I realized late that the actions you take impact the life you lead, and that a person with a better life would probably have been working on this from the start, perhaps even focused on education as a child, in terms of actually learning things and not just getting through the classes intact and ignored, another day safely spent idle and unbullied, dreaming of escaping from timetables, England, uniforms and orders.

But even then, with my lack of knowledge, drive and native charm, I escaped and led a life of dreams.

All of which seems unreal now, on the other side of decades.