Panoramas
Ruby B. Adarbad reviews Ashok Dilwali’s book on panoramic landscapes
One of the best things to have happened to me last week was when a friend, knowing my love for landscapes and mountains, introduced me to this amazing book of Panoramas by Ashok Dilwali. Being an enthusiast and an avid traveller myself made me realise and appreciate the passion that Dilwali has for creating beautiful images. This book has shown what sets apart professionals like Dilwali from novices like me. While amateurs like me just point and shoot, this book showcases the sincerity and the hunger of Dilwali for exceptional images even at this age. Truly, age is just a number. And when the heart and head are in sync, it’s pure magic!
Though I loved all the images, there are a few that are my favourites. Starting with the images of the monuments on the front and the back covers which must have been shot hundreds and thousands of times over the years, but none have managed to showcase the Golden Temple and the Rashtrapati Bhavan with so much simplicity and elegance at the same time.
Another set of stunning images are from Ladakh, one being the River Tsarap, Pang in Ladakh on page 9 illustrating in detail the crevices with the blue river snaking through. And the second image on page 47 of the outskirts of Leh which shows the town swathed in a white blanket.
Spiti is a place that is raw and untouched and the images from this valley capture that essence. One of them is on page 69, termed as ‘Villages near Nako’, which shows the place bathed under a moonlit sky and another one on page 93 with the spotlight on a village with their lights twinkling like ire lies. There are many images taken on a moonlit sky which looks as if the sky is on ire with another beauty on page 121 that shows Almora in Uttarakhand. I also loved the panorama of Shimla on page 97 which is outstanding to say the least.
The Wheat ields in Rudrapur on page 105 and the Paddy Harvest in Bhutan on page 169 show the verdant and fertile colours of the land. The image on page 187 Sorting Chillies in Beawar in Rajasthan is outstanding – brilliantly captures women toiling under the sun among the red chillies.
To say that the images featured in this coffee table book are stunning would be an aberration. They are magni icent and no words can be enough to give them credit. While some of them are “Postcards from Heaven”, some others seem to have been painted by God in His leisure time. Sublime and brilliant seem to be the two words that keep coming to mind while seeing these images. The book brings alive the images and they stay with you long after you have inished seeing them – not once, not twice but again and again.