Far and white

The other day, i mentioned to someone that a person's success shouldn't be measured by the number of zeroes in their salaries but the number of countries they've been to. Although the logic might be skewed here, my point was, what's the use of making money—considering it the SI unit of success nowadays—when you're stuck in one city for ages? My parents, throughout their lives, have shuttled between two states. Maharashtra and Karnataka. Between Mumbai and Manipal. That's all. They haven't been to any other place and they aren't to be blamed either. Both their sons' lack of success and inconsiderate attitude are the culprit. Speaking for myself, i've been to two international cities. Bangkok (Thailand) for intellectual masturbation as i was invited to a conference on freedom of speech on Internet and Tissamaharama (Sri Lanka) to report on the largest ever Bollywood film set (Bombay Velvet) outside of India. Compare these feats to two of my colleagues. One's an American of Dutch origin and has stayed in over 20 countries so far. And another is a Kiwi of Ukrainian descent with residency in over 10 countries. They didn't visit these countries as tourists but stayed there for months and in some cases, years, for different reasons. That alone makes them a global citizen, not just a traveler.