 view of a modern India was vastly divergent from that of his political mentor and spiritual guru Mahatma Gandhi. Nehru envisaged bustling townships, cosmopolitan in their makeup and served with modern amenities. Cities in the mould of new and planned townships of the socialist Europe. In the words of Pandit Nehru, let this be a new town symbolic of the freedom of India, unfettered by the traditions of the past and expression of the nation's faith in the future. March 1948. The government of Punjab in consultation with the central government approved 114.59 square kilometres of the then Ambala district as the site for a new capital city of Punjab. Indian missions the world over began identifying professionals who could be entrusted with the job. Among the ones shortlisted was a man who had an awesome reputation as an architect and town planner. An architect who belonged to a country famous for its collective sense of aesthetics, France. Nehru handpicked Le Corbusier. Chandigarh was to be a city of the world. It is one of the best in the world because it is not a local city. It's not a city of India. It is a city of the whole world. On the second of April 1952, Pandit Nehru laid the foundation stone of Chandigarh. The man known as the architect of modern India remarked, the site chosen is free from the existing encumbrances of towns and old traditions. Let it be the first large expression of our creative genius flowering on our newly earned freedom. On the 7th of October 1953 Chandigarh was inaugurated by the first president of free India, Dr. Rajendra Prasad. However the success of a social Democrats vision as opposed to the monarchs of medieval India had to be reflected in the experience of the common man. The sectoral plan of the town was a unique innovation introduced in Chandigarh. Every sector is a self-sufficient unit with a market and other infrastructural facilities contain activities within their bounds. Each house has its own share of nature's bounty with verdant open spaces, playgrounds and front lawns. The cityscape of Chandigarh is a pragmatic mix of the functional and the aesthetic. This may well reflect the personalities of both the visionary and the architect. Romanticism blended with practicality. Just as Nehruvian socialism emphasized India's diverse and rich cultural heritage, the Kubusier transcended the constrictions of a classical architect and gave his creativity a free reign. In 1966 Punjab was divided into the states of Punjab and Haryana. The city itself became a union territory governed by the central government. Chandigarh acquired the unique distinction of becoming the capital city of two states. 1958. A road inspector in the public works department wanted to indulge in his modest creative aspirations to create sculptures from the city's waste. For Nehruvian, his hobby was almost a labor of love, a passion that drove him incessantly deeper into his creative pursuit. A pursuit that did not envisage returns or even validation. The process of creation itself brought about a sense of achievement.