Several people, as compliment or not, have in recent days commented on my 'education' and 'reading' and I want to share something with all of you about these. There was a time when we barely had enough to eat. When, by the end of the month, money would run out, and anxiety rise

about how we could, gingerly, tip-toe into the next month. When the shadow of disease could topple us into a poverty from which we might never again rise. But through the luxury of books, through the prosperity of reading, I have learnt,

and learn each day, that there are no axiomatic truths in the world. There are negotiated truths, debated truths, considered and un-considered truths. Our empire of truth lies only in our head. The lived experience in the world does not, often, match that. This realisation is