrollable factor has been the air controllers' strike, which started in August, and the subsequent Governmentordered reduction in flights at congested airports, including New York's La Guardia. The cutback in flights has blocked the headlong expansion of New York Air, which had to eliminate its Boston route, and has also hurt People Express, another of the new carriers serving primarily the Eastern seaboard.

The President said he had no plans to raise taxes in any way, but a White House spokesman later said that ''revenue enhancement'' measures were still under active consideration. Mr. Reagan's emphatic remark at a news conference at first appeared to constitute a major policy statement. But the clarification cast it as chiefly an affirmation of his commitment to reduce income taxes by 25 percent over three years. (Page A1.) The Administration's plan to abolish the Energy Department drew disapproval from key Congressmen, and its passage appeared far from certain. Under the proposal, 80 percent of the agency's responsibilities would be transferred to the Commerce Department, with the remainder parceled out among the Departments of the Interior, Justice and Agriculture. (Page D1.)

President Reagan said today that he had ''no plans for increasing taxes in any way,'' but a White House spokesman said later that Mr. Reagan did not mean to rule out all forms of ''revenue enhancement.'' Mr. Reagan's emphatic remark at first appeared to be a major policy statement, since he is in the final stages News conference transcript, page B6. of preparing a budget for the fiscal year 1983 that could include a record deficit of about $100 billion. The fiscal year 1983 begins next Oct.1.

Vast power clings to a sullied Japanese politician A2 U.S. hopes to set up a rapid de- ployment command in Mideast A3 Red Brigades kidnap U.S. general in Italy A3 Egypt and Israel sign another agreement on tourism A4 Civilians in Israeli Defense Minis- try protest appointment A5 Around the World A6 Text of Carter's speech on foreign policy A8 Reduced London fares struck down by Lords A9 Iraq says its forces opened a new offensive in the war with Iran A10 Guatemalan peasant leader tells of forced confession A11 Some "interned" Polish dissi- dents turn up abroad A15 Excerpts from Polish radio and television broadcasts A16 Soviet press agency stops report- ing Polish resistance A16 Czechs optimistic about Polish solution without intervention A17 Vignettes from Poland reach Vienna aboard Chopin Express A17 Government/Politics Koch tax-abatement plan for developers assailed A36 State urged to cut ties with Fed- eral tax laws B3 Con Ed's power failure on Sept. 9 tied to intentional short circuit B3 Washington Talk Briefing A28 Supreme Court's winter calendar is already crammed A28 F.T.C. celebrates holidays with a playful poke at itself A28 General Around the Nation A18 Childbearing Center on East Side overcomes some resistance B3 P.B.A. offers $5,000 reward for killers of unarmed officer B4 Weekend Weekender Guide C1 800 years of puppets on view C1 Where to ice skate in metropoli- tan area C34 Theater: Broadway C2 "Duet for One" at Royale Thea- ter C3 Dance: Lucinda Childs premiere in Brooklyn festival C1 Screen: At the movies C10 "Sharky's Machine" with Burt Reynolds C10 "Neighbors," with John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd C19 Music: Christmas holiday season begins in churches and halls C1 Calendar of holiday music C29 500 tuba players to converge on Rockefeller Plaza C3 Swamp Jam gathers at Seventh Avenue South C7 Dick Hyman at Michael's Pub C7 Art: Ceramic sculptures by An- drew Lord C30 Konrad Cramer at Bard College and other galleries C31 Red Grooms back with "Ruckus Manhattan" C32 Auctions C33 Books: Publishing C34 Dictionary of Euphemisms & Other Double Talk reviewed C35 Restaurants C26 TV Weekend C36 Health/Science Scientists' with Reagan reflects concern on nuclear war A27 Test finds natural and man-made toxins in "yellow rain" A31 Industry/Labor Municipal employees' union picks successor to Jerry Wurf A18 Teamsters' group accuses union aides of "selling out" A20 Style The evening hours B8 Answering service gala: bells are ringing B8 Nobel laureates attend a theater party B8 D16 Religion Moon church follower agrees to leave U.S. A22 Obituaries James C. Healey, a former Rep- resentative from the Bronx D15 Sports Trottier scores twice, Islanders defeat Capitals B9 Mrs. Lloyd defeats Miss Austin in third-set tiebreaker B9 Jets elated by Fields's selection to all-conference team B9 Errico denied new trial by Fed- eral judge B9 Friede of Giants working toward full recovery from knee injury B12 Red Smith on baseball Hall of Fame voting B13 Yankees closing in on Collins B13 Features/Notes Issue and Debate: New subma- rine communication system A12 Notes on People A25 Sports People B11 News Analysis Hedrick Smith on the evolving U.S. policy toward Poland A17 Editorials/Letters/Op-Ed Editorials A34 The cry from Poland A Haitian freeze Melt the garbage mountains Tough prisons, in a tough bind Letters A34 Tom Wicker: the U.S. and nu- clear traffic A35 Flora Lewis: what to do about Po- land? A35 Czeslaw Milosz: "It is a grave re- sponsibility to kill hope" A35 Tadeusz Konwicki: reeling under the blows A35

SEASON By BERNARD HOLLAND HRISTMAS music takes no single recognizable form. People, countries, cultures, eras - all see the season's spirit in their own image. New York is the world in microcosm, so Christmas in this city is many Christmases - sounding to the different accents, inflections and life styles that surround us. Many will revel in the symbolism of our grandest churches. At one end of Manhattan, tonight and tomorrow night at 8, there is the annual Christmas concert by the Paul Winter Consort at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine; at the other end of town at 12:45 P.M. today, Trinity Church will blend vocal music by Stravinsky, Barber, Herbert Howells and Bruckner. In between, at Carnegie Hall tomorrow at 8 P.M., a rather strange meeting of styles brings Peter, Paul and Mary of the 20th century together with Robert DeCormier's New York Choral Society singing music of Bach, Handel and Mozart. And if solemnity is not what you seek, trot over to Radio City Music Hall for A calendar of music for the Christmas holiday season appears on page C29. the ''Magnificent Christmas Spectacular,'' showing every day at 2:30 and 7:30 P.M. through Jan. 3. There you can see ballet from ''The Nutcracker'' and pathos from Dickens's ''A Christmas Carol.''