KK AgrawalBy Kit Knotts & KK Agrawal
Click images to enlarge
KK Agrawal regularly delights the email discussion lists with his stunning images of waterlilies, lotuses and Victoria taken at and near his home in Jaipur, India. He relates how it all began:
"I started growing lotus from seeds at the early age
of 15. How I started is a very interesting
story. My tenants used to make pudding out of lotus seeds. Usually,
I would ask them what sort of
plant
will grow out of them if sown; their reply used to be waterlily.
One day I got some seeds from them and put them in a glass of
water. I did this because I had seen waterlilies growing in water.
Nothing grew for a few months. I tried again but this time there
were few seeds that somehow looked crushed. Within a few days,
two of the seeds showed signs of germination. It was a great
moment of excitement and also the start of my hobby of growing
waterlilies...the disease which has not been cured so far!!!
"After a few days I saw a very small round leaf floating
in the glass. Another leaf opened on the surface within a few
days. Since there was no room for the third one, I put the growing
seeds in a bucket. In no time this bucket was also full of leaves.
It was time for the biggest vessel in the house but soon it was
also a 'reject'. I got a pond made of cement which was 3.5 feet
by 3.5 feet, having a height of 2.5 feet in the garden. After
some time this was also full and I had no choice but to start
cutting out old leaves. As the plants grew they got more vigorous.....but
I never saw them flowering!!!
"Later on, one day I spotted a lily growing in a nursery
and bought it and planted with the lotus. These plants had beautiful
leaves. Now there was no room for lotus, so I threw them away.
The 
day
came when I saw my first flower of a waterlily. It was a great
day!!! Thereafter I started collecting other varieties of waterlilies.
Since I had started this hobby with seed growing I had no problems
growing them from seeds. I grew them from seeds collected from
various sources.
"As a curiosity, I started crossing them to see if anything new could be harvested this way. I have been able to grow a new hybrid which is in the category of changeables .... it changes to three colors in three days. On the first day, it is deep pink. On the second day it is light pink and on the third it is white. In full blooming time it appears that there are three plants instead of one grown at the same place.
"My varieties increased and so did my number of ponds.
At present, I have the following varieties growing and blooming
for me!!!
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'James Brydon', 'Madame Maurice Laydeker', 'Rembrandt', 'Escarboucle', 'Rosanna', 'Masaniello', 'Commanche', 'Old Pink', 'Sioux', 'Laydekeri Rosea', 'Rose Magnolia', 'Peter Slocum', 'Marliacea Albida', 'Graziella', 'Perry's Pink Delight', 'Darwin', 'Antares', 'Wood's White Knight', 'Noelene', 'Pamela', 'Sturtevantii' and 'Wood's Blue Goddess'. |
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Indian
Records and I got a mention in their book. In the same year 1999,
I collected data and photographed my Victoria plants extensively
and reported my research activities to the Victoria group."
KK (Krishna Kumar) Agrawal designs and makes jewelry using gold, diamonds, precious and semi-precious stones as his profession and has a degree in Commerce. His artistry is also demonstrated by his award winning photography and his representation in many national and international magazines. He lists his hobbies as "photography, cactus and succulent collecting (don't miss Kaleidoscope and Kaleidoscope 2), growing Victoria lilies and hybridizing water lilies, chess playing, driving, fish keeping, design, publishing, plumbing, etc."
His
wife Sushma
is a writer and contributes to magazines and newspapers on many
subjects but her favorites are gardening and cooking. She has
written a book on cooking in English and Hindi "Vegetarian Indian Homestyle Cooking".
She is preparing her second cook book 'Marwari Vyanjan'.
The first book is a true work of art! Not only are the recipes delicious and beautiful but KK's design and photographs are extraordinary. It is even presented in a box covered in hand-made paper adorned with flower petals.
The family includes Shakha, their 19 year old daughter, a student, (shakha means "branch of a tree"; Taru, their 18 year old son, also a student, (taru means "tree") and Chuski, their 6 year old loving Dushound ---does nothing!!!
We know you will enjoy KK's images as much as we do. He has a remarkable sense of composition, texture and contrast but, above all, the love reflected through his lens speaks volumes.
