India's emergence as an economic power, coupled with the popularity of the movie "Slumdog Millionaire," has made this ancient country, with its rich cultural and religious heritage, a renewed subject of American curiosity.
Putumayo, a company best known for world music, offers a coffee-table book that introduces a broad view of the country through excellent photographs by veteran travel shooters Laurence Mouton and Sergio Ramazzotti.
Divided into nine chapters, the book takes some surprising byways. The first chapter, "Indian Pink & Saffron Yellow," explores the importance of color in traditional Indian culture. "The Tumult of the Towns" extols the energy of the country's cities but does not neglect to show children sleeping on sidewalks.
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The CD that accompanies this book, sold separately, highlights India's musical variety, from Bollywood tunes to acoustic, traditional and electronica, but too many of these tracks have the soulless sheen of cookie-cutter hits churned out by the likes of the Pussycat Dolls. Exceptions: the jazz- and folk- influenced tunes by Sanjay Divecha, Susheela Raman and Deepak Ram.
Read MorePutumayo, a company best known for world music, offers a coffee-table book that introduces a broad view of the country through excellent photographs by veteran travel shooters Laurence Mouton and Sergio Ramazzotti.
Divided into nine chapters, the book takes some surprising byways. The first chapter, "Indian Pink & Saffron Yellow," explores the importance of color in traditional Indian culture. "The Tumult of the Towns" extols the energy of the country's cities but does not neglect to show children sleeping on sidewalks.
(...)
The CD that accompanies this book, sold separately, highlights India's musical variety, from Bollywood tunes to acoustic, traditional and electronica, but too many of these tracks have the soulless sheen of cookie-cutter hits churned out by the likes of the Pussycat Dolls. Exceptions: the jazz- and folk- influenced tunes by Sanjay Divecha, Susheela Raman and Deepak Ram.
