A sunny afternoon by a pond full of lovely water lilies

Here’s something we came across, by the side of a small road, years ago while road-tripping

We come across several things along our way while travelling, big or small. But do we notice them all? Here’s something we came across, something small but beautiful – A little pond full of lovely water lilies.

A beautiful white water lily and a bud.

Mother Nature has a lot in store for us. But we sometimes... uh... okay, more than just sometimes, lose sight of all things beautiful or interesting. For most of us, we live a hectic life and barely notice little things around us, pretty little things, let alone while travelling.

But whenever possible, I make it a point to try and make some time to appreciate anything nice, big or small, that I come across in my trips. Okay, now here’s something we came across by the side of a small road during a road trip, something small but beautiful – a little pond full of lovely water lilies.

Waterlilies, in a little pond by a road.

White Water Lilies, and in the background, Water Hyacinths bearing purple flowers.

A beautiful white water lily, with the hot afternoon Sun reflected by the pond waters.

Here's a closer look at the beautiful white water lily

... And a much closer look at it!

We don’t really stop every time we see something nice along the way, for we don’t usually have that sort of time. This time we did, with some time on our hands, and spent some time by what appeared like a trifling pretty little pond by a small road.

I can’t exactly recall the occasion and location of this road trip, but it was years ago, while we were roaming around somewhere in coastal Karnataka that we came by this little pond full of water lilies. Initially we mistook these water lilies to be lotuses, since we were not aware of the differences.

It was just a small pond by a small inner road, somewhere in Dakshina Kannada, that Shrihas had discovered while passing by. We just stopped there to take some quick snaps of the pond and its beautiful water lilies.

White water lily and a bud yet to bloom.

White water lilies and their leaves in the pond.

Afternoon sun, reflecting off the pond water.

Pink Water Lilies, and behind them, the Water Hyacinths bearing purple flowers.

A Pink Water Lily, not fully bloomed, but beautiful nonetheless.

A closer look at the beautiful pink water lily.

This pond had white and pink water lily flowers, where the white ones were beautifully bloomed and the pink ones were blooming. Some of the flowers were yet to bloom and appear to be opening up.

Water lily flowers last for three to five days. The non-nocturnal ones remain open during the daytime and close afterwards [1].

While most of the water lilies in this pond were white, or white with a little pinkish colour, the rest were pink. The pink ones, which were less in number, weren't fully open.

Apart from the Water Lilies in the pond, there were Water Hyacinths with purple or violet flowers. These Water Hyacinths are invasive species, native to the Amazon basin. They are perinicous as they are capable of quickly growing all over ponds, lakes, and even rivers, killing the submerged native aquatic plants by blocking sunlight. Their decay processes depletes dissolved oxygen in the water, often killing fish (or turtles). They even help foster breeding of mosquitoes.[2][3]

It took quite an effort to photograph these, as I was carrying a point-and-shoot camera which had only a digital zoom, meaning zoomed in pictures were of low quality. I moved around the pond, stood on the stones and some land in-between, and went around the pond to get better views, closer views and better angles.

The Water Lilies and the Water Hyacinths, in the pond

A red dragonfly, on the white water lily.

While I was photographing the white water lilies, a red dragonfly sat on one of them. Fortunately, I was able to take a couple of snaps before it flew away. I've seen the typical brown or black dragonflies, but I've seldom seen these red ones. It was a fortuitous moment.

A closer look at the red dragonfly, on the white water lily.

A little ahead, a bit bigger pond with more water lilies.

Coming a little further, there was more of this pond, which was a comparatively bigger pool of water, with more water lilies. Apparently this may have been a larger pond, which was covered up and converted to land, with fencing around it.

A lot of nature’s little beauties, typically around towns and cities go extinct this way. Yes, it’s inevitable, unless they get converted to some sort of parks or gardens. Fortunately, such little beauties are still seen around villages and smaller towns, free of dump and thrash.

References :

[1] How to Grow and Care for Water Lilies and Lotus - The Spruce, By Sonia Uyterhoeven, Gardener for Public Education, The New York Botanical Garden. (Updated Updated 09 January 2018, Retrieved 09 February 2018.)
[2] Seven Things You Didn't Know About Water Hyacinth - NASA Earth Observatory, By Adam Voiland (01 June 2016. Retrieved 09 February 2018.)
[3] Water hyacinth in Vaigai river fosters breeding of mosquitoes - The Hindu. (November 08, 2016; Updated: December 02, 2016. Retrieved 09 February 2018.)