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18/12/25
Raja Ampat, in Papua, Indonesia, does not rush to impress you. The sea here waits. Clear, almost impossibly calm, it carries colours that feel unreal until you realise they are alive — corals breathing, fish moving like thoughts you cannot hold. People grow up knowing this water as a neighbour, not scenery. Pride comes not from owning beauty, but from protecting it.
Fishing follows rules older than maps, and silence is respected more than speed. Even boats move carefully, as if aware they are guests. What makes locals proud is restraint — the decision to leave things untouched for those who come later. Raja Ampat reminds its people that wealth does not always glitter. Sometimes it drifts quietly beneath the surface, asking only to be allowed to remain what it is.
Rajat Chandra Sarmah
Guwahati, Assam, India
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