What was going on when I was born?

International Lech Walesa returned to his family in Gdansk after more than 11 months of detention by the Polish Government. The leader of the outlawed Solidarity union told hundreds of welcoming neighbors that ''we have to reach an agreement, but not on our knees.'' He made the same remark in an interview on the Polish television, the contents of which have not been issued by the authorities, just before he was released from a Government-owned hunting lodge near the Soviet border. (Page A1, Column 6.) Hope for a turn to better Soviet ties was expressed by Vice President Bush and Secretary of State George P. Shultz on their arrival in Moscow for the funeral of Leonid I. Brezhnev. When they were about to leave the Soviet leader's bier, they were invited by the Soviet protocol officer to speak with Mr. Brezhnev's widow, Viktoria. The American delegation then moved to chairs placed near the bier for family members and Mr. Bush expressed the condolences of the American people. (A1:3.)

Lech Walesa, leader of the outlawed Solidarity union, returned to his home here tonight after 11 months of internment and 36 hours in which there had been no word on his whereabouts. He was greeted by hundreds of his neighbors, who gathered around the doorway of his gray, featureless housing-project building as his car pulled up a little before 10:30 P.M. ''Lech! Lech!'' they chanted. ''No Solidarity without Lech!'' The 39-year-old Mr. Walesa walked quickly through the well-wishers into the doorway, which had been decorated with red-and-white Solidarity banners. Courageous but Prudent ''I will assuredly speak out on all matters which interest us in the very near future,'' Mr. Walesa told the crowd, adding: ''In my future conduct I will be courageous but also prudent and there is nothing negotiable in this regard. I will talk and act, not on my knees, but with prudence; you can rest assured of that.''

Negotiators for the National Football League Players Association are drafting a new proposal in an effort to bring management back to the bargaining table, a source familiar with the union stance said last night. A player who attended union meetings at the Loews Summit in Manhattan yesterday and who asked not to be identified because of the sensitive nature of negotiations said that union leaders were ''preparing a package to give to the mediator.'' The package, he said, was being designed to enable resumption of the negotiations with either Sam Kagel, the private mediator from San Francisco who had recessed the talks Nov. 6, or with a Federal mediator, or, possibly, with both. 10-Game Season Possible Two games were played this season before the strike, which reached its 55th day yesterday. If players returned to their teams in time for games to be played by Sunday, the league has determined that the season would contain 10 regular season games, two rounds of playoffs and the Super Bowl, which is scheduled to be played Jan. 30 in Pasadena, Calif. The union has contended the number of games to be played this season is a negotiable item.

Vice President Bush and Secretary of State George P. Shultz arrived in Moscow today for the funeral of Leonid I. Brezhnev and expressed hope that Soviet-American relations could now take a turn for the better. Mr. Bush, in an arrival statement, and Mr. Shultz at an earlier news conference both spoke of a hope and readiness to work toward reduced tensions in United States-Soviet relations, and both suggested strongly that the change of command in the Soviet leadership offered a chance to initiate new efforts. Mr. Bush characterized Mr. Brezhnev as ''a strong man, a fierce fighter for his deeply held convictions.'' The Vice President said his arrival in Moscow was meant to ''symbolize my nation's regard for the Soviet people at this moment of loss and to signify the desire of the United States to continue to work for positive relations between our two countries.'' 'Pursuit of Peace' ''It is in this spirit of seriousness and hope that we have come to Moscow,'' Mr. Bush continued. ''We have come to declare to the Soviet leaders, to the Soviet people and to the world that the United States is devoted to the pursuit of peace and a reduction of global tensions.''

A New Melting Pot: The City in the 80's A series of articles appearing periodically. They sit only blocks from one another - two landmark churches that have witnessed centuries of New York City history. At one, a pastor was kidnapped by Indians. At the other, a pastor was removed during the American Revolution because he prayed too often for the British King. But what is going on today at these churches, situated in the Elmhurst section of Queens, is perhaps no less historic. Faced with extinction only a decade ago, both began seeking parishioners in the new influx of immigrants to the city and, as a result, are undergoing a renaissance. Yet the approaches of the two churches to these immigrants could not be more different. ''The direction of our church is to enable people to accommodate themselves into the American scene,'' said the Rev. Charles L. Sorg, the pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Newtown, at Queens Boulevard and 54th Street.

