E-Paper
The Sunderbans
The almost flawless book is replete with numerous photographs of the flora and fauna of Sunderbans.
The Sunderbans
A Pictorial Field Guide
Biswajit Roy Chowdhury & Pradeep Vyas
Rupa & Co
2005
Travel
ISBN: 81-291-0636-1
Price: Rs 195
Pages: 120
Paperback
A very refreshing piece of work indeed! Most of the classy tourist guides and travelogues written on Indian spots of interest are authored by foreigners. But this tourist guide on the amazing Sunderbans mangrove forests of West Bengal and Bangladesh is quite capable of giving the foreign authored books a run for their money.
Not only do the authors have the perfect credentials to write about the Sunderbans the book itself is almost flawless. Replete with numerous great photographs of the flora and fauna of the mangrove forests and coupled with precise captions and commentaries about the place and its inhabitants, it manages to bring to life this pristine natural treasure. To top it all, the publisher has been careful to use thick glossy paper which elevates the book to a high standard of quality
Biswajit Roy Chowdhury is a conservationist, a wildlife photographer and a regular writer on wildlife and nature in West Bengal and Nepal. Most of the pictures in the book are his work and they are breathtaking to say the least. Pradeep Vyas, the co-author brings to the book his intimate knowledge of the forest conditions in the Sunderbans.
In addition, he has also contributed several photographs in the book. Being somewhat of an amateur photographer I am sure the photography conditions in Sunderbans must easily be some of the toughest and the authors and other contributing photographers deserve all the kudos for capturing such incredible pictures.
The quality of wildlife photography is dependent upon the photographer and his knowledge of the art but it also depends upon the conditions and the behavior of the subject and with as idiosyncratic subjects as the Royal Bengal tiger and other denizens of Sunderbans. Chowdhury and his team have managed to get such beautiful pictures. But the point is that had the authors elaborated a little more about the photographical conditions of the place it would have added so much more to the value of the book.
