SNAKE IN A POT

Rich, Less Empathetic and Inconsiderate Some years ago, I read an article from a professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley called Dacher Keltner.    According to the psychologist and social scientist, wealthy people are unlikely to be to bothered about those who are struggling to make ends meet.   ‘They are usually self-obsessed and only worried about their own well being’ Keltner said.   They are 'less empathetic, less altruistic and generally more selfish' as a result of having so much money.   He said wealth, education and prestige and a higher station in life gave them the freedom to only worry about themselves.   ‘We have now done 12 separate studies measuring empathy in every way imaginable, social behaviour in every way, and some work on compassion and it’s the same story,' he concluded. I did not agree with the professor at the time.   I dismissed the study as a typical prejudiced, narrow-minded concl...

Over the last 15 years, I have been fortunate enough to go to countries that I used to consider luxurious and expensive, those that would be every traveler’s dream and those that will make most people speculate on the intentions of that person that has been there.   Like one of my friends asked   “what the hell took you to Turkey?”   In some cases I have ended up in these countries on official business but in many cases it was out of my love for travelling.   The more I travel, the more I love.   I have now set myself a challenge.   The number of countries I have visited must be equal to my age.   That means that in the next few years, I have to do a lot of travelling to catch up with my age and it is only then that I will slow down to a manageable rate of one country a year. My story goes back to my first long haul travel to Turkey in 1996 (before that the farthest I had been was Lamu, an island off the Kenyan Coast) where for the first time I ca...

My Darling, I am sure you know the contents of my letter before you even complete the first sentence.   I want to let you know that it has not been easy on me and writing this letter is one of the lowest points of my life. We have known each other for 22 years. I got to know you long before your knew me.   Our first encounter was not very comfortable but still joyous to many including me.    Over the years, I watched over you from a distance, you of course oblivious of my affectionate surveillance.   I followed you with love and within the boundaries of what I was permitted.   I think after a few years you became aware of my infatuation with you.   You guardedly sought me out as if to discover what I was up to.   I don’t know at what point or what may have precipitated your decision, but after 12 years of our misty relationship, you boldly declared your love for me.    You made a decision that was hard to comprehend for those wh...