BOOK REVIEW | Capturing the mystical through beautiful stills

BOOK REVIEW | I must say it's not very often that I find myself doing a review of a coffee table book.

In fact, the only other time I recall doing one was for Selak, a coffee table book about the original Bersih rally - and that review died a premature death on the censorship desks of a leading daily newspaper.

So here we have Joined in Dance - which is a truly vibrant book capturing the Kumbha Mela religious festival in which devotees take a dip in holy rivers seeking absolution for their sins.

The roots of this book lie in 2019, when 17 dancers of the Sutra Foundation, which is led by the legendary Ramli Ibrahim, were invited by the Uttar Pradesh state government to perform at the Kumbha Mela in Prayagraj.

As with most coffee table books, the main draw is the visuals and, in this case, the photos taken by the likes of Yogi Chellapan and S Magendran are simply stunning.

The narrative in the book has...