India: In Word & Image

India: A Kingdom or Color where every turn dazzles more than the turn before.  Where every nuance speaks of pageantry and celebration, of gods within gods, of Maharajahs and past glory, of a sense of life and wonder unlike any other place on Earth.  For more than a decade, Eric Meola has returned repeatedly to India, photographing the people, landscapes, architecture, celebrations, and art of this uniquely exuberant and incredibly diverse country.  Meola’s journeys took him from the Himalayas and monasteries in the North to the temples of Tamil Nadu in the South, from the color and pageantry of Rajasthan in the West to the tea plantarions of Darjeeling in the East.  More than 200 photographs (edited from 25,000 images) fill this stunning, ambitious book.  Camels in the dust at the Pushkar fair; a young boy crossing the Yamuna river on the back of a water buffalo; the spectacular celebration of Holi near Mathura; a lone gypsy in the stark desert near Jaipur; gold, jewels, and glass interwoven in infinite detail… each and every one of Meola’s images is a work of art that speaks of India’s myriad of colors and wonders.  This visual celebration is accompanied with words from major writers whose works derive inspiration from Indian themes.  Salman Rushdie speaks of a mythical land with a new dream; Nirad C. Chaudhuri describes daily washing rituals; Anita Desai gives life to the faces of India; R.K. Narayan captures spring in a village fair.  More than thirty literary passages capture and immerse readers into the compelling story that is India.  India: In Word & Image captures and reveals this mysterious and dazzling country.