Representatives from four of the nation's top business groups have urged the Reagan Administration to cut both military spending and retirement and social programs in the effort to reduce the Federal budget deficit. The plea by the business executives came after President Reagan indicated that he could consider reductions in military spending. In the past, these business groups have called for cuts in the growth rate of military spending, but the projected size of future Federal deficits is increasing the pressure within the Administration for the President to go along.

In its first 21 months in office, the Reagan Administration has taken several actions that reduce the information available to the public about the operation of the Government, the economy, the environment and public health. The actions have included increasing the authority of Government officials to classify data, cutting back on the collection of statistics, eliminating hundreds of Government publications and reducing the staff of the National Archives. As critics increasingly question both the actions and the motives for them, President Reagan and his aides justify them on many grounds: slashing the cost of government, meeting the requirements of law, improving national security and curbing what they view as inappropriate promotional activities by the Government. The officials also note that some of their efforts stem from developments that began long before Mr. Reagan entered the White House. Impact of Changes Minimized ''There is no central directive to cut back on the availability of information, and the effects of the isolated events such as the reduction of publications have not been that great,'' said Larry Speakes, the deputy White House press secretary.

IN one of the most beautiful films ever made, Jean Cocteau's ''Beauty and the Beast,'' a young woman is held captive in a chateau by a man who wears elegant lace shirts and speaks French in a husky, passionate voice. The young woman is clearly attracted to this philosophical and aristocratic beast/man until the night she hears grunts and shrieks from the front lawn. She discovers her host, her captor, gnawing on a stag he has just trapped. Repelled by the carnage, La Beaute reproaches La Bete but his reply is quick and honest: what did you expect from a beast? It is at that moment that the lace shirts and husky voice begin to pale on La Beaute and she begins to plan her escape.

An oil discovery off the southern California coast that has been the talk of the industry in recent weeks now seems certain to become the biggest find since Alaska's Prudhoe Bay field was discovered in 1968. According to some trade association officials, securities analysts and others familiar with the early results, the new Point Arguello field, 15 miles off Point Conception and about 65 miles from Santa Barbara, may well contain one billion barrels of recoverable crude oil, perhaps far more. ''It's a tremendous new discovery,'' said Stephen Chamberlain, a specialist at the American Petroleum Institute. Only about a dozen bigger fields have ever been found in the United States, analysts said.

An increasing number of women in the United States are working at what used to be men's jobs. Despite the unemployment rate, the number of women working in the United States has risen 21 million, or 95 percent, over the last two decades, according to a new study by the United States Department of Labor, and many of the jobs they have taken are in categories once largely the province of men. In fact, the Labor Department says, there are six major job categories in which women have become the majority in the last decade. Those categories are insurance adjusters, examiners and investigators; bill collectors; real estate agents and brokers; photographic process workers; checkers, examiners and inspectors, and production-line assemblers.

The Iranian economy, battered by war and boycotts, is a patchwork of inconsistency. From one point of view ''the country is in a very pleasant economic situation,'' as President Ali Khamenei said in a recent television interview. Oil revenue, the backbone of the economy, amounts to $2 billion a month; the flow of oil money has buoyed Iran's foreign currency reserves, which were nearly exhausted a year ago. Those reserves, according to the estimate of bankers in Europe and diplomats here, stand at about $15 billion. Nor are foreign debts much of a problem. Mohsan Nourbakhsh, the head of Iran's central bank, said that the revolutionary Government inherited debts totaling $15 billion and had whittled them down to less than $2 billion. He said he saw no need to borrow money abroad.

''I will assuredly speak out on all matters which interest us in the very near future.