Not just another coffee table book with glossy photographs of women in various stages of despair, zubaan's newest title, Women Changing India, is all about the triumphs of the Indian woman's spirit, across caste, creed and social strata

In Ahmedabad, a woman you might not recognise is precariously perched atop a water tanker, as she attempts to capture the chaos that is taking place below her. Belgian photographer Martine Franck has frozen the moment, with the woman's pink kameez in sharp contrast to the green tanker and the trees in the background, telling the tale of an area that receives irregular water supply.

Look closer and you will realise that there is another story that runs parallel. The story of a woman holding a camera, and another woman with a microphone. You soon realise ufffd it's the women who actually make for the story.

At the Women Changing India exhibition that concluded at the NCPA yesterday, six photographers came together to highlight the cultural and geographical diversity of women's lives in India.

If you missed the exhibition, bring home the coffee table book that juxtaposes these vivid photographs, with relevant essays, written by the likes of Tarun Tejpal (founder and editor of Tehelka) and authors Annie Zaidi and Mukul Kesavan.

Commissioned by the French bank BNP Paribas as part of its 150th anniversary in India, the project combines the talents of Magnum Photo Agency and Zubaan, a Delhi-based publishing house specialising in books for and about women in South Asia. From those who belong to women's self-help groups and the ones in the Mumbai film industry to women icons across class and monetary barriers ufffd the hardbound book invites you to have a rendezvous with each of them.

For book orders, contact Zubaan on 011 26494617; Rs 1,995; Available at leading bookstores from November 10.