When Lutyens' wife wanted home rule for India!

New Delhi- Even as he was preparing plans to build a new city to house imperial offices in Delhi, Master architect Edwin Lutyens' wife Emily was for home rule for India and was quite vocal about it. Mrs Lutyens was restrained from speaking in public by none other than legendary Annie Besant who feared it would jeopardise her husband's prestigious commission of erecting important buildings in New Delhi, says a new book. In New Delhi: Making of a Capital, authors Malvika Singh and Rudrangshu Mukherjee piece together the story of the eighth reincarnation of the historic city. Edwin and South African architect Herbert Baker were, in 1913, entrusted by the British government to build the Government House (Rashtrapati Bhavan) and other important monuments in the new imperial capital of New Delhi. The book, published by Roli, also says that Emily was very much drawn towards theosophists. ÒThe headquarters of the Theosophical Society was at Adyar, on the outskirts of Madras. She adored Annie Besant and became very close to J Krishnamurti and his brother Nitya when they were young boys; she travelled with them to many countries and was totally committed to the theosophical movement,Ó it says. According to the authors, the British were very clear that the building of the new city was an imperial stamp meant to strengthen the Empire's claim over India and more than merely an administrative manoeuvre. Numerous newspaper reports, articles and editorials about the extravagant city, including vigorous debates in the House of Lords have been featured in the book. Exclusive pictures of the earliest stages of levelling the massive Raisina Hill are followed by the block-by-block construction of what are today the Rashtrapati Bhavan (then Government House), the Parliament House (known as Council House) and North and South Blocks (or the Secretariat buildings).A range of aerial shots capture the growth of the new city from a barren landscape into a bustling metropolis.