Kamal Ghorui
What’s better than making snow angels? Making sand angels!
My first memory of the beach traces back to me spending hours making sand angels- sweeping my arms and legs through the warm, golden sand.
From our first encounter, water has always felt like home. I can’t pinpoint the exact moment I fell in love with the ocean, but I do recall it was before I even turned five years old. Every trip to the beach felt like a new adventure—one that I never wanted to end. Each visit deepened my connection with the water and the world beneath the waves.
One of my earliest memories is my family trip to the Maldives. I remember spending my entire day at the beach. Time swam by as I searched for the perfect seashell and buried the most random things underneath the sand. It was like a personalized treasure hunt, one that I created for myself. Some old family videos show me laughing as I run away from the tiny white sand crabs, jumping over the foamy edges of the waves, and building the perfect sandcastle, one bucket at a time.
As I grew in age, my relationship with water began to transform. The fun, carefree days at the beach turned into two-hour swimming lessons in the pool. In the beginning, the endless laps felt like torture, however, over time, I could feel my inner current change. The more confident I grew in the water, the more calm I noticed myself to be. It was like all the noise in my head drowned when I glided through the water, attempting to replicate a fish. The satisfaction of improving made me look forward to each class, and I became more and more eager to spend time with my best friend- water.
What once felt like a chore, eventually became something I looked forward to each day. This shift eventually pulled me in deeper and I began to explore every water-related activity I could find- swimming in open waters, fishing, parasailing, snorkeling, and even scuba diving. If it involved water, I was the first to sign up!
Determined that I had the DNA of a Sailfish, at just thirteen years old, I earned my PADI certification which changed my life forever. During my first dive, I was transported to an entirely new world, one where air was replaced with water. In this new ecosystem, I was swimming alongside turtles, schools of fishes in every imaginable color, and countless other sea creatures that I couldn’t wait to learn more about once above the water. The brightly colored corals swayed gently, almost like they were dancing to their tunes inaudible to us humans. And the most terrifying, yet incredible moment was when a leopard shark swam by me. Thankfully, it was more interested in finding its next meal than me! During those few seconds when the shark glided past me and all the tiny fishes scattered, the voices of the real world faded—there were no phones, no homework, no chatter. Nothing else mattered except the vast blueness which had embraced me.
Watching the light grow brighter as I ascended toward the surface, I knew I was leaving behind a piece of my heart on the sea bed, and I was positive I would return soon, not to collect it, but to grow it.
While most of my experiences have been amazing, there’s one incident that stands out. During one dive, at about 20 meters depth, water suddenly seeped into my goggles. Panic hit me like a wave. I couldn’t see properly, I was terrified. But then, almost instinctively, my training kicked in. I calmed my breathing, tilted my head up, and carefully cleared the water from my mask. This experience taught me an important lesson—the ocean is not to be taken lightly. It’s as powerful and unpredictable as it is breathtaking.
Being underwater has shaped me in countless ways. It instilled in me the values of patience and belief as I learned to dive deeper, swim farther, and explore wider.
When you love something as much as I love the water, it’s accompanied by a sense of responsibility. From beach cleanups to making small changes in our daily lifestyle, every little drop of sustainable effort counts. The ocean is not a backdrop, it’s a life source that provides us with oxygen, regulates our climate, and feeds millions. It produces over 50% of the world’s breathing air, absorbs approximately 30% of the carbon dioxide we humans emit, and supports the livelihoods of more than 3 billion people. The ocean also plays a vital role in global food security- around 17% of the world’s animal protein comes from seafood. Additionally, over 200 million people are employed, either directly or indirectly, in marine fisheries and related industries.
To love something means to fight for it.
For me, falling in love with the ocean wasn’t a choice. It just happened, like it was always meant to be. It’s like the ocean chose me as much as I chose it.
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