[Extract …] 1969 was a time of some introspection for the architectural profession in India. The vision of bold architecture that Nehru had nurtured so personally was now in full bloom. It was, after all, a decade since he had urged architects to break the shackles of tradition in support of Chandigarh – an experiment to embolden the spirit of New India. There was a general sense of relief from professionally trained architects, because for them this political support meant that they could now do what they did best. Not out of choice, but training, they were freed from the burden of addressing tradition, and they could now address foreign design. This was also the time when many were ‘returning home’ after training in European and American schools, and were putting into practice what they had learnt abroad. The ‘foreign-returned’ were the ‘real’ architects who took upon themselves the task of educating their clients, and changing the face of India. They were ‘real’ also because only they had had first-hand experience of what was being taught from books in architecture schools all over India. With scholarship schemes set up by the Nehru government facilitating architects to study in America, it was there that many young architects went to complete their education. Once back they would set their euphoria in concrete and glass. And by 1969 there were already quite a few examples of American-inspired designs in the portfolio of Modern India, and its novelty was beginning to wear off.