James Rouse was the speaker who gave a talk entitled ‘Imperial Capital’, describing his grandfather’s role in the building of New Delhi.
Having decided he wanted to check out the authenticity of a family story, he not only viewed family photos and documents, historical records of the planning and debates behind the project, but also went to India to see for himself. This verbally and pictorially well illustrated talk gave us a fascinating insight into the character of some of the key people involved during this 20 year programme of construction, and the quarrels between the two principle architects designing the new capital. Despite the British use of the key buildings having a relatively short lifespan; many of them still serve a purpose in the Indian government of today.