Architectural history of post-independent India published from 1980 onwards traces the triumph of the modernist project as it achieves an appropriate self-conscious regionalist expression. The rhetoric of 'Indian identity' was proclaimed to be the single most important goal, while the means to achieve it were arguably vague and questionable at an operative level. Despite being celebrated locally as an influential architect with a prolific career spanning over five decades, the late Achyut Kanvinde, one of the foremost modernists remains largely unacknowledged within this history. With scattered mentions he is marginalised into functionalist or Brutalist categories, implying that his works could not fit easily in the dominant narratives of the period. A closer look at Kanvinde's works suggests a sensitive interpretation of international modernism to the Indian context, but with a resistance to obsessive pan-Indian identity constructions based on imagined pasts. By examining two of his campus projects, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) at Kanpur (1960-66) and National Insurance Academy (NIA) at Pune (1986-91), this paper will demonstrate that Kanvinde negotiated eloquently between the universal and the local, engaging with the changing concerns of the time. While his earlier campus, the IIT project, is synonymous with nation building and development through the modernist language, it reflects an impending critique of International modernism with a direct response to local climate, materials and program needs. Towards the other end of the spectrum, the NIA campus - designed at the crest of postmodern Indianisation - makes a case for a specific resistance through a commitment to a modernist ethos emphasising abstraction over translation of historical precedents. Thus, it could be argued that a study of Kanvinde's 'Indian' buildings - how he subtly reconfigured the modernist language without resorting to popular trends, provides an alternative understanding of the history of modern architecture in India.