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August 2025 | Ankasamudra, Bengaluru
It was August, and the recent monsoon showers had given way to a flush of fresh grass. My husband, Adarsh, and I had found ourselves on the edges of Ankasamudra Bird Conservation Reserve, a wetland few minutes from the expansive Tungabhadra Reservoir. The rains had transformed the whole wetland into a lush green meadow. Pools of shallow water submerged parts of the grassy lakebed, with blades of grass popping out of the water’s surface. The shallow waters seemed to have created an ideal habitat for grey herons, for I counted many of them scattered around the wetland.
Ankasamudra, at heart, is a story of revival. The 300-year-old lake dried out in the 1980s after its stream from the Tungabhadra River was blocked by check dams. Slowly, farms moved in. To prevent the lakebed from being overtaken by cultivation, the forest department planted acacia trees. However, the wetland revived only when the local village panchayat began pumping water into the lake to recharge groundwater of the area.
I sat at the watchtower along the wetland, sketching, while Adarsh, with his camera and tripod in tow, filmed around the bird sanctuary. Dark grey-purple skies loomed over us the whole while, occasionally breaking into a downpour. The acacia trees, once planted by the forest department as an afforestation drive, now stood dead and leafless within the lake, adding to a dramatic contrast amidst the bright green grass and grey skies. The watchtower gave a beautiful birds-eye view of the picturesque landscape.
By drawing these lines on paper, I was observing keenly, imitating forms and shapes; capturing little scenes of what caught my attention. To add to the fun, I started composing my page layout and playing with fonts as I continued to fill up my journal page. So many little memories are captured within each of these sketches. The dry acacia trees made me look at the ones alive — their flowers, new leaves, thorns and unique shaped seedpods. I love the form of this seedpod and I could fill pages with just their sketches.
Adarsh and I have been visiting this bird sanctuary since the spring of 2016. We have seen it through several dry summers and the lush rainy season. We have witnessed the acacia treetops cradle hundreds of nests and exclaimed countless times at the murmuration displays of rosy starlings in the winter skies. Ankasamudra is a beautiful wetland, indeed!
Nature Conscious is a series built from reader contributions. It is a collection of fieldnotes, moments or brief encounters with the wild, expressed through words, art, music, photographs or poetry. The series is curated by author and guest editor Aasheesh Pittie.
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