By Susan J. Cunningham
Forbes Asia
It’s Tuesday evening in the open-air restaurant of the Four Seasons Hotel and 28-year-old Nishita Shah is right at home. In one of the few posh places left in Bangkok where she can smoke, she’s wearing her usual uniform: hip-hugging jeans and a clingy top, her wavy black hair resisting its pinnings. She orders more chardonnay and rates the items on the tapas menu. With the accent of someone who attended an English-speaking international school for 12 years, her conversation skitters from breast cancer research to her beloved Thai nanny to the colors to expect in the spring 2010 fashion season.
There are interruptions. She hops over to say good-bye to a stylish young couple on their way out. Her BlackBerry bleeps. When a woman in a business suit at another table calls out to her, she responds brightly, while murmuring, “I’m not sure who that is.” Abruptly at nine, she folds camp: She has some investment bankers to meet … more
This was one of the best-performing features I wrote for Forbes Asia. There’s no mystery why: The interests of Indian media span the globe when it comes to NRIs (non-resident Indians). And one can still be an NRI even if it’s been a few generations since the individual was born in India.
Susan J Cunningham 
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