Rohinton Mehta
The coffee table book – The Mahabahu Brahmaputra – is an effort to take the reader on a pictorial journey of the mighty Brahmaputra river and unravel its life-cycle and how it has changed the destiny of the people living along the river. The book offers a treasuretrove of information for researchers, planners, policy makers, academicians and anyone who is looking out for general knowledge about the Brahmaputra.
The book starts with messages from five eminent personalities – Tarun Gogoi (Chief Minister, Assam), Basanta Das (Minister, WRD, Govt. of Assam), V. K. Pipersenia, IAS (Chief Secretary, Govt.of Assam), R. T. Jindal, IAS (Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Assam) and Hemanta Narzary, IAS, Principal Secretary, WRD, Govt. of Assam). The book is divided into 10 sections: Introduction; A Moving ocean: Life course of the Brahmaputra; Places across the tides of time; People of the Brahmaputra; Brahmaputra: Economic lifeline of Assam; Plant life in the Brahmaputra valley; Wildlife of Brahmaputra; Aqua faunal diversity of the Brahmaputra; Conservation challenges; and Flood and River Erosion Management Agency of Assam (FREMAA).
Each section offers exquisite details about the topic in question. Specialists involved in making of this very informative book are: Dr. K. K. Dwivedi (D. Phil), IAS of Assam cadre, presently Commissioner, Panchayat and Rural Developement and CEO of FREMAA, also a well-known nature and wildlife photographer; Dhritiman Mukherjee, nature photographer; Farzana Begum, anthropologist; Kashmira Kakati, wildlife biologist; Pranab Bujarbarua, plant taxonomist; Purusottam Nayak, economist; Dr. Ranjita Bania, fisheries biologist, and Udayan Borthakur, conservation geneticist.
Speaking from a photographic viewpoint, almost all the images in the book are excellent – correctly exposed, very well composed and also beautifully printed. Both – Dr. K. K. Dwivedi and Dhritiman Mukherjee – have done an excellent job in thisregard. The book will provide a great teaching experience to all budding photographers. The text provided with the pictures has been extensively researched and hooks the reader cpmpletely.
The 168-page coffee-table hardbound book covered in a jacket, measures 238 x 338 mm and costs Rs.2000/-. It is edited by Dr. Dwivedi, published by FREMAA and printed at Pragati Offset Pvt. Ltd, Hyderabad, India. The book will be available shortly from Amazon and Flipkart.
Highly recommended. |SP