India, Dec. 21 -- Those who live in Lutyens' Delhi consider themselves privileged, and in many respects they are-wide, tree-lined roads, better-assured amenities, low population density and an enviable location. Yet few may realise that the area they take pride in is named after one of the most racist men of his time, a figure who held absolute contempt for Indians and made no attempt to hide it.

In 1985, the publishing house Collins in London brought out a book, The Letters of Edwin Lutyens to his Wife Lady Emily, an unabashed and incontrovertible record of what Lutyens thought of Indians and India.

Nothing about India impressed Lutyens-not the architecture, not the philosophy, not its culture, not its topography, and certainly not the...