The extraordinary side of `ordinary` Indians!

New Delhi, June 14: What can be a good way to represent India`s diversity, richness and vibrancy? A coffee table book with loads of photographs that provide flavour of the extraordinary spirit of the people can be an answer.Corporate lawyer Sumant Batra says his book "The Indians: Interesting Aspects, Extraordinary Facets" is a collection of thoughts and will bring a sense of freshness in the market.

The book presents a journey through the life of countless people of India encompassing villages and small towns which were the preserving house of civilization, customs and traditions. It has over 300 photographs, all clicked by 26-year-old Sonhal Nichali. The author says the book casts a roving eye through the country and showcases extraordinary spirit of the people and a few interesting facets culled out from their daily lives. "It has an element of rawness," Batra told reporters. "This is not a book that can claim to explain, interpret or offer any new insights on India. Its intention is something else altogether - to celebrate the diversity, the richness and the vibrancy of India," he writes. The photographs deal with diverse topics like rituals and ceremonies, religion, tea, street saloons, head gears, eunuchs, childhood games, paan, desi food and sadhus among others."The Indians: Interesting Aspects, Extraordinary Facets" is an in-house (Treepie) publication. "Publishers were very keen on the book. But most of them wanted a chapter on Taj Mahal, Slumdog... and others. We wanted to experiment a lot for the book. So we decided not to get it published from a traditional house," he says. Priced at a whopping Rs 8,500 the proceeds from the book`s sales will go to a Loomba Trust initiative which works for the awareness of widows` plight. The book has already been launched here and in Chandigarh and is selling well, Batra says. "It will also be launched in Singapore on July 29 and in London in September," he says. The book took six months to materialise. "The conceptualising period was one month and it took three months for the photographs." According to the author, there are many kinds of India. "Geographical: the peninsula that lolls out like an elephant`s trunk on the world map. Statistical: population of a billion and counting. Cliched: land of snake charmers, sadhus and rope tricks. Modern: high rises, the hub of international technology and the back office of the world. Spiritual: a religious supermarket with temples and mosques donning her streets. Historical: with forts, palaces and maharajas in abundance."Add to that the stuff of poverty, corruption, political scandals, Bollywood and Oscars. And then there is India in the skin. The images that the word `India` conjures up are diverse and often contradictory, suggesting that one must be the real India, and it is only a matter of time before you start wondering which one," he writes. Bureau Report