The Hodson family want to wish everyone who reads this blog a very merry Christmas and Happy New Year. From tonight we'll be off line for a couple of days on the Wairarapa coast (a final refuge from the 24/7 connectivity we are all so addicted to these days).
When I went travelling on my own aged 17 in 1987 – initially for 3 months of a Scottish winter – the most my parents could expect was the occasional aerogram (Ben may need to explain this version of snail mail to the boys) and a monthly "collect" phone call. It is so wonderful being able to share the boys' journey in real time with them on the other side of the world in a so-called "developing" country – especially to read the ebbs and flows of their emotional responses to these amazing experiences. To a NZ kid of the 70s and 80s, the India of 2013 (where everyone seems to have a mobile phone and an internet connection) would have seemed too fanciful even for sci-fi writers. How has the rapid adoption of technology outpaced people's more basic needs of decent housing, sanitation, education and healthcare? Surely you can give everyone access to fresh water before you worry about giving them 4G mobile internet? Hopefully the almost unrestricted access to the internet and technology will enable young Indians to solve some of their country's bigger challenges in future. We'll be pondering these questions with our family over the next few days.
Enjoy Jaipur. We will try and save some of Sarma's Christmas cake for you Reilly.
Nick
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