... is not an easy thing. Its almost a year since my last blog entry, and this is my first attempt to getting back into sharing ideas with the rest of the world. Currently I am in a 100% consulting job and the last year has consisted of several business trips, including Japan, Florida, NY, San Francisco, and the latest one coming up in a couple of weeks is Melbourne, down under.

One of the problems in this whole gypsy life is the impact on the children (or child, as in my case). Karun is turning 4 and needs to go to school. This got the old wheels of my mind turning and I started thinking about possibilities.

Virtual schooling - that't what we need. Let us look at the challenge involved in moving from place to place. For us techhies, it is heaven, as long as the place is downtown, technologically-buffed, and all expenses are paid :-). However, there is the family, of course.

What is the challenge for a child? For example, Karun is happy anywhere, as long as it looks like home. My son has now adapted to saying "Karun wants to go to Karun's hotel." In fact, once we'd done a road trip from NY to Dallas at a liesurely pace (4 days), and on the fifth night, when we were at my brother-in-law's house, at 10 pm that night, my logical offspring said "Karun wants to go to Karun's road." There's consistency for you.

So what if Karun wakes up in Australia next week and notes the difference in surroundings? no biggie - its another hotel room with his favorite toys, and then some. The main difference will be when he goes to school and realizes that it is a different school.

Enter virtual schools. Instead of going to another school, where folks call you "mate" instead of "dude," he goes to a school where the classroom has one of those huge plasma TVs that connect him to the same school he's been attending for the last year. The same kids show up, connnecting to each other across the globe, and end up playing snakes and ladders with each other. Karun's teacher actually gives him a hug across the screen. Over the year, no matter where Karun is, he goes to the same school.

It may sound cold, but it could make life much easier. The technology is there to make it happen. But it needs the right mindset and acceptance to make this a reality. And after all, children interact across the world with Barney. Why not real-life friends?