In late March, India's cities went still as the country locked down to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Workplaces shut, public transport stopped and people stayed home. But photographer Parul Sharma ventured out to document the deserted capital, Delhi. "The lockdown was too much for a restless person like me," Sharma told the BBC in a phone interview. "I usually don't like to be in the confines of home. So I decided to go out." Her family needed some convincing, but they finally came around. So on 3 April, about a week after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the lockdown on TV, Sharma stepped out in the late afternoon to chase the best light. For the next few months, she drove around the city, armed with a camera and the necessary passes, which allowed journalists, officials and essential workers such as doctors and nurses to move around. "I could see the clouds and birds, but no trace of humans," she said. "It was magical, like getting into la la land. Still and motionless but also beautiful." The result: about 10,000 striking photographs of an unusual moment in Delhi's history. A collection of these stark photographs are now part of her new book Dialects Of Silence, published by Roli Books. Her first stop, she recalled, was one of her favourite spots in Delhi, and not too far from home. Connaught place, a Georgian-style circular colonnade, lies at the heart of Delhi. The colonial-era construction was a business district for decades before it became a popular hub for shops, restaurants and bars. But some businesses have stayed on, like the iconic Regal theatre, one of Delhi's oldest and best-known cinema halls. "I didn't go to landmarks, I went to places that brought back memories of my childhood," Sharma said. Connaught Place is usually teeming with people - street vendors, shoppers, office goers grabbing a quick lunch or after-work drinks. But on that day, Sharma said, all she encountered was "emptiness and solitude". "That has its own beauty. And it spoke volumes, as did this aura of absence that was prevalent everywhere," she said. But the places Sharma sought through her memories were veritable landmarks, including Khan Market, a partition-era business complex that is now a posh, often buzzing, shopping enclave in central Delhi. Its facade is occupied by the famous Bahrisons bookstore, which closed its doors indefinitely for the first time.