“You are from Indiyeaaah! Aahhh, nice to see you here,” a woman guide inside the main Angkor Wat complex warmly greeted us in her accented English as soon as we approached her about the historicity of a certain panel; the reason for the happy-yet-surprised tone in her voice was to unravel shortly. “Why India people don’t come here, I don’t know….so much to see, so beautiful — all your stories from the Ramayana and Mahabharata are here. Hinduism was practised here, you know, centuries ago. So happy you came,” she continued. The seasoned guide’s words left a strong imprint on my mind, just like so many other footnotes and heritage-tinged memories from my travels with a friend across the gorgeous little South East Asian nation many years ago.

All of it came rushing back in a flash when yours truly recently learned that UNESCO had applauded the Cambodian government after it had issued a circular to prevent the demolition of heritage buildings in the country in a bid to support conservation and sustainable development. As I travelled from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap – home to the world-famous Angkor Wat temples – one thing had become clear. Despite the genocide and the traumatic tryst with dictatorship, the nation took its heritage seriously. It was a way of life, deeply ingrained among its citizens, and not just people like the warm guide directly connected with the tourism industry who was such lovely company, especially after she learnt that we were Indians.