I am a CIA agent," proclaimed the bold tag he sported to the Lok Sabha, with insouciance verging on glee. The bait dangled at the Indira Gandhi government was delicious revenge, for the Congress repeatedly denouncing him as "a Washington parrot".

Sometimes witty, sometimes whacky, ever topical and trenchant, that maverick architect-politician was Piloo Mody. The youngest son of Sir Homi Mody, after the redoubtable brothers Russi and Kali, was an alumnus of the JJ School of Architecture and University of California, Berkeley. Piloo possessed idealism tempered with realism. The blend attracted him to the liberal Swatantra Party, headed by C Rajagopalachari, of which he was an ardent founder-member.