What was going on when I was born?

Margie Velma Barfield, who was convicted of killing her fiance and who confessed killing three other people by arsenic poisoning, was executed by lethal injection early today behind the dun-colored walls of Central Prison here. She was the first woman to be put to death in the United States in 22 years. The fatal injection was given at 2 A.M. and she was pronounced dead 15 minutes later. In her last words, Mrs. Barfield said: ''I want to say that I am sorry for all the hurt that I have caused. I know that everybody has gone through a lot of pain, all the families connected, and I am sorry and I want to thank everybody who has supported me all these six years.''

Army troops moved into the capital and eight other Indian cities today to quell a nationwide wave of lynchings and arson that began soon after the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on Wednesday. Soldiers were ordered to shoot rioters on sight in New Delhi and five other cities: Indore, Patna, Rae Bareli, Kanpur and Dehra Dun. Curfews were also imposed in 30 cities, including New Delhi. More than 150 people have been killed and 1,000 hurt since Wednesday, according to unofficial tallies tonight. Earlier in the day the Government said it knew of only nine confirmed deaths.

Not since the soldier-reformers of the American Occupation rewrote the rules of the Tokyo Stock Exchange more than 30 years ago has that institution faced greater changes. For the first time, a foreign securities firm has a chance to buy a seat on the exchange. The possibility has prompted occasional consternation and incessant speculation in the financial world here, with some Japanese companies suggesting that foreign firms would be better off without membership, and most foreign firms hesitant about joining now. But foreign membership is only one of many issues facing the exchange following the Government's decision last spring to relax some of the restrictions on Japan's capital markets. That not only cleared the way for greater foreign participation in the Japanese capital markets, but also prompted a flood of proposals that the exchange alter its traditional rules to increase participation by Japanese, as well as foreign, firms.

A dispatch Oct. 6 about The Times of London incorrectly identified the paper's literary editor. He is Philip Howard.

A lot has been going wrong lately for RKO General, the big broadcasting, bottling and film production subsidiary of Gencorp Inc. Even WOR- TV, the company's New York television station, did not come through with the revenue surge executives had considered certain from broadcasting the New York Mets' baseball games last summer. In fact, RKO General is likely this year to report its first loss in more than two decades. In addition to the relatively minor Mets advertising disappointment, the company has been hurt by regulatory problems and its investment in Frontier Airlines, which has recently had its own financial problems. ''There's no question that RKO has made costly errors in the past which had a heavy impact on profits,'' said an analyst, who asked not to be named.

In what could be an important step toward interstate banking, the Comptroller of the Currency gave 13 bank holding companies permission today to operate 29 limited-service banking offices beyond their home states. The Comptroller, C. Todd Conover, signaled that he may soon approve scores more of such applications. His office said that of 332 applications filed, another 220 are ready for decision. But a different signal came tonight from the Federal Reserve Board, which unexpectedly approved four other such applications. The chairman of the Fed, Paul A. Volcker, said the action was taken reluctantly and should not be read by the banking industry as an invitation to submit more such applications.

The taxpayer revolt is still alive, at least in California, Michigan, Oregon and Nevada, where voters have a chance next Tuesday to approve anti- tax measures reminiscent of California's Proposition 13 in 1978 and Massachusetts' Proposition 2 1/2 two years later. The state ballot initiatives differ in detail, but their common thread is a desire to curb taxes. Proponents of the ballot initiatives have found widespread public acceptance for their assertions that the only way to trim the fat from government budgets is to take away from their source of funds. Many state and local government officials, who must cope with shrunken revenues without equivalent cuts in demands for services if the anti-tax initiatives pass, warn that the proposals to reduce government budgets and taxes are not in their state's best interest.

-1900) had painted nothing but his fantasy scenes and the visionary architectural extravaganza ''Historical Monument of the American Republic,'' his place in American art history would be assured - though as a kind of wonderful ''folk'' eccentric. But in his earlier years, Field plied a profitable trade as a limner in and around the Connecticut River Valley, producing lively portraits that are among the most appealing of the 19th century. Both sides of this prolific Yankee, the dreamer and the practical portraitist, are abundantly evident in ''Erastus Salisbury Field: 1805-1900.'' The show, billed as the largest ever for an American folk artist, has more than 100 works divided between the Metropolitan Museum, Fifth Avenue at 81st Street (through Jan. 6) and the Museum of American Folk Art, 145 West 55th Street (through Dec. 6).

To its admirers, the Federal Hall National Memorial is the Parthenon of New York. But somebody got the topography wrong. Instead of crowning a high hill, this 142- year-old Greek temple sits at the bottom of the Wall Street valley, lost in its somber mien among the tumultuous currents of the financial district.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 1984 International Army troops entered 9 Indian cities including New Delhi to quell a nationwide wave of lynchings and arson that began soon after the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Soldiers were ordered to shoot rioters on sight in the capital and five other cities. Unofficial tallies indicated more than 150 people have been killed and 1,000 injured since Wednesday. (Page A1, Columns 3-6.) India's new Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, the slain's leader's son, and 15 oppositon party leaders issued a joint appeal for an end to the anti-Sikh violence. (A16:1-2.)

President Reagan, Walter F. Mondale and their running mates campaigned in New York State yesterday, as they battled for the biggest electoral prize in the Northeast, where where Mr. Reagan now appears to have a solid lead. However, Mondale advisers say they believe an intensive effort by Mr. Mondale and his running mate, Representative Geraldine A. Ferraro, has increased the ''volatility'' in the industrial region enough to tighten the contests in some key states. Strategists on both sides agreed that Pennsylvania, with 25 electoral votes, had emerged as the most closely contested state in the region. The Reagan re-election campaign views the visits to New York by the President and Vice President Bush as part of an effort to preclude any chance Mr. Mondale might have of attaining the 270 electoral votes needed to win. New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey are the cornerstones of that strategy.

A picture caption in Metropolitan Report yesterday, with a report in New York Day by Day about a New York University fund drive, misidentified the person at the left. He was Larry A. Silverstein, an organizer of the drive.