All aspects of Bangladesh’s longest and most influential season are described vividly in words and pictures in this small book entitled – what else – Monsoon.

The descriptive prose is written by Sudeep Sen, an Indian journalist whose works include Postmarked India: New & Selected Poems and, most recently, Postcards From Bangladesh, which was reviewed in October Womun.

Mahmud, an Indian who grew up in Dhaka, has taken the black and white photographs depicting the rain-lashed countryside and soaked people. He co-founded the first cooperative photo agency in Bangladesh and has produced a book of photographs on women in Bangladesh.

The chapters contain descriptions and pictures entitled air-conditioner, rain; fern frost; monsoon greens; night rain; longing, rain; shower, wake; rain charm, rain, kiss; drizzle, climax; drought, cloud; and others.

The author tells us how the monsoon affects him, the city, the people and the landscape of Bangladesh, and the pictures create a balance with his thoughts.

"There is a heavy, brooding damp quality in the air that seems to invisibly wrap my exposed skin. My hair feels humid—even the upholstery, the clothes, and the trapped house-air. I step out into the back garden. The soil is clayish and waterlogged."

"Another rain-swept day leaves everything water-logged—ponds, drains, streets and rivers—everywhere water is overflowing. The green blades of grass in the garden lie submerged under a rippling shallow sheet of water. Through refraction, they take on magical underwater seaweed shapes."

"The stamen raises its head—bursting, to shed pollen—relief-rain showers—the parched folds of pink skin."