On Diwali eve, we found some new roadside vendors joining the festivities in Pune. We noticed an unusual seller: a woman was selling "books" on a table she had put on the roadside. We found that all the books and magazines on sale were in Marathi language. Then I noticed a book by Uddhav Thackeray. The book "Maharashtra Desha" is a collection of Uddhav's aerial photography across the state. When we asked the lady if the book was also available in Hindi or English, she replied, "the person whose book it is, is a Marathi and hence the book is also in Marathi." I liked her pride and attitude. We bought one book and came back home. When we checked the book out, we were awestruck with the brilliant and wonderful photographs published in the book. We could not resist but went back to the lady and bought 2 more books which we have gifted to our parents. Pieces of beautiful Maharashtra and some reason for the lady's pride have traveled to far places now...
The book महाराष्ट्र देशा is divided into sections: (1) Forts, (2) Temples and places of worship, (3) Rivers and Roads/Highways, (4) Landmarks in Mumbai, (5) General photography.
A few pictures of forts are can be seen here:
You can also see a Rediff Slideshow on the same book and Uddhav Thackeray's photography: [Link]
Paperback edition of the book costs only Rs 100 and can be found here: http://www.sahyadribooks.org/books/MHDesha.aspx?bid=508
When I tried to find some photographs on the internet, I could find mostly pictures of forts. But the photographs of other sections of the book including the last general photography titled "Adbhut Desha अद्भुत देशा" is so wonderful that unless you see those, you won't be able to guess the beauty. Our parents viewed the pictures and were mesmerized. The photographs not only show the international level photography talent in Uddhav Thackeray but also his thinking and humility. There is a picture of a man washing his buffaloes in a pond, a family traveling in a boat in a river, a farmer with green turban sitting in his fields with specks of greenery, a variety of crops making a mesmerizing visual delight, a group of womenfolks waiving to the photographers while they were sowing rice in the fields, or four boys resting after having hearty swimming... The width and depth of the images are unseen before... Kudos to Uddhav for this book and for his photography...
With the exceptional quality of photography and the unparalleled coverage of Maharashtra, the book is actually priceless. If you love Maharashtra or want to know more, it is a must buy.
- Rahul
