India’s economy is one of the fastest growing in the world, but presence abroad is nearly as important as the domestic economy chugging along in South Asia. Across the globe, an Indian diaspora is proving to be an engine of prosperity unto itself. Remittances from Indian-Americans alone account for 4 percent of India’s gross domestic product, and 13 percent of graduate students at top American schools are of Indian descent. Take one center of that diaspora, a section of Queens, New York, known as Little India. These photographs capture the bustling, vibrant atmosphere there, along with the wide range of products on sale—from traditional henna tattoos to the hottest new music from Bollywood to travel packages that help keep Indians in New York in touch with their family at home. As Joel Kotkin and Shahsi Parulekar write in this week’s edition of NEWSWEEK International, India’s growing national importance is a phenomenon not seen since the advent of the European-dominated economy in the 17th century.
