Book Review - Capturing Wildlife Moments in India

I read a coffee table book after many years over the course of this week. Today, I shall review "Capturing Wildlife Moments in India" by Ashok Mahindra.

I was privileged to receive an exclusive reviewer's copy. The book is currently being published by Oxford University Press (OUP) and Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) and will be available at most major retail outlets across India and also through online retail sites such as Amazon and Flipkart. This book will also be available for sale through the BNHS website.

Fast Facts:-

Title: Capturing Wildlife Moments in India 

Author: Ashok Mahindra

Genre: Wildlife Photography (Non Fiction)

Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP) & Bombay Natural History Society(BNHS)

Pages: 145

Price: Rs.1450

Blackbuck (reproduced with permission)

The Review:-

"Capturing Wildlife Moments in India" contains a hundred and twenty photographs of animals and birds of India, photographed during Ashok Mahindra's visits to over thirty national parks, wildlife sanctuaries and other locations. Each picture comes with an elegant description of the setting in which the animal or bird was shot. All of the short lines are quite informative and reveal interesting facts about the wild.

The book is full of short stories of tigers and lions alongside their breathtaking snaps. Ashok also shares his photography secrets and the settings he uses on his cameras to capture the moments. The book does a wonderful job of keeping one interested. It also evokes empathy for the creatures living in the wild.

The writing in the book is very crisp and the sentences are finely crafted. The author recounts many stories of T-19. Other than tigers, which get a lot of footage in the book, there are excellent photos of frogs, elephants, rhinoceroses, crocodiles, asses, macaques, lionesses, deer, boars, butterflies and birds.

Indian Crocodile or Gharial (reproduced with permission)

My Verdict:-

Ashok's perspective impresses me and makes me emote with the animals. His insights are well elaborated and do a good job of getting people to be on the side of the animals!

"Capturing Wildlife Moments in India" gets an overall rating of 9 on 10 for the great pictures and evocative writing. It is quite moving for a coffee table book!

Lion-tailed Macaque (reproduced with permission)

This post is part of the book review program of at Saevus Wildlife India in association with The Hemchand Mahindra Wildlife Foundation for the book Capturing Wildlife Moments in India.

Book Review - Best. Generation. Ever.

It is with a lot of admiration that I present today's book review. The author is a young boy of only seventeen, and this is his first ebook.

Source: smashwords.com

Fast Facts:-

Title: Best. Generation. Ever. 

Author: Aditya Jha

Genre: Non Fiction

Pages: 71
File Size: 431 KB (PDF version)

Price: US$ 1 (Smashwords)

The Review:-

'Best. Generation. Ever.' is a collection of Aditya's essays on various topics that are relevant to the youth of this millennium. The entire book is written in first person and is divided into eleven chapters. The first essay is on Internet and how today's generation is embracing the IT sector. In the second chapter, the monologue drifts to politics and the need for young blood in public administration.

Somewhere in the middle of the discourse, Aditya emphasizes the importance of  communication skills  and touches upon the issues of brain drain and unemployment. He further expounds on the inspiring efforts of young entrepreneurs and the attitudes of the corporate world in the present age. Towards the end of the book, the focus tilts towards the initiatives needed to develop the youth of India. A discussion on Indian education and sports draws the set of essays to an end.

The book transitions smoothly from one chapter to another. There are some gaping grammatical and spelling mistakes throughout the ebook which call for a round of good editing. The thought behind every essay, however, remains very lucid and mature. It is evident from the statistics and sources quoted across the book that the author has put in a decent amount of research and has checked his numbers before stating them.

The book bears no page numbers and makes for a very quick read. (I finished this in under 90 minutes while I was at work ;-) ).


My Verdict:-

Aditya Jha impresses me not for his style or language but for his maturity of thought. This school boy puts in a good amount of effort to clearly express his views on a lot of issues that affect the youth of our country. He backs most observations with data from newspapers. I feel, he can cover a few other topics too - health, for example. Another observation is that most of the views expressed are generic and slightly cliched. For a boy who hasn't yet reached adulthood, I would have liked to hear some unique ideas and thoughts that only his generation can think of.

Best. Generation. Ever. gets a strong rating of 6 on 10 from me for the hard work and articulate exposition. I wish Aditya all the best for his future! I would love to read more books from this budding author